Stephanie Deel
Stephanie Deel is an experienced regulatory professional with more than 18 years of service in the Indian gaming regulatory industry. She currently serves as a Licensing Manager at the SRPMIC Regulatory Agency, where she leads and oversees a licensing division responsible for ensuring compliance with tribal ordinances, state/tribal gaming compacts, and federal regulatory requirements. In this role, she manages employee and vendor licensing processes, guides investigative work related to gaming operations, and ensures proper enforcement of alcohol licensing and compliance standards under Arizona liquor laws.
Throughout her career at the SRPMIC Regulatory Agency, she has held progressive roles including Licensing Investigator II, where she conducted investigations into potential violations of civil, criminal, and gaming regulations, reviewed casino operational records for compliance, and prepared formal findings for agency leadership. Her earlier professional experience includes serving as a Probation Officer with the County of Los Angeles Probation Department, which helped establish her strong foundation in investigative work, case management, and public safety enforcement.
She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Criminal Justice/Police Science from Arizona State University and a Master’s in Indigenous Law from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, reflecting her specialization in regulatory systems and tribal governance. She is actively engaged in professional development through membership in organizations such as Global Gaming Women and the Certified Fraud Association, where she is currently pursuing certification. Her work is grounded in a commitment to regulatory integrity, mentorship, and strengthening professional standards within tribal gaming operations, while she also values community involvement and cultural exchange through volunteer service and personal interests in travel and nature.
• Arizona State University - BASc
• Global Gaming Women
• Certified Fraud Association
• Arizona State University Native American Alumni Association
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to the women who have previously been in gaming and who led the way into their current positions. When I first started in gaming, I saw women excel and progress into leadership positions, and that really inspired me. Seeing their success helped me make the decision to stay in Indian gaming and continue to build a legacy guiding organizations and strengthening the professionalism and dedication in this field. Those women showed me what was possible and gave me a path to follow.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is to learn to balance your work life and your professional life. Sometimes when you're in a position in your professional work, it may be strenuous, and you may have big project deadlines. But you also need to learn to maintain and keep a healthy balance and not be always consumed with work life, because those projects are always going to be there. Life, in general, moves so fast, and you don't want to miss things that are important and miss out on things that you don't want to have regrets about later on.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
One piece of advice I would give is that Native American women play a vital role in Indian gaming because we bring a lot of leadership, we bring cultural knowledge, we bring integrity, and we bring community-focused values that strengthen tribal governments and gaming operations. Along with that, in gaming, we help preserve tribal sovereignty, we protect cultural traditions, and we ensure that gaming revenues support future generations. So my advice is to recognize the important role you play and the unique strengths you bring to this industry.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges in our field right now are keeping up with the current times, particularly with cybersecurity. Indian gaming faces a lot of cybersecurity threats, and I think we need more women in cybersecurity to help protect the integrity of Indian gaming. This is a critical area where we need to strengthen our defenses and bring more expertise to safeguard our operations.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
In my work, the most important values are having the strength to maintain fairness, accountability, and ethical standards for tribal gaming. This really helps balance out the economic development and cultural values of the people within the community. In my personal life, the values are the same. It's about being an authentic person and treating others how you want to be treated, with respect. I carry those same values of respect and authenticity into my professional career as well.