Nevada Mining Association

Mining is Nevada’s original STEM industry and has been an essential part of the Silver State since before statehood.  Much has changed over the past 150 years, but mining continues to play an important role in the state.  From providing high-paying jobs with one of the lowest injury rates in the state, to responsible environmental stewardship, to producing more than 20 minerals that make our modern lives possible, Nevada Mining Association president Dana Bennett will provide an overview on what 21^st century mining means for Nevada.

Dana Bennett is President of the Nevada Mining Association.  Before joining the Association in 2014, she served as the Northern Nevada Regional Director for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.  After earning a BA and MA in history, she began her policy career by working for the Nevada Legislature for nearly a decade where she staffed committees concerned with state and local government operations, technology in education, health care, and public lands.  Between her tenures in the legislative and executive branches, she spent several years in the private sector, operating a policy research business and employed as a legislative advocate with clients in mining, educational innovation, broadcasting, and insurance, among others.  

With an abiding curiosity about Nevada’s history, Dana took a break in her career to earn a PhD in history.  Her dissertation explored the intersection between women legislators and tax policy development in Nevada before 1960.  Dana has authored three books and more than 50 articles, reports, and other publications.  She currently serves on the Nevada Board of Economic Development, the Advisory Council for the Kenny Guinn Center for Policy Priorities, the Advisory Board for WGU-Nevada, and the Board of Trustees for the Western States Arts Federation.