NESPELEM, Wash. – John Gonzales, a highly respected leader in Indian country, has been named executive director of the Colville Confederated Tribes, Colville Business Council Chair Mike Marchand announced March 18.

;’We are extremely pleased that John has accepted this very important position,” Marchand said. ”He brings a wealth of experience and expertise, an understanding of the problems facing reservation communities, and the ability to help us solve those problems.”

Marchand noted that the Colville Tribes includes more than 200 governmental programs funded from tribal, state and federal moneys, and employs more than 1,000 people.

”We are an extremely complex government,” he said. ”The tribes’ executive director has enormous responsibilities for a variety of management and financial operations. We are confident that John can do that job very well.”

Gonzales currently is executive director of the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council Inc., at San Juan Pueblo, N.M. He is a past president of the National Congress of American Indians and a former governor and CEO of the San Ildefonso Pueblo. He has a master’s degree in city planning, with a specialization in regional economic planning, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in social/political science with emphasis in rural and urban studies from Stanford University.

”I am extremely pleased and humbled that the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation have selected me as their new executive director,” Gonzales said March 18. ”I commit to using my experience for the benefit of the tribes and more importantly, for all the tribal people. Throughout my career I have been guided by the most important principle that has been instilled in me – and that has been to work for the benefit of all of Indian people.”

Marchand said that Gonzales’ educational background and career experience are ”outstanding.”

”John has worked in the trenches and at the highest levels for more than two decades on the issues that affect all Indian communities.”

Gonzales most recently led a Pueblos Council project to assess area community needs, determine the programs and services required, and evaluate the effectiveness of program service delivery. He is experienced in financial management, tribal government program operations and tribal business enterprise development. He has been elected to several positions in the NCAI. He is chairman of the board of directors of the Native American Rights Fund.

”John Gonzales understands how federal Indian programs work – and why some programs fail to work – and is well acquainted with the operations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of Special Trustee,” Marchand said. ”His background in trust reform and trust management issues also is significant. We look forward to working with him on a daily basis as our new executive director.”

In addition to his extensive managerial, administrative and leadership experience, Gonzales is an accomplished artist: his unique style of pottery is readily identifiable in artists’ communities and among collectors. His wife, Carla, is a member of the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho and a former Nez Perce Tribal Executive Council member.

Gonzales will assume his new position in early Apri1.