Wiring the Rez: Innovative Strategies for Business Development Via E-Commerce CLE Conference Carl Artman
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Wiring the Rez: Innovative Strategies for Business Development via E-Commerce CLE Conference February 1 – February 2, 2018 Indian Legal Program | Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law | Arizona State University Speaker Biographies Carl Artman Carl Artman is an attorney who represents Indian tribes seeking new ways to develop their on-reservation and near-reservation economies. He is also a Faculty Associate with the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University who teaches a Washington, D.C. based Indian law class entitled Federal Advocacy for the Tribal Client, for the Indian Legal Program, after serving as Professor of Practice for the ASU Law’s Indian Legal Program from 2008-2010. Carl Artman served as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs under President George W. Bush. His office had jurisdiction over the Office of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education from 2007 to 2008. He served as the Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior from 2005 to 2007. An enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, Artman has worked for his tribe as Director of Federal Affairs, Chief Legal Counsel, and as Chief Operating Officer of an Oneida Tribe-owned telecommunications venture. Carl Artman served on the Board of Directors for the Library of Congress’s American Folk Life Center, Oneida Nation Electronics, Airadigm Communications, Inc., and the Personal Communications Industry Association. He served on the Board of the Presidential Board of Advisors on Tribal Colleges and Universities. Professor Artman was the Chairman of the Tribal Management Advisory Committee and the Tribal Budget Advisory Committee during his tenure as Assistant Secretary. He served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nation’s Convention to Eliminate Racial Discrimination. While at the Department of Interior, he served as a member of the Trust Executive Steering Committee, Climate Control Task Force Steering Committee and Fire Policy Council. He was a member of the Board of Governance for the National Indian Programs Training Center and an alternate for Board of Regents for the Haskell Indian Nations University. He served as a marketing editor for the Denver Journal of International Law Policy. Mr. Artman received a BA from Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri, an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, a Juris Doctor from Washington University in St. Louis, and an LLM from University of Denver College of Law. Derrick Beetso Derrick Beetso is Senior Counsel at the National Congress of American Indians, focuses his work on land and natural resources matters. Prior to his work at NCAI, Derrick served as an Attorney-Advisor within the Office of the Solicitor’s Phoenix Field Office, and before that, Derrick served as Counselor to Assistant Secretary- Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn under the Obama Administration. Derrick received his juris doctorate from Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, along with a certificate in Indian Law in 2010. Derrick currently sits on the Indian Legal Program’s Advisory Council. Geoffrey C. Blackwell Geoff Blackwell joined AMERIND Risk, as the Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel in October 2015. He oversees AMERIND’s Finance, Information Technology, and Human Resources departments, as well as direct AMERIND’s legal efforts and strategic development and diversification endeavors. Previously, Blackwell was a senior policy maker and Office Chief at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He established the FCC’s Office of Native Affairs and Policy and, for over five years, directed FCC activities to incentivize the deployment of broadband and communications technologies across Indian country. Blackwell also led the FCC’s efforts to protect tribal sacred sites and cultural resources, ensure low income families on tribal lands have telephone and broadband services, and prioritize radio and television broadcasting media ownership opportunities for tribal nations. Regarding these efforts, Blackwell has testified before Congress on five occasions, and before dozens of tribal councils. Prior to his most recent federal service, Blackwell worked for five years as the Director of Strategic Relations and Minority Business Development at Chickasaw Nation Industries (CNI), Inc., where he oversaw diversification among many companies owned by the Chickasaw Nation. While with CNI, Blackwell served on the boards of directors of Native Public Media, the National Small Business Association, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, and the Acoma Business Enterprises Board of the Pueblo of Acoma. Blackwell also chaired the Telecommunications Subcommittee of the National Congress of American Indians, and served as the indigenous representative from the United States on the international Indigenous Commission for Communications Technologies in the Americas. Prior to his work with CNI, Blackwell worked his first tour of duty with