“She Says” with Stephanie Bryan
For Stephanie Bryan, Poarch Band of Creek Indians Tribal Chair and CEO, meeting challenges head on is a part of the job she embraces and values. “I have seen, firsthand, that our struggles have made us stronger. At our core, we understand that taking action when times are difficult has allowed us to survive, become more resilient, and ready ourselves for future opportunities.”
Bryan’s own path to leadership reflects those values. In her almost 20-year career in Tribal government, Stephanie has gone from being the only woman on Poarch’s 9-member Tribal Council to now leading that governing body that includes three other women council members.
Raised by a family with strong women, Stephanie was instilled with strong faith and a belief that anything was possible from an early age. In good times and bad, it was the women in her life who encouraged her to keep working toward her goals. Stephanie says that she is grateful to have the opportunity to honor those women by giving members of Poarch’s younger generations the tools they need to succeed and move on to the next phases of their lives. It is a reward, she says, that she values beyond anything money could ever buy.
In this month’s “She Says,” Tribal Chair and CEO of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Stephanie Bryan, shares with us her humble beginnings, her philosophy of life and leadership, how she works daily to improve the quality of life for her Tribal Members and Poarch’s neighbors, and her commitment to developing the next generation of women leaders.
Tell me about yourself.
I am Stephanie A. Bryan and I was raised right here in the Poarch Creek community, which located in rural Alabama about 45 minutes Northeast of Mobile. In my role, I serve as the Tribal Chair and CEO for the only federally recognized Tribe in the State of Alabama. I have seen firsthand how our Tribal community has gone from poverty to prosperity. Through it all, we have remained rooted in our history, true to our values, and focused on a future that includes doing what we can to help others. So even though we have experienced exponential growth, we never forget where we came from. Staying connected to our history helps remind us where we’re going and why.
As a little girl raised in the Poarch Creek community, we didn’t know that we didn’t have much. But we had something more than money could ever buy. We had love and unity. There were a lot of the Tribal elders who helped shape us into who we are today. They made real sacrifices, and they taught us what a good, strong work ethic was. They also worked really hard to convince us to believe in ourselves, and to be proud of our Native American heritage.
When you’re raised by strong Native American women, you have no choice but to become a strong female leader. In fact, our native culture is based on a matrilineal society. That means that our family lines are traced from the mother’s side. So, Poarch women were historically and culturally leaders.
Since I was elected as the first-ever female Chair and CEO of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, our business interests have become increasingly successful. I am proud of the decision that we made to diversify into industries beyond gaming. My Mom always warned me against putting all my eggs in one basket and you know, good common sense can really drive good decisions in business. As the saying goes, “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.” That speaks volumes to me because at one point I was the only woman in a leadership role for our Tribe.
I’m a very strong advocate for providing workforce development opportunities that will produce strong women leaders. Of course, a big part of that is a high quality education, but better-quality health care is also important to growing future generations of women who can lead. We need to think about the whole picture — all the things needed to improve one’s quality of life. It’s important to give people the tools that they need to succeed and inspire them to go and do great things.
I am coming up on 20 years of holding a leadership position in our Tribe. Along the way, I’ve been really humbled to be offered higher-paying jobs in the private sector that would have probably meant I would be forced to leave Poarch. I always turned them down. What motivates me is my passion to help improve the quality of life for our people and build economic prosperity by creating sustainable jobs for future generations. That’s incredibly fulfilling and that’s what drives me to get up every morning and try my best.
Can you expand on what it means to be a Native woman with such an important leadership role within your community?
It means a lot to me. I want other women to see me as living proof that you can beat the odds and break through those glass ceilings despite the challenges that you may face. It can be hard to navigate a man’s world as a woman, but I was raised to work hard, do for others, count your blessings on a regular basis and stay true to who you are and where you came from. I think the most inspiring, successful people are those who stay humble and want to do great things not for themselves, but for others. I believe in giving people opportunities.
For a long time, I sat around the table with eight men and I was the only woman. Several of those men knew that I was a very strong Native American woman and that when I set my mind to something, I was going to accomplish it. It has been an honor for me to see how my people believe in my leadership abilities. This trust has allowed me to continue serving and representing our Tribe, which is a sovereign nation, at the local, state, and national level. I am blessed that our people believe in my leadership, and they feel that they are in good hands.
Can you tell us a little bit more about what you do specifically to improve the quality of life for those around you?
