The Suquamish Tribe announced Wednesday that it has hired renowned Indian Country attorney Rion Ramirez to be the new CEO of Port Madison Enterprises, effective Nov. 4, 2019.

“We are thrilled to bring back Rion’s twenty-plus years of outstanding Indian Country experience to the Suquamish Tribe,” Leonard Forsman, Chairman of the Suquamish Tribe said. “In his new role, Rion will set a new strategy and direction for our economic development arm, Port Madison Enterprises, and leverage his extensive expertise to help us achieve our public policy and business initiatives.”

“Rion was an integral part of our overall growth and development at Port Madison Enterprises, and we know he is going to help us do great things at PME,” PME President Greg George added.

Ramirez departed PME to become the General Counsel of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in Connecticut in 2018 where he oversaw all legal and public policy work for the Tribe and its gaming enterprises at the Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Ramirez chairs the Democratic National Committee’s Native American Caucus and is a member of the DNC’s Executive Committee and National Finance Committee. In 2013, he was appointed by President Obama to serve on the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Ramirez received his B.A. from the University of Washington (1995), his J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law (1998), and is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Band of Indians of North Dakota.