Meet the Board

Eric Durban

With 21 years of experience at the Muckleshoot Indian Casino, Eric Durban’s skills as Chief Financial Officer translate well to his role as Treasurer for the Evergreen Council on Problem Gambling. Eric has supported ECPG since 2009 and joined the ECPG Board in 2014.

“I believe the Evergreen Council does great work within the recovery community, both as a direct provider of services and as a referral agency via their Helpline,” said Durban. “The Council is a vital link for coordination of statewide services and bringing impactful policy people to the table.”

One of the key areas for this is looking at Responsible Gaming issues in the state of Washington – with gaming industry leaders, state agencies, businesses, and organizations.

“While we do not promote gambling to the detriment of our guests,” Durban said, “it is incumbent upon us to take an active role in reducing the impact of our industry on problem gamblers.”

Eric Durban is currently working to bring gaming industry leaders together to better understand the roles they can play in responsible gaming. He is also moderating a panel on Responsible Gaming Best Practices at the Northwest Indian Gaming Expo presented by the Washington Indian Gaming Association in June. Durban believes gaming industry leaders have a role to play in increasing awareness in their communities and at their venues.

“You can make a difference,” Durban says, “by making it clear to all casino personnel that one, you are not interested in making money from problem gamblers; two, support an active self-barring program that is respectful, easy, and quick to sign up for; and three, ensure that once a self-barring takes place, it is strictly enforced.”

Durban is just as passionate about life outside of his work. He enjoys time with his family, including his wife of 20 years and their daughter anywhere outdoors in Washington, and on both coasts with family in San Diego, San Francisco, and upstate New York. His interest in competitive swimming has taken him to places around the world, such as the Bosphorus Straits in Istanbul, Turkey , for a four-mile open-water swim from Asia to Europe. He has plans to swim the more challenging Straits of Gibraltar in 2017, giving him a second inter-continental swim. He has kayaked the Inside Passage from Neah Bay, Washington, to Skagway, Alaska, and the lengths of both the Yukon River and the MacKenzie River in Canada/Alaska. We’re glad to have him on our team for ECPG.