WASHINGTON – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development – Indian Affairs George T. Skibine today announced the names of three individuals who have received career appointments to Senior Executive Service (SES) positions within the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). They are Stephanie E. Birdwell as the Deputy Director for Policy, Evaluation and Post Secondary Education, Bartholomew “Bart” Stevens as the Deputy Director for School Operations and David Talayumptewa as the Assistant Deputy Director for Administration. The appointments became effective on January 4, 2009.
“I am pleased that Stephanie Birdwell, Bartholomew Stevens and David Talayumptewa have joined the Bureau of Indian Education’s senior management team,” Skibine said. “The filling of these key posts will allow us to continue implementing the school accountability and student performance requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act across the BIE school system.”
Birdwell is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Her federal career began in 1996 as a social worker at the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Northern Pueblos Agency in Espanola, N.M., where she rose to the rank of Southwest Regional Social Worker in the BIA’s Southwest Regional Office in Albuquerque. While there, she served as the bureau’s Acting Deputy Regional Director for Indian Services from October 2005 to January 2006. In October 2006, Birdwell joined the Office of Indian Services staff at the BIA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., as Human Services Program Officer, a position she held until May 2008. From July to December 2007, she also served as Acting Assistant to the Deputy Director for Indian Services. In December 2007, she became Acting Assistant to the Deputy Bureau Director for the BIA’s Office of Trust Services. She joined the BIE in June 2008 as the Acting Deputy Director for Policy, Evaluation and Post Secondary Education.
Birdwell has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma (1992) and a Master’s degree in Social Welfare from the University of California-Berkeley (1996). She also holds a social worker license from the State of New Mexico.
Stevens is an enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona with ancestry from the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho and the Ute Indian Tribe in Utah. Following a long career in teaching, counseling and school administration positions in Utah tribal and public schools, Stevens joined the BIE’s New Mexico South Education Line Office in Albuquerque in July 2006 as Education Line Officer (ELO).
Starting in August 2007, he concurrently held two of three BIE associate deputy directorships. As Acting Associate Deputy Director – East and Acting Associate Deputy Director – West, he was responsible for the line management, direction and supervision of 16 Education Line Offices overseeing BIE-funded schools in 25 states. He continued to serve in both posts until his current appointment.
Stevens holds a Bachelor’s degree in Family and Human Development (2000) and a Master’s degree in School Administration and Supervision (2005) from Utah State University. He also holds a Master’s degree in Social Work (2003) from the University of Utah. In 2005, he received an administrative/supervisory education license from the Utah Office of Education.
Talayumptewa, an enrolled member of the Hopi Tribe in Arizona, has over 25 years of experience in the field of Indian education, most of that time with the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Education Programs (now the BIE). His early years were spent as Chief Administrative Officer for the Hopi Tribe where he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of four divisions, including education. He oversaw the construction of the Hopi Junior/Senior High School, and ensured that it was staffed and operational in preparation for its opening in 1986. That year, Talayumptewa began his career with the OIEP where he served as the Hopi Education Line Office’s Business Manager (1986-2001) and Education Line Officer (2001-2003, 2004-2005) in Keams Canyon and as the Acting ELO at the Western Navajo Education Line Office in Tuba City, Ariz. (2001). He went on to hold senior positions at the BIE’s Central Office – West location in Albuquerque including Acting Deputy Director, OIEP (2004, 2005-2006), Special Assistant to the Director, BIE (2006-2007), Acting Assistant Deputy Director for Administration, BIE (2007) and Special Assistant to the Deputy Director, BIE (2007- 2008).
Talayumptewa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Personnel and Industrial Relations from Utah State University (1973) and a Masters of Science degree in Human Resources Management from the University of Utah (1976). He received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army in 1973. He served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves, and was honorably discharged in 1981.
The BIE is responsible for ensuring the implementation of federal education laws, including the No Child Left Behind Act, in 184 BIE-funded elementary and secondary schools located on 63 reservations in 23 states serving approximately 48,000 students and employing 5,000 teachers, administrators and support personnel. It provides resources and technical assistance to 122 tribally administered BIE-funded schools and 25 tribal colleges and universities. It directly operates two postsecondary institutions: Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., and the Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, N.M.
For Immediate Release: February 12, 2009
