Kimberly Van Amburg has cause to celebrate, recently named CEO of Casino del Sol, Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s gaming enterprise. Van Amburg joins the ranks of only a handful of females to hold the title of CEO in Indian gaming. This July she was appointed as interim CEO, and the tribal council has seen enough to take away the “interim” in her title.
This rise to the top for her started seven years ago, when she began as the tribe’s Assistant Attorney General for Gaming. Rather quickly, she moved to casino employee from tribal employee, with responsibilities over operational departments. She stated, “Over the years, as each transition took place, I was given a bit more responsibility and when the opportunity to move up came this summer, I took it. I knew the people, knew what we do well, and what we still need to work on, and it’s been a pretty smooth transition.” Her responsibilities include, but are not limited to, leading the entire casino team operation, as well as taking the helm in a variety of strategic initiatives.
Former CEO Wendell Long finds Van Amburg to be the perfect fit for this position, and considers her an intelligent women with a strong knowledge on the business. “Her legal training will be an asset in solving the complex challenges of running a major casino,” Long stated.
Establishing employee confidence is the short-term goal, as many recent personnel changes may have shaken things up a bit. According to Van Amburg, her focus has been on getting the right team members in place in key departments. She feels they are on track to building the right team to get the property where it deserves to be. At the end of the day, the short and long term goals are rather simple, as she says her marching orders are “Go forth and make dollars to stabilize the operation.”
