Mr. Rixner has a B.A. degree from Duquesne University and MSW from University of Maryland. He has served as the Mental Health Director for the IHS Hospital on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation for four years and the Winnebago IHS Hospital for twenty years. He was also Director of Siouxland Mental Health Center in Sioux City, Iowa for twenty years retiring in 2017. Mr. Rixner is currently the EAP counselor for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, serves as the Board of Directors Chairperson for the Winnebago Comprehensive Health Care System and Chairperson of the Governing Body for the Twelve Clans Unity Hospital.

Mr. Rixner was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Jim has been married to Bernadette for just over fifty years and they are proud parents of three sons and nine grandchildren.

Ann Marie Bledsoe Downes is the Executive Vice President of Community Impact and Engagement at Ho-Chunk, Inc. She previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs for Policy and Economic Development for the U.S. Department of the Interior. She also served as Interim Director of the Bureau of Indian Education. Ms. Bledsoe Downes was the Executive Director of the Indian Legal Program (ILP) at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and prior to that role, served as the Director of Graduate Programs for the ILP. 

She worked as Policy Advisor for Tribal Affairs for Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano from 2003-2004.  Ms. Bledsoe Downes served as President of Little Priest Tribal College from 2000-2003, and as Interim President in 2013.  Ms. Bledsoe Downes received a B.A. from Wayne State College and a J.D. from Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. She is an enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.

Ms. Kitcheyan holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Haskell Indian Nations University. Her work has been focused on national advocacy for systematic changes to the Indian Health Service and overall improved healthcare outcomes for tribal health organizations. Ms. Kitcheyan is Chair of the National Indian Health Board and Chair of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tribal Advisory Committee.

Ms. Kitcheyan is an enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska serving on Winnebago Tribal Council since May of 2015.

Mr. White was elected for a 3- year term on the Winnebago Tribal Council, and serves as Chairman.  Mr. White graduated from the Winnebago High School in 1964 and went on to attend Haskell Indian Nations University.  Mr. White joined the armed services and is a Vietnam Veteran.  He has approximately 44 years’ experience in management and has retired from federal service.  He has worked for the BIA, Indian Health Services, and the Department of Housing & Urban Development.  Mr. White also has approximately 10 years’ experience with casino management. 

Mr. White was born in Winnebago, Nebraska on the Winnebago Reservation.  He is an enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. 

Rowen K. Zetterman, MD is an internist, gastroenterologist, and hepatologist and an Emeritus Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) where he is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Strategic Planning.  He is a former Chair of the Board of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), Dean Emeritus, Creighton University School of Medicine and was the Chief of Staff for the Nebraska-Western Iowa VA Health Care System. 

Dr. Zetterman has served in leadership positions as President of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), Chair of both the Board of Governors and the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians (ACP), as President of the Metropolitan Omaha Medical Society (MOMS), as President of the Nebraska Medical Association (NMA), and as a delegate to the American Medical Association (AMA) where he is past-chair of the AMA Council on Legislation. He is a recipient of the Alfred Stengel Award for Outstanding Service (ACP), the Berk-Fise Clinical Achievement Award (ACG), the Distinguished Service to Medicine Award (NMA), and the Chapter Centennial Legacy Award (Nebraska ACP Chapter).