Office of the Commissioner

Jeannie Hovland, an enrolled member of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, is the Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans (ANA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ANA promotes self-sufficiency for Native Americans by providing discretionary grant funding for community-based projects as well as training and technical assistance.

Hovland oversees ANA’s discretionary funding programs to American Indians, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders; serves as an advocate for Native Americans; and coordinates activities within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop policies, programs, and budgets affecting Native Americans all under the authority of the Native American Programs Act.

As Commissioner, Hovland serves in the dual role of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Native American Affairs, affirming the government-to-government relationship between the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and Indian tribes.

Since her confirmation in June 2018, she has visited with hundreds of tribal leaders and community members in dozens of Native communities for listening sessions and tribal visits. In August 2018, the Commissioner testified before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to advocate for Native American language preservation and maintenance, and again on February 27, 2019 to promote social and economic development in Native American communities. In September 2019, she testified to the House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States on the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. In November 2019, she was appointed to the Federal Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Hovland chairs several advisory councils, including the ACF Native American Affairs Advisory Council and the Secretary’s HHS Intradepartmental Council on Native American Affairs (ICNAA). She serves as an advisor to the Secretary and provides advice, opinions, and reviews policies affecting Native Americans while addressing issues of importance to tribal communities through partnership with all of the HHS Operating and Staffing Divisions.

Prior to her appointment, Hovland served as senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior. Hovland has also served as the tribal affairs advisor to Senator John Thune (R-SD) for more than 12 years. Hovland played a key role in advocating for legislation at the requests of Indian tribes on such issues as agriculture, services for law enforcement and veterans, and quality access to healthcare. She worked to develop legislation such as the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and the Code Talker Recognition Act of 2008.

Prior to her time in public service, Hovland was CEO of Wanji Native Nations Consultants which offered training services for Tribal programs and Tribal governments.

Mirtha Beadle serves as Senior Policy Advisor to the Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) where she provides strategic advice on ANA’s efforts to improve the well-being of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native American communities. She is charged with contributing to the Commissioner’s extensive consultations with Tribal Leaders, collaboration with Tribal leaders on the Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) Tribal Advisory Committee, and leadership of the ACF Native American Affairs Advisory Council to ensure these efforts yield improvements for Indigenous communities. Ms. Beadle contributes to ANA’s efforts focused on responding to the tragedies of missing and murdered American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Americans and human trafficking. She is also charged with advancing ANA’s collaborations with urban Indian organizations and coordinating ANA’s policy and program internal think tanks. She also currently serves as the Acting Deputy Commissioner.

Prior to joining ANA, Ms. Beadle held several roles at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), including serving as the first Director of the Office of Tribal Affairs and Policy, Deputy Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and Deputy Administrator for Operations, SAMHSA. Before that, she served as the Deputy Director of the Office of Minority Health within the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, she was the principal advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health in planning, developing, and implementing policies, programs, and activities to achieve the Secretary’s goals for improving the health of American Indians and Alaska Natives, African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders and eliminating health disparities.

Ms. Beadle emigrated from Cuba at a young age and holds a Master of Public Administration from Western Michigan University and a Bachelor of Science in Management Systems from the College of Technology at Andrews University.

Division of Program Operations

Carmelia (Mia) Strickland is the Director of the Division of Program Operations. She has more than 15 years of professional experience in the financial assistance field and previously held positions at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Secretary. She gained invaluable experiences in grant management and operations while working in the private sector at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), a non-profit organization representing the nation’s Tribal Colleges and Universities, and CSR, Incorporated, a government contractor.

Ms. Strickland started her career as a Legislative Assistant for a Member of Congress where she developed an appreciation for federal assistance programs, especially for policy and programs that affected Native communities. Ms. Strickland attended the University of South Florida, Tampa, for two years and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Maryland – College Park. She is a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and has one son who graduated from high school in 2012. She is the oldest daughter of W.J. and Barbara Strickland, both enrolled members of the Lumbee Tribe.

Division of Program Evaluation and Planning

Amy Zukowski, an Alaska Native, is the Director of the Division of Program Evaluation and Planning. She has worked at ANA since 2009 in several capacities – Impact Evaluator, Program Specialist and Project Manager. Her career has been primarily in Native American affairs, health care, and environmental preservation on Capitol Hill, as a lobbyist and policy specialist for several non-profit organizations.

Amy graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Government and Politics, specializing in International Environmental Affairs. In 2005, Amy took a sabbatical, attended culinary school, and cooked in fine dining restaurants in Washington, DC.

To learn more about ANA's operating divisions and staff, visit our team page.