NIC Staff

Executive Director

smontooth@nic.nv.gov
775-687-7601

Stacey Montooth, a citizen of the Walker River Paiute Nation, is the Executive Director of the Nevada Indian Commission (NIC), appointed by Governor Steve Sisolak on Sept. 1, 2019. Under recently elected Governor Joe Lombardo, Montooth continues as the liaison between our 28 federally recognized Tribal Nations, Bands, Colonies, and 62,000+ Urban Indians who choose to make Nevada their second home. She is a member of Governor Lombardo’s cabinet.

The NIC was created by statute in 1965 to “study matters affecting the social and economic welfare and well-being of American Indians residing in Nevada” and serves as the liaison between Tribal communities, Tribal citizens, and the State.

A direct descendent of a survivor of the Stewart Indian School, Montooth is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She has spent over a decade in service to Nevada Tribes. From 2012-2019, Montooth worked at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony as that Tribe’s first public relations/ community information officer. During her six-year tenure, she organized community events and implemented communications plans and campaigns on behalf of tribes and thousands of Native Americans. Montooth also served as a crucial liaison for press inquiries as well as legislation involving key tribal issues, including health care and taxation.

Upon returning to Northern Nevada in 2007, Montooth was the Indian Education liaison for her alma mater, Churchill County High in Fallon, Nev. Prior to returning home to the Great Basin, Montooth spent nearly 12 years working in community relations, primarily in higher education and college athletics.

Program Officer

snez@nic.nv.gov
775-687-8333

Sarina Nez, a citizen of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California, who has worked for the State of Nevada for over a decade, joined the Nevada Indian Commission as its office coordinator, and was recently promoted to program officer.

“I am honored to join such a talented and inspiring team,” Nez said. “I look forward to continuing the work the Nevada Indian Commission has initiated to better the lives of our Native People.”

Of both Washoe and Paiute descendant, Nez was born and raised in Carson City, Nev.  With 14 years of Nevada State Government experience, she began her public service career in 2007 with the Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR), and most recently worked with the Office of Governor Steve Sisolak.

She is a graduate of Carson City High and holds two Associate Degrees from Western Nevada College.

The great granddaughter of Henry Moses Rupert, one of the first graduates of the Stewart Indian School, Nez’s family ties to the school include many aunts, uncles, cousins, and various relatives working and living at Stewart. Currently, the Nevada Indian Commission’s office is located on this historic campus.

 

Museum Director

Stewart Indian School Cultural Center and Museum
brahder@nic.nv.gov
775-687-7606

Bobbi Rahder is honored to be the museum director for the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum since May 2017. Rahder previously worked as director of the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum for 13 years, at Haskell Indian Nations University, a former federal government boarding school called Haskell Institute, in Lawrence, Kan. She also has worked as a museum professional in other museums in Nebraska and Kansas and has taught museum studies classes at the undergraduate level at Haskell and at the graduate level at the University of Kansas. Rahder has curated many exhibitions and educational programs interpreting museum collections. She has a master’s degree in museum studies and is working on a PhD in American Studies from the University of Kansas.

Curator III

cgibbons@nic.nv.gov
775-687-7604

Chris Ann Gibbons began with the Nevada Indian Commission in 2005 and is currently the Curator for the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum. As Curator, Chris is responsible for the organizing and preserving of the archival documents, photographs, and artifacts that tell Stewart’s history. Chris feels very fortunate to be part of the team responsible for opening the Cultural Center & Museum in December 2019. Chris is a graduate of Southern Oregon University with a Bachelor’s degree in History and minors in both Native American Studies and Art History. In addition, she holds a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from the University of Oklahoma. Before coming to the Commission, Chris worked in educational outreach and programming for the Southern Oregon Historical Society.

Grant Coordinator

jdavis@nic.nv.gov

Janet Davis began with the Nevada Indian Commission in July of 2023 and is currently the grant administrator for the Nevada Indian Commission. In her capacity as a two-year, contract employee, Davis will administer $20 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to all of Nevada’s Tribes as the NIC received this money from the Governor’s Recovery Funds in December of 2022.

Davis, a retired educator, was a community liaison and afterschool coordinator for 30 years at Natchez Elementary School in Wadsworth, Nev. In 2020, Davis was elected to a two-year term as the Chairwoman of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Nation.

Further, Davis currently serves on the National Not Invisible Act Commission, making recommendations to the Department of the Interior and Department of Justice to improve

intergovernmental coordination and establish best practices for state-tribal-federal law enforcement to combat the epidemic of missing persons, murder and trafficking of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives.