Urban Giff

Urban was born in the village of Santa Cruz and grew up in Komatke, a village on the north side of the Gila River. He attended St. John’s Indian Mission School at Komatke. He then attended Arizona State University at Tempe, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture in 1960. Urban served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves as an enlisted man from 1953 to 1960 and as a U.S. Marine Corps officer from 1960 to 1980. He served in command and staff positions in the United States and in foreign countries including Vietnam. He was transferred to the retired officers’ list with the rank of Major in 1980.

Urban was selected as Operations Manager of the Gila River Indian Community in 1981 and held that position until 1986 when he was appointed as Community Manager. He retired as Community Manager in February 2006. He has previously served as an Other Disciplines representative for the U.S. Department of Labor's Native American Employment and Training Council. From 1994 to 2002, he was a Director on the Board of the Arizona Town Hall. And in 2005, he was appointed, by Arizona Governor Napolitano, to the Governor’s Council on Workforce Policy. He continues to serve on the Board of Directors of the Lone Butte Industrial Development Corporation, and he has been a member of the NCAIED Board of Directors since 1995. [Source: The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development]