the FCC, where, as a Senior Attorney and Liaison to tribal governments, he helped write the FCC’s foundational policies with respect to tribal nations, including the FCC’s seminal 2000 Tribal Policy Statement. He was the first enrolled tribal member to ever work at the FCC. Prior to his first period of service with the FCC, he worked in the Litigation Department of Hale and Dorr, LLP, (now Wilmer Hale) in Boston, Massachusetts. Blackwell, an enrolled member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is also descended from the Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and Omaha Tribe of Nebraska. Blackwell is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia School of Law. Steve Bodmer Steve Bodmer is an enrolled member of the Natchez-Kusso Tribe of South Carolina, also known as the Edisto Indians. Steve practiced Indian law in the private practice setting in the Phoenix area until leaving to serve as General Counsel to a 1,200 member tribe in Central California. While in law school Steve worked in Washington, D.C. for Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota on the Senator’s Indian Affairs team and also worked for the Department of Justice, Office of Tribal Justice. Steve is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. In his role as General Counsel, Steve provides legal counsel to the Pechanga Tribal Council, the Tribal Government and each of its departments. In addition to his responsibilities over Pechanga Tribal Government legal matters, Steve also oversees the legal affairs for the Pechanga Resort & Casino and provides legal counsel to the Pechanga Development Corporation. Among other areas of practice, Steve specializes in federal Indian law, gaming law, tribal governance, and tribal economic development. Steve is a founding executive board member of the Native American Bar Association of Arizona and is a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law. Steve is licensed to practice law in California, Arizona, and Washington, D.C. Steve received his Juris Doctor from Arizona State University College of Law, where he also received the Indian Legal Program Certificate for his study of Federal Indian law. Chris Bolton Chris Bolton has served as Chief Information Officer at Gila River Gaming Enterprises, Inc. since August 2017. Chris has eleven years of gaming technical experience with ten years at the executive level. Chris has been in the technology section in some capacity since 1991. His previous positions include Vice President of Information Technology with Seminole Gaming (Hard Rock) in Miami Florida, Director Information Technology with Hooters Casino in Las Vegas Nevada, and Director of IT Operations with Las Vegas Sands (Venetian). Chris has worked in multiple gaming jurisdictions such as Las Vegas, Reno, California, Florida, Atlantic City, and Arizona. Chris has also worked with publicly owned casinos, privately owned casinos, and Native American owned casinos. Russell “Russ” A. Brien Russell A. Brien (Iowa) established Brien Law, LLC in 2009 and is a former partner in the corporate finance group of a national law firm. His practice primarily involves working as special counsel to tribes and as outside general counsel to tribal business enterprises on a variety of issues, with an emphasis on economic development, governance, gaming, finance, taxation, and doing business in Indian country. Russ frequently speaks on a variety of topics including federal Indian law, tribal economic development, gaming, Indian lands issues, estate planning in Indian country, protection of tribal records, ethics for tribal leaders, negotiation, and tribal constitutions and bylaws. He also serves as an adjunct instructor at the University of Kansas School of Law, teaching the Indian Gaming and Economic Development and Indigenous Nations courses in the law school’s Tribal Lawyer Certificate Program. Russ, the Past President of the Kansas Bar Association Indian Law Section, is listed in the Best Lawyers in America for Native American Law and Securitization and Structured Finance Law. Russ graduated from the University of Michigan School of Law in 1992. During his time in Ann Arbor, Russ was an active member of the Native American Law Students Association, serving as President during the 1991-1992 academic year. Russ earned his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Kansas in 1989, where he was recognized as a Summerfield Scholar. Tedd Buelow Tedd Buelow is one of two national Native American Coordinators for USDA Rural Development. Tedd returned to USDA from the Treasury Department in November of 2005. While at Treasury he worked for the CDFI Fund as an analyst with the Native American programs. Prior to that, he was a desk officer, serving the Northwest Region for USDA Rural Development’s Community Development Programs. Tedd began his federal career as a volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in the Eastern High Atlas National Park in Morocco. He and his wife live in Colorado where they are raising their two sons. Chairman Jonodev Chaudhuri Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri (Muscogee (Creek)) was nominated by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in April, 2015.