Leadership

William (Billy) Kirkland, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, is the 15th Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 7, 2025. The Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs assists the Secretary of the Interior in fulfilling the Department’s trust responsibilities to American Indian and Alaska Native Trib ...

Janel Broderick serves as the principal deputy assistant secretary for Indian Affairs. Born and raised in Alaska, Janel is passionate about people, heritage, and culture. She worked for the late-Sen. Ted Stevens, a key player in the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. She has advanced policy initiatives in numerous leadership roles, having di ...

Scott Davis, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and a descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, is serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs. He has dedicated much of his career to public service and tribal leadership. From 2009 to 2021, he served as the executive director of the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commiss ...

Kennis (Ken) Bellmard, an enrolled member of the Kaw Nation in Oklahoma, is the Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs for Policy and Economic Development. Mr. Bellmard has been a practitioner of Native America law since 1990, practicing as a tribal attorney representing tribes and tribal entities, as well as helping develop tribal economic ventures. H ...

Jason M. Bruno is the deputy assistant secretary for management for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior. He provides executive leadership over budget, finance, human capital, acquisition and facilities, and serves as a senior adviser to the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. He oversees efforts to modernize administrative operations an ...

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 ...

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 ...

Genevieve Giaccardo was appointed the Deputy Bureau Director – Office of Indian Services in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) on September 24, 2023. She previously served as the BIA Chief of Staff from August 2020, where she provided leadership support and coordination for a broad range of national and agency activities. She joined the BIA in April 2018 as ...