Next Generation
Redding Rancheria Builds Legacy of Female Leadership…
In the 1970s, workers at Labyris Bookstore in New York City coined the phrase “The Future is Female.” Around the same time on the other side of the country, the Inter-Tribal Council of California had begun challenging the government’s termination of a number of tribes, including the Redding Rancheria. Parallel to the birth of the feminist movement, so too eventually came the reinstatement of rights to Indigenous populations. When the Redding Rancheria formally adopted its Constitution in 1987, Barbara Murphy became the Tribe’s first chief executive officer. In 2004, Tracy Edwards took the helm. And, as part of a leadership team with Chief Operating Officer Stacey Carman and Chief Financial Officer Tamra Olson, these three women have led Rancheria operations for well over two decades. They have worked and raised families within the walls of the Rancheria offices on Redding Rancheria Road – and now a new generation of women is entering leadership positions within the Tribe and paving a way forward. At the Redding Rancheria, the past, the present, and most certainly the future is fundamentally female.
“My aunt (Carman) has been one of the most influential people in my life,” says Dani Hayward, senior director of human resources. “It’s been amazing that I’ve gotten to see her work and Tracy’s work up close and personal and learn how they make decisions. They create a very healthy environment where I feel I can ask all these questions.”
Having these accessible role models has been pivotal to her growth, says Hayward. After earning a bachelor’s degree in geography and environmental studies from UCLA, Hayward began her career at the Rancheria and worked her way up to become the director of human resources. With more than 700 employees combined between the Tribal Offices and Win-River Casino, the Redding Rancheria is one of the largest employers in Shasta County.
“I love the people that I work with. It is a joy to come to work,” says Hayward. “I’m contributing to the future of the Tribe and that feels good because the Tribe has given me every single thing that I have in my life. I chose to stay because I love my people, and I want to be there with
my people.”
This sentiment is also echoed by Miranda Edwards Favorite, senior director of organizational communications, who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Stanford University and a master’s degree from San Francisco State University before returning to Redding to work for the Rancheria.
“When the time was right, the time was right and it felt like the right time to come back and be in the Tribal community,” says Favorite. “I was glad that I had a place. And I felt like I was welcomed with open arms. You get to bring that knowledge back and help us where we need it.”
For both women, a childhood rooted in proximity and exposure to the Tribal Offices made the transition into working for the Tribe as adults much easier.
“The office that I’m in now actually was my mom’s office,” says Favorite, the daughter of CEO Tracy Edwards. “I have pictures of when I was a kid sitting at my mom’s desk typing on her computer when she worked there. Kids in the office is kind of just how it is. It’s very familiar. I was that kid. That was the norm for me.”
Creating an environment that fosters a healthy work-life balance has been a through line of the Rancheria’s female leadership for a long time, Favorite says.
“The healthy work-life balance and the flexibility is because our three executives were working moms and they understand what it’s like to have a family and be very dedicated to your work and the tension that comes with that,” Favorite says.
Both Hayward and Favorite attribute their growth in leadership roles to a philosophy of encouragement rather than rites of passage from Edwards, Carman and Olson, the mindset being that each generation has an easier time than that of their predecessor. It’s something both Hayward and Favorite hope to pass on in their own ways.
“My daughter dances in the Pow Wow,” says Hayward. “I want to make my kids aware of their culture and how important it is, and this is our way of life. Bringing them to it will make them a part of it more and who they are as people. I want my daughter to be a doctor for the Tribe one day.”
“I hope that people like Dani and I can pick up where they left off and keep pushing the envelope as far as we can in our capacity,” says Favorite. “They’re building us up to pass the torch and trust us with that. It’s not always a smooth or easy transition, but that’s always their goal – to leave it better than when they came and I want to do that as well.” •
Article Written by:
Jill Tydor is a Baton Rouge, Louisiana native who has chosen the North State as her home. She is a writer and marketer with an MFA from California College of the Arts. Jill enjoys traveling, sunny days, and spicy food.
