Celebrating 10 Years of the Agnese Nelms Haury Program

As a University-based funder, program and people supporter, tribal and community engagement partner, and a cross-University liaison, the Haury Program is unique: no other such program exists at the University of Arizona, in Arizona, or, we believe, in the nation. (We refer to ourselves as a kumquat – neither apple nor orange). The Haury Program is now a part of the Arizona Institute for Resilience (AIR), where researchers, educators, problem-solvers, and innovators from diverse disciplines work together to develop innovative and practical solutions to the environmental and resilience challenges we face today.

Between 2014 and 2019, the Haury Program focused on multi-cultural scholarship and community building to promote and build capacity for wider social and environmental justice projects. This work included supporting numerous faculty fellows and students, awarding Seed and Challenge grants to the University-community partnerships with transformational impacts, and well as providing technical assistance, resources, and trainings to the awardees and the community. Some of our projects included supporting community-led research on the Gold King Mine spill on the Navajo Nation, A Student’s Journey, a program focusing on establishing pathways for Native American students from Tohono O’odham Community College to the University, La Siembra, a community farm in Midtown, Tucson by Flower & Bullets Collective, and helping to bring the world-renowned Dr. Noam Chomsky to the University of Arizona.

In 2020, the Haury Program pivoted and refocused our larger vision of environment and social justice on envisioning a world in which Indigenous resilience, sovereignty, and ways of knowing are respected and advanced to meet climate change challenges through globally impactful University of Arizona collaborations in research, education, and outreach. In order to implement our vision, our Indigenous Resilience Initiative work and funding since 2020 have been centered on three focus areas:

The first focus area includes funding education, research, and outreach that promote Indigenous resilience in ways that respect tribal knowledge and sovereignty. A powerful example is our work to co-establish and support the UArizona Indigenous Resilience Center (IRes). 

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The second focus area is supporting Native American pathways to and at the University of Arizona for students, faculty, and staff, which includes supporting several student-serving nodes at the University and partnerships with tribal colleges. The many programs we support at the University include the following:  Native American Advancement and Tribal Engagement (NAATE), Native American Initiatives (NAI), Native American Student Affairs (NASA), Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program (IPLP), Justice Advocates Coalition, University of Arizona American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Chapter, and Cultural & Inclusive Experiential Learning Opportunities (CIELO). We also directly support graduate level researchers working on Indigenous issues through our Native Pathways Graduate Research Awards. Most recently, we established a new grant program to open more pathways to the University through University - tribal colleges partnerships. 

The third focus area of our work is centering building and fostering strong, trust-based external partnerships, including working directly with tribes. For example, we partner with the Navajo Nation and other entities on the Water Access Coordinator Group’s effort to bring running potable water to Navajo families. We also helped to successfully move the Navajo Nation water library – an invaluable collection of water history, treaties, studies, maps and more – from an insecure location on the Navajo Nation to safekeeping at the University of Arizona College of Law. The collection is being digitized now, to assure it continues to be an intact, living, repository of Navajo water knowledge. We are also a sponsor of national AISES conferences and of the Arizona Indian Nations and Tribes Legislative Days, and one of the organizers of the coalition with the Arizona Department of Education – Office of Indian Education, which spearheaded new state legislation supporting “Natives Who Code”, i.e. a state-wide program dedicated to co-creating an Indigenized computer science curriculum with Arizona tribes. 

There is more; for example, we supported the University of Arizona’s creation of the first-ever tribe-based micro-campus, and the teaching visit of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Human Rights. We also sponsored an educational program on Supreme Court law that involves tribal rights. 

The Haury Program seeks to deepen its impact in other ways by developing ties to philanthropic and other entities that share our mission, and serving as a communication hub for our shared work and goals. In all of this work, we underscore the principles of respect, reciprocation, and relationships that all philanthropies should honor when seeking to lend their financial support to Indigenous peoples. We recognize that the University of Arizona is a land-grant institution that resides on the ancