Leadership

Bryan Newland is a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community (Ojibwe), where he recently completed his tenure as Tribal President. Prior to that, Bryan served as Chief Judge of the Bay Mills Tribal Court. From 2009 to 2012, he served as a Counselor and Policy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior – Indian Affairs. He is a graduate of Michigan St ...

Bryan Mercier is the director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Prior to his appointment 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 Mark O. Hatfield Fellow with Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon. Mercier’s federal serv ...

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 Assistant ...