When our Bingo and Casino Hall first opened, it was built on a simple idea: this business belonged to the people, and the people would run it. In those early years, employees had to be of Indian descent. Our own community members filled the jobs, learned the work, and built the operation from the ground up.

Today, the picture looks different.

Tribal members seldom qualify for management positions. Most exempt, salaried roles go to contracted management firms and outside hires who meet the posted qualifications. Too often, our own people are not even in the running.

This matters for three reasons:

• Ownership means more than profit. If tribal members don’t hold leadership roles, the community owns the business but doesn’t run it.
• Skills leave when contracts end. When outside managers hold the key jobs, the knowledge goes with them.
• Our young people need a path. If they can’t see tribal members in leadership, they have less reason to believe they can get there.

The question isn’t whether qualified outside staff have a place. They do. The question is whether we have a real plan to prepare our own members to step into those roles.

That plan could include:

• Training and mentoring programs tied to specific management positions
• Clear job requirements, shared openly with the community
• Succession goals written into management contracts
• Regular reporting to the community on how many tribal members hold exempt positions

Our gaming enterprise was created to build self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency starts with our people in the seats where decisions are made.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.