Melanie Benjamin is currently serving her second four-year term as Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians, a federally recognized American Indian tribal government located in East Central Minnesota. One of the six constituent bands of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT), the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe has become one of the largest employers in Minnesota with more than 3,000 employees.

The daughter of George Staples and Francis Reynolds, Melanie’s childhood was spent growing up near Lake Lena in District III of the Mille Lacs Reservation, east of Hinckley. Her parents worked hard to instill in Melanie and her 11 siblings the value of hard work and the importance of education. As a young girl, her family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, as part of a worker relocation program administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). As a teenager, Melanie’s family returned to Lake Lena to live on the Mille Lacs Reservation.

Melanie graduated from the Minneapolis Vocational Technical Institute in 1979. In 1988, Melanie obtained her degree in business administration from Bemidji State University, while simultaneously working and raising her young son. Upon graduation, Melanie was hired by the MCT. She served as the Business Development Specialist and Assistant Program Director for the MCT’s Indian Business Development Center.

In 1989, Melanie was hired by the Mille Lacs Band’s late Chairman Arthur Gahbow to serve as Commissioner of Administration for the Band, which is the highest appointed position in Band government. Melanie served a dual purpose; she served as chief of staff to the Chief Executive and as the head administrator of the reservation, a position which she held for eight years. It was during these years that the Band experienced some of its most unprecedented progress.

The Band was the first tribe in the nation to negotiate a self-governance compact, an historic funding agreement providing the Band with new authorities with regard to federal funding from the BIA. The Band also filed suit against the State of Minnesota with regard to its hunting, gathering and fishing rights under the 1837 Treaty, which the Band ultimately won at the U.S. Supreme Court level in 1993. The most dynamic change for the Band, however, transpired between 1989 and1992, when the Band negotiated gaming compacts with the State of Minnesota and opened Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley.

With the growth of Indian gaming came new responsibilities for the Band’s tribal government. It was during this time that Melanie spearheaded many initiatives to partner with local businesses and governments. In 1990, Melanie was appointed by Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson to serve a two-year term on the citizen board of the Roundtable for Sustainable Development.

In 1995, Melanie rounded out her view of Indian gaming from a management perspective by serving as Senior Vice President of Administration and Finance for Grand Casino Hinckley. When the Band further diversified its economy by opening Woodlands National Bank, Melanie played a lead role in the bank and served on its board of directors.

In 2000, Melanie was elected to the position of Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. Stressing financial independence and self-determination, Melanie instituted a new home ownership program. She encouraged Band entrepreneurs with a new business loan program and provided more work for Band contractors, particularly in the area of construction. Under Melanie’s administration, the Band’s businesses have shown record profits. Also fulfilling one of her campaign promises to elevate Band members into leadership roles, every commissioner position in the Band government is now held by a member of the Mille Lacs Band.

In 2002, in acknowledgement of the Band’s responsibility as a business leader in the region, Melanie convened the first ever regional economic development summit. This meeting of local businesses, foundations, governments, and the Band started a new movement toward cooperation among the businesses of East Central Minnesota. The Mille Lacs Band has taken this model to the next step by convening and hosting a similar economic development summit for the White Earth, Leech Lake, and Red Lake bands of Chippewa, scheduled for the fall of 2006.

In 2005, Melanie led the Band in partnering with the Shakopee Mdewakanton and the Prairie Island Dakota communities in creating the Minnesota Tribal Government Foundation, which will be endowed with $50 million for the purpose of providing economic development grants to other tribes in Minnesota.

Melanie was appointed to the Affordable Housing Advisory Council of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines in 2006. The council advises the bank on housing and economic development needs in a five-state area, including the Dakotas, Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota. Other positions she currently holds include serving as a founding member and Treasurer of Women Empowering Women for Indian Nations (WEWIN), a Board Member of the Indian Law Resource Center and the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA), Vice Chair of the Tribal Executive Committee of the MCT and as Chair of the MCT Housing Subcommittee.

Melanie has an extensive record of service to many organizations and boards, which have in the past included:

• Tribal Liaison for the American Indian Resource Center at Bemidji State University.
• Bemidji State University Alumni Board of Directors.
• The Minneapolis region of the Tribal Task Force on BIA Trust Management Reform.
• Minnesota Council on Compulsive Gambling.
• Mille Lacs Band Corporate Commission Board of Directors.
• Secretary of the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA).
• Treasurer of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association (MIGA).
• Member of the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Indian Education Association.
• Member of the Board of Directors for Anishinabeg Legal Services.
• Indian Law Support Group at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder, Board of Directors.
• Council of Indian Students at Bemidji State University.

Melanie Benjamin currently resides in District I of the Mille Lacs Reservation. She has one son, Clayton Benjamin, who also lives on the reservation with his wife and three children. A proud and doting grandmother, Melanie’s spends as much time as she can with her grandchildren.