Leadership

Bryan Mercier is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. Prior to his appointment as Director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs on September 30, 2024, he served as the regional director of BIA’s Northwest Region. He has spent 20 years working in public service, starting as a Morris K. Udall Foundation Intern and M ...

Acting BIA Director Bartholomew "Bart" Stevens is an enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe with lineage from the Piipaash (Maricopa) Tribe, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and the Ute Tribe. His heritage reflects deep connections to diverse tribal communities and their histories. Stevens’ began his federal career in 2006 with the Bureau of Indian Education. ...

Tony Dearman, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the director of the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Bureau of Indian Education implements federal Indian education programs and funds 183 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools serving approximately 48,000 students. As the dire ...

Jerry Gidner, a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa Tribe, is the Director of the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration. Mr. Gidner brings a wealth of relevant experience to his role as Director. He has served throughout the Department in a variety of capacities: Director of BIA, Deputy Bureau Director for Indian Services, Chief of Staff to the Assistan ...