| Office: | Vice Chair of National Indian Gaming Commission |
| President: | Joe Biden |
| Term Start: | January 17, 2021 |
| Office2: | Commissioner for the Administration for Native Americans |
| President2: | Donald Trump |
| Term Start2: | June 21, 2018 |
| Term End2: | January 16, 2021 |
| Predecessor2: | Lillian Sparks |
| Successor2: | Patrice Kunesh |
Jeannie Hovland is a Santee Dakota Sioux tribal member and an American government official. Hovland serves as the vice chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission and is the director of the Office of Self-Regulation. She was previously the commissioner for the Administration for Native Americans and deputy assistant secretary for Native American affairs.[1] [2]
Hovland is an enrolled member of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.[3] She attended Associate Schools Inc. Travel Agent School in North Miami Beach, Florida.[4] [5]
Hovland is a Republican, and began her career as the CEO of Wanji Native Nations Consultants. She later worked in the office of U.S. Senator John Thune as a Tribal Affairs Advisor. Hovland went on to serve as senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior.[6]
Since August 2021, Hovland has served as vice chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC). She is one of three commissioners responsible for regulating and ensuring the integrity of the morethan 527 Indian gaming facilities, associated with over 250 tribes across 29 states.
Before joining NIGC, Hovland served as Commissioner of the Administration forNative Americans providing oversight of a $57 million annual operating budgetto promote self-sufficiency for American Indians, Alaska Natives, NativeHawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Hovland oversaw discretionary grants thatsupport social and economic development, Native language restoration andrevitalization, and environmental regulatory enhancement. Hovland created theSocial and Economic Development Strategies for Growing Organizationsprogram, which provides funding to strengthen internal governance structures andbuild capacity for tribes and tribal organizations. She also served as DeputyAssistant Secretary for Native American Affairs at the Administration forChildren and Families (ACF), a $58 billion operating division under the Department of Health and Human Services(HHS). Hovland provided expert and "culturally appropriate" advice to the Assistant Secretary in the formulation of policy,positions, and strategies affecting Native Americans.
Hovland chaired the HHS Secretary’s Intradepartmental Council on Native American Affairs (ICNAA), serving as anadvisor to the Secretary, addressing issues of importance to tribal communities through partnerships with all of HHSdepartments. Hovland helped bring national awareness to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Native American’sthrough her role on the ICNAA as well as through her participation on the Presidential Taskforce, Operation LadyJustice. Under Hovland’s leadership, as chair of the ACF Native American Affairs Advisory Committee, composed ofACF leadership and in partnership with the ACF Tribal Advisory Committee, the ACF Missing and Murdered NativeAmericans - A Public Health Framework for Action was published in October 2020.
In her previous role as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior,Hovland provided strategic recommendations to the Assistant Secretary on issues related to land leases, access toquality water, land into trust status, and energy and economic development issues.