Ceremony held for GRRC Pathways Mentorship Program Graduate

Gila River Resorts & Casinos (GRRC) celebrates another graduate from their Pathways Mentorship Program, developed to assist Gila River Indian Community members who are employed with GRRC, to learn and develop career opportunities within the gaming enterprise.

Crystal Rodriguez, District 6, completed her first year of the two-year Pathways Mentorship program and was joined by GRRC leadership, staff, colleagues, family, and friends for a celebration on Dec. 19.

Rodriguez, has over 20 years of experience in gaming, with ten of those years in a management role. She’s held numerous positions within the Gila River Gaming Enterprise (GRGE) and the Gila River Indian Community, including security, surveillance, gaming inspector, and internal auditor. She also holds a Master of Business Administration Degree in Management and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice.  

Most recently, Rodriguez has been surveillance site manager for the Wild Horse Pass Resort & Casino, GRRC’s largest property. Now she begins a new role as Assistant Director mentee for the Marketing Department. 

“It’s been really exciting; special shout out to senior leadership, to Mr. [Kenneth] Manuel, most importantly, and to all the departments who have helped me along the way to be where I’m at today,” said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez shared that gaming has always been a passion of hers and she didn’t want to step away from that completely. She chose marketing because it will still allow her to work with many aspects of the enterprise.

“Marketing touches every department, they work with gaming, they work with operations, whether that’s food and beverage, slots, table games, bingo, all of those things, even back of house stuff,” said Rodriguez. “I felt like this was the best place that I was going to get value in when it came to my growth.”

“I think she’s going to do great in marketing because she’s very much a visionary; she goes with the overall goal of bringing entertainment to our community and to the surrounding communities as well,” said friend and former co-worker Darius Pedro. “I know she’ll do great.”

The Pathways Mentorship Program offers its mentees a unique opportunity to learn about every aspect of the enterprise and its departments. Program participants spend one-year shadowing different departments that comprise the GRRC operations.