Monica Buckle is an accomplished leader providing extensive expertise in the non-profit sector. She is an advisor and a communications strategist specializing in both Native American and Indigenous art and archaeology. She is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation.

Monica provides a Native dialogue that represents Indigenous subject matter with her cultural knowledge and inter-tribal sensitivity. She is an advocate for the sustainability and cultural continuity of Native communities and tribal sovereign nations. 

She is the Executive Director of the Verde Valley Archaeology Center and Museum in Camp Verde, Arizona. The privately funded museum is the official non-profit partner to the National Park Service for Montezuma Castle National Monument and Tuzigoot National Monument. The museum stewards an Ancestral Hopi collection comprised of 80,000 artifacts and cultural items. 

Under Monica’s leadership, the Verde Valley Archaeology Center and Museum received the 2025-2026 Institutional Award for Excellence bestowed by the Museum Association of Arizona. The award is given to a museum that has demonstrated leadership by achieving excellence in its work, including collection, preservation, research, interpretation, and education.

In 2023, Governor Hobbs of Arizona appointed Monica to the Arizona Commission on the Arts, where Monica serves as Commission Vice Chair. The Commission is an agency of the State of Arizona whose mission is to create funding and opportunities for all Arizonans to participate in and experience the arts. 

Monica also serves as a Research Associate at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Arizona. She was appointed to conduct independent research and to provide expertise and assistance to museum staff. 

She previously served as a Docent at The Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich, Connecticut. Founded and managed Monica Buckle Gallery LLC, an online art gallery with exhibition presence at New York art fairs. Worked as an Analytical Research Volunteer with Lord Cultural Resources, a global cultural consulting practice with museum planning and development services. She was the Visual Arts Coordinator and Public Relations Specialist for the American Indian Community House in New York City. Additionally, she was an Arizona Humanities Scholar and a Guest Curator with the Tucson Museum of Art in Tucson, Arizona.

Monica served two terms on the Board of Directors with the Mesa Verde Foundation in Colorado. The Mesa Verde Foundation is the official philanthropic partner to Mesa Verde National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Mesa Verde National Park protects and conserves 5,000 known Ancestral Puebloan and Native American sites.

Monica holds a Master’s Degree in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art in New York and a Bachelor of Science Degree from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Most recently, she received a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Division of Continuing Education for an in-person Professional & Executive Development course.

She has a love of horses and oversaw riding and horsemanship sessions for children, youth, adults, and veterans with disabilities and special needs at Pegasus Therapeutic Riding in Brewster, New York. 

In her spare time, Monica studies the archaeology of Ancient Egypt and its ancestral teachings.