The National Indian Gaming Commission has confirmed the appointments of Jeannie Hovland and Sharon M. Avery as Associate Commissioners.
Hovland, currently Vice Chair of the NIGC, will be serving her second three-year term as an agency Associate Commissioner. Avery serves as Associate General Counsel for the NIGC and this will be her first term as Associate Commissioner.
The pair’s appointments were first proposed on March 25 by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and they began their role as Associate Commissioners on May 6.
“Today’s appointments to the National Indian Gaming Commission will help ensure we continue to provide resources and support for an industry that remains one of the most significant sources of economic development in Indian Country,” commented Haaland at the time of nominating the duo.
Hovland is an enrolled member of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and has been with the NIGC since 2021. In the past, she worked for 13 years within the office of South Dakota Senator John Thune where she assisted with legislation, such as the Tribal Law and Order Act and the Code Talkers Recognition Act.
Meanwhile, Avery is an enrolled member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan. She has served as Associate General Counsel for the NIGC for the last four years, and previously spent 10 years working in the Legal Department of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.
“It is with great privilege that I accept this appointment as an Associate Commissioner with the NIGC. I am excited to be a part of the continued work between the agency and tribes within the framework of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to ensure the continued integrity of Indian gaming,” added Avery.
Earlier this year E. Sequoyah Simermeyer resigned from his role as Chairman of the NIGC, bringing to an end a nine-year association with the commission.
At the time, the NIGC noted that he was responsible for leading the agency through the challenges of the Covid-19 global pandemic and set regulatory conditions for the post-pandemic recovery, during which Indian gaming gross revenue rose to a record $40.9 billion in 2023.
