Sam Penney is a member of the Nez Perce Tribe and serves as a Member of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee (NPTEC), the governing body of the Nez Perce Tribe.
He was first elected to the NPTEC in 1989 and is currently serving his tenth three-year term on NPTEC; fourteen years as Chairman, and four years as Vice-Chairman. Penney has served on various boards and committees: boards of the Intertribal Monitoring Association on Indian Trust Funds, Northwest Regional delegate to the National Indian gaming Association Board of Directors, just to name a few.
On May 16, 2016, 2003 he received the President’s Medallion from the Lewis-Clark State College and on May 17, 2003 an honorary doctorate of Doctor of Administrative Science from the University of Idaho. Penney