James "Chris" Redman

James "Chris" Redman is the acting regional director for the Great Plains Region. He started his career in behavioral health as a childcare specialist, juvenile case manager, and home-based therapist. He has also held supervisory roles in vocational rehabilitation.

Redman has served the Chickasaw Nation in various capacities between 1998 and 2005. He was the manager of the vocational rehabilitation and chemical dependency programs, special assistant to Lt. Governor Jefferson Keel, director of Carter Seminary (now Chickasaw Children's Village in Kingston, OK), and administrator over the Tribe's Division of Education.

In 2005, Redman accepted the position of education planning specialist at the Department of the Interior Central Office with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). In 2007, he was reassigned to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Anadarko, Oklahoma, for an HR recruitment/analyst position. However, he returned to BIE and was promoted to education program manager in 2008. With BIE, Redman administered federal grants and contracts to Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities. Redman was selected and served as the 6th president of Haskell Indian Nations University from 2011 to 2013.

Afterward, Redman returned to the Chickasaw Nation and was appointed executive officer of self-determination by Governor Anoatubby. This role placed him in charge of Tribal Self-Governance, Light Horse Police, Tribal Policy, and Tribal Citizenship from 2013-2015.

Following this appointment, Redman held other public service roles with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services Division of Aging and the City of Tulsa Housing Authority. He returned to federal service in 2017 to BIA’s Eastern Region as superintendent for the Seminole Agency in Hollywood, FL before assuming his current role in 2021.

Redman earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Oral Roberts University and two master’s degrees – one in Human Relations and another later in Higher Education Administration at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Kansas, respectively.

Redman is a native of Oklahoma and a member of the Unconquered and Unconquerable Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.