Derrick Watchman named chairman of Native American Bank board

Derrick Watchman’s rise to chairman of Native American Bank’s board puts a Navajo finance executive at the controls of one of Indian Country’s most important capital channels. The bank says more than 96% of its loans go to Native borrowers, and its next phase now rests with a leader whose career has moved through gaming, energy, banking and tribal economic development across the Navajo Nation and beyond.

Native American Bank announced May 29 that Watchman, a Navajo businessman and longtime executive, had been selected to succeed Kent Paul, who stepped down after 22 years as board chair. Paul had been involved with the bank since it launched in 2001 and joined the board in 2003. Under his leadership, the bank grew to nearly $400 million in assets and maintained an “outstanding” Community Reinvestment Act rating for more than 20 years, a record that made the transition more than a routine board change. For Apache County, where credit can determine whether a small business opens, a chapter project advances or a community facility gets built, the chairmanship carries real economic weight.

The bank describes itself as the only multi-Tribally-owned community development bank in the United States and a certified Community Development Financial Institution. That status matters because it positions the institution to finance projects that conventional lenders often overlook, including Tribes, Tribal enterprises, Alaska Native corporations, villages and small business owners. Watchman’s background suggests the board is leaning toward a chair who can connect lending decisions to on-the-ground development. He is currently chief information officer of the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise, where he has also served as chief executive officer, and he owns Sagebrush Hill Group, LLC, which advises Indian Country clients on economic development and other issues.

Watchman’s resume also reaches deep into mainstream and tribal finance. He previously served as vice president and senior relationship manager at JP Morgan Chase Bank’s Native American Banking Group, worked in Wells Fargo Bank’s Native American gaming, banking and finance group, and served as chief operating officer and general manager of the Navajo Nation’s Dinè Power Authority. He also held the Navajo Tax Director post and served as a Tribal Affairs Director at the U.S. Department of Energy. The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission has said Watchman has more than 35 years of commercial and tribal business experience, and that the Navajo Nation gaming enterprise expanded to three casinos employing more than 1,700 people during his leadership. He also chairs the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development board and serves as vice chairman of Native American Bancorporation. For borrowers and tribal leaders in Apache County and the Navajo Nation, the appointment signals a bank chair who knows how capital, governance and development deals intersect, and who now has a larger platform to shape where that capital flows.