Mr. Bird is a Santo Domingo-San Juan Pueblo Indian from New Mexico. Mr. Bird has over 25 years of public health experience in the areas of medical social work, substance abuse prevention, health promotion and disease prevention, HIV/AIDS prevention, behavioral health, and health care administration.

Mr. Bird most recently served as the Director of Region 6 for Native Americans with ValueOptions-New Mexico (VONM), a national for-profit behavioral health company. From 2001 to 2005, he served as Executive Director of the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center (NNAAPC). At NNAAPC, he increased and strengthened the provision of technical assistance in HIV prevention programs for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.

For 20 years, Mr. Bird was with the United States Public Health Service (USPHS), Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to leaving IHS, Mr. Bird was the Director of Preventive Health Programs for the Santa Fe Service Unit and the Albuquerque Area office. He also served with the Office of Tribal Activities and Office of Planning and Evaluation.

Mr. Bird was President of the American Public Health Association from 2000 to 2001. He is the first American Indian, and social worker, to serve as President in APHA's history. He is also Past President of the New Mexico Public Health Association, and was a fellow in the USPHS Primary Care Policy Fellowship.

He has also been involved in numerous health disparities projects and programs on a local, tribal, national and international level. Most recently, he was named to serve on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Urban Indian Health Commission.

Mr. Bird earned his Master's in Social Work (MSW) degree from the University of Utah, and Master's in Public Health (MPH) at the University of California, Berkeley.