For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Mavis Harris
(202) 632-7003
NIGC’s Office of General Counsel’s core leadership team is now complete
WASHINGTON, DC, Thursday, February 27, 2020 – The National Indian Gaming Commission has filled both Associate General Counsel positions. It has been some time since the OGC’s core leadership team operated at a full capacity to assist the NIGC achieve its regulatory mission.
“We are excited to have Rea Cisneros and Sharon Avery serving together as Associate General Counsels for the Commission,” says Michael Hoenig.
Rea Cisneros has served as Associate General Counsel since January of 2019. Rea, an enrolled member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, graduated with her Juris Doctorate from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Rea started as a Staff Attorney at the NIGC and served in that role for approximately four and a half years before receiving a promotion to Associate General Counsel. Prior to working at the NIGC, Rea was an Associate Attorney at a small boutique Indian law firm, which provided executive and legislative representation to tribes.
Sharon Avery joined the NIGC as Associate General Counsel in January of 2020. She is a citizen of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan and earned her Juris Doctorate with Certificate in Indian law from Michigan State University. She most recently served as General Counsel of Tribal Operations for the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan.
“Filling leadership roles in the Office of General Counsel supports the commitment to accountability that a healthy organization requires. The Commission is fortunate to have a General Counsel with a proven reputation in the Indian gaming industry and accomplished Deputy Associate General Counsels,” said Chairman E. Sequoyah Simermeyer. “I am pleased to both maintain and welcome such talented professionals.”
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The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act created the National Indian Gaming Commission to support tribal self-sufficiency and the integrity of Indian gaming. NIGC oversees the efficient regulation of 520 gaming establishments operated by 247 tribes across 29 states.