We have developed policies based on a strategic plan that lays out what we want our next three, five, and ten years look like. When I became the Chair and CEO in 2014, we developed a ten-year strategic plan with goals to create better quality housing, better quality health care, and a better quality of education beginning with kindergarten all the way through college. I am happy to say, we are meeting those goals.
Not only have we been able to expand our health facility, but we have also created an assisted living facility for our Tribal elders. We provide lunch to over 300 elders every day. We also built a Boys and Girls Club that serves over 500 children. And we know how much these kind of services are needed in a rural community because our Tribal members children account for only 10% of the children being served there. These are just a few examples of the many programs we have created to support our Tribe and surrounding communities.
I am also proud to say that we invest in higher education for every Tribal member by providing a scholarship fund covering a substantial portion of tuition. Many of our people have used this education benefit to obtain degrees and then they’ve returned home to the reservation to work for the Tribe. We also give back to charitable organizations with whom we feel we have many commonalities, such as those focusing on health care, education, culture, and the arts.
Those areas have improved drastically since I have been a part of leadership, but I’m not the only one who supports this vision. There are nine of us in Tribal leadership and we all collectively work together on a shared vision and goals for the Tribe, whether we are looking at our gaming, hospitality, government contracting or retail businesses.
In your role as Tribal Chair, what does that mean in terms of your leadership with Wind Creek Hospitality?
Our constitution defines my dual role position as the Chair of our Tribe’s government and the CEO of its business entities. It can be quite challenging being the Chair and the CEO. The Chair portion of my responsibilities fall more on the Tribal government side where we provide benefits to the Tribal members.
Serving in the CEO capacity, I work closely with the Executive Team at Wind Creek Hospitality and Creek Indian Enterprises Development Authority (our non-gaming division). When we are talking about investing in other communities, like our recent Wind Creek expansion in the Chicago area, I go directly to the community and work to develop real relationships with leaders. These relationships are built on trust and a shared commitment to working together towards common goals, including economic development. It is important we let those leaders know we are not just making a financial investment in a hospitality business, but that we are also making an investment in their community. By understanding and collaborating with the communities in which we do business, our Tribe is able to provide better jobs, enhance education opportunities through workforce training and give back to local charitable organizations.
At the end of it all, we have an awesome team that I trust to help with the successes of our Tribe’s future. In major businesses, it is hard to find a team that you can trust and work diligently with to create economic opportunities and success.
What you do sounds a lot like what we do here at Women Employed, essentially working to ensure people have opportunities, benefits, access, and information. What would you say is your connection to our mission?
Most people don’t realize how vital a woman’s role is in the family. We give birth to children, do all the multitasking at home, and have to balance that with jobs and careers. But a lot of times, people do not know the challenges that women face and the lack of help we receive when it comes balancing a family and being in the workforce, especially when it comes to being a single mother. I was a single mom and lived in Tribal housing early in my career. If it were not for my family, my mother and my grandmother helping me, I would not have been able to raise a family, work three jobs and go to college at the same time.
When you create opportunities for a dynamic workforce, you create an atmosphere where women know they are important and that they bring value to the world, regardless of whatever challenges they may face. Whether it is needing scholarship money to reach that next educational milestone, childcare, or reliable transportation, I think the more support systems that women have, the more attainable success becomes.
I know that you are the first woman in your position, but you won’t be the last. How are you preparing the next woman to fill your shoes?
At one time, I was the only woman serving with eight men. Now, three other women are serving with me on the nine member Tribal Council. So, I know that I will not be the last woman that serves in this position.
We have a younger generation that we are preparing to take on leadership roles. And to do that, each of us knows that we have to live and work by example. When the younger generation sees a woman from the community who they know break through the glass ceiling, it encourages them to start believing in themselves and know they can do it too! And when you create confidence in people, build their self-esteem, and you give them the support they need, they then become truly unstoppable.
Women Employed is grateful to Wind Creek Chicago Southland for their generous and unanticipated donation at The Working Lunch in May, which allowed us to exceed our fundraising goals for the event, and which will help us further our mission to improve the economic status of women and remove barriers to economic equity. Wind Creek Hospitality, the principal gaming and hospitality entity for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, is developing a new casino in the Homewood and East Hazel Crest communities that will bring over 1,000 jobs to the Chicago area, many of them in supervisory and managerial levels. We are excited about their commitment to our local communities, diversity and inclusion, and working women.
