The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community continues to set the standard, not only in Indian Country, but also in the United States.

On Aug. 1, Casino Arizona and Talking Stick Resort and Casino announced Patricia Tate as their newest CEO.

Tate’s selection serves as two historic benchmarks: She is the first Community member and the first woman to serve as CEO of the two gaming enterprises.

Tate has an ample list of accolades, accomplishments and 22 years of service with Community Gaming Enterprises. Her appointment is expected to help guide the entities toward a continued prosperous future while also focusing on bettering the Community.

“It’s going really well,” said Tate to O’odham Action News a few days into her tenure as CEO.

Tate revealed she was already attending meetings and getting the opportunity to meet with the team members and out on the casino floors.

“One of the biggest challenges is really getting up to speed on the operational side, getting to know what the top priorities are,” she said. “The overall goal is to help the Community in self-sufficiency, and that’s through jobs for Community members and other Natives. Yes, you might have the right job, but once you get it, you need to perform, because that performance helps us become self-sufficient as a tribe and not reliant on federal funding. So, instead of looking at it as a corporate entity where the dollars are made and go off somewhere else, instead the dollars stay right here in the Community.”

When discussing her historic appointment, Tate acknowledged the importance of her new position but also shared how just one generation ago, things were quite different for her family.

“Being appointed CEO is truly a privilege and a great responsibility, and I don’t take it lightly. But the biggest thing for me is my mom,” said Tate. Her mother is Anna Marie Thomas Tate.

She continued, “She was brought up here, and she was shipped off to Saint Michaels when she was a young girl.”

The St. Michael Indian School was founded in 1902 by Saint Katherine Drexel and is in Saint Michaels, Arizona.

Tate compared her mother’s experience with her own. “She could not be raised by her parents, and she was forbidden to speak her language at Saint Michaels. She did not graduate from high school because as soon as she turned 18, she left for reasons everyone knows, right?” Referring to the forcible assimilation of Indigenous children by stripping them of their language, culture and traditions.

She continued, “Knowing that just one generation ago my mother experienced poverty and disrespect …, just because of ethnicity, shows what anyone can accomplish and overcome with time and dedication.”

Tate holds a master of finance and accounting degree and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. She earned her bachelor of science degree in accounting from the University of Arizona.

Tate shared a major goal of hers as she leads both enterprises. “I want to be approachable,” she said. “I want to be able to have people feel like they’re heard and really find solutions to build on our foundation to make us stronger for the future.”

She continued, “In this first year, I’m going to be doing a lot of listening and understanding. Whether it’s from the guests or team members, I’m going to be learning what their needs and wants are and then trying to figure out the resources to be able to deliver on those. Overall, we’re going to be visible and we’re going to be communicative.”

In the meantime, you can most likely find Tate out on the casino floors. Two of her favorite things are: the wide array of Indigenous art decorating both locations as well as the illuminated steps at the Palo Verde Lounge.

“Our art collection is the largest collection of Indigenous art outside of a museum which has public viewing,” Tate shared. “Back in the day, we had a self-guided tour booklet that explained the artist and art location. I’d like to put that back in place.”

What about those illuminated steps? That was her idea.

“I got the idea from the Tom Hanks movie ‘Big,’” admitted Tate, detailing the scene where Tom Hanks’ and Robert Loggia’s characters dance on a massive piano that lights up inside the FAO Schwarz toy store.

“I was like, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we had stairs that lit up, and we could program them? The architects were shocked, but it was very interesting to go through the process to figure out how that would work. Whether it’s an Arizona Cardinals or Diamondbacks game, Valentine’s Day or Pride Day, whatever holiday it may be, we can program those lights.”

She concluded, “Ultimately, we’re in the business of having fun. The team members need to have fun, and if we all enjoy our work, our guests will feel it. They will have fun themselves and come back.”