2011 GREAT WOMEN OF GAMING
Judge
Lynn “Nay” Valbuena
Vice Chairwoman
San Manuel Band of Mission Indians
Lynn “Nay” Valbuena is Vice Chairwoman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in southern California. She has held numerous elected positions within the tribal government, including a term as Chairwoman and member of the Business Committee, which is responsible for overseeing daily tribal governmental operations.
In addition to her tribal government duties, Valbuena is serving her 16th year as Chairwoman of the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations (TASIN), a consortium of 10 federally recognized Indian tribes within the Central Judicial U.S. District in California. She is the longest-tenured officer of the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA), having served seven, two-year terms as Secretary and remains as the San Manuel delegate. She has served as San Manuel's delegate to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) for 19 years, serves as delegate to the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA), and has been a member of the Advisory Council for the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of California for 13 years.
Valbuena was appointed to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Indian Board of Trustees; she began her first three-year term Jan. 1, 2009. She serves in a similar capacity with the Los Angeles-based Autry National Center, an intercultural history center that celebrates the American West through three important institutions including the Southwest Museum of the American Indian. In 2011, she joined the advisory board for Capitol Weekly, the newspaper of California Government and Politics.
She has served on numerous boards and advisory councils. Among them are the San Bernardino Valley Lighthouse for the Blind, Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health, the Native American Advisory Committee - UC Riverside, YMCA of San Bernardino.
Valbuena has received numerous awards and distinctions throughout her career, including 2011 San Bernardino County Safety Employee’s Benefit Association Distinguished Benefactor Honoree, 2010 California Assemblyman Bill Emmerson’s California Woman of Distinction, NIGA’s John Kieffer Award, Former California Assemblyman Joe Baca’s “Woman of the Year,” and one of the “Business Women of the Year” from the Inland Empire Business Journal, Women Empowering Women for Indian Nations (WEWIN) Honoree and recipient of the NIGA Chairman’s Leadership Award.
Valbuena is a popular public speaker sought by groups and organizations. She maintains a busy schedule of engagements throughout California and the United States.
Copyright 2011, Great Women of Gaming. All rights reserved.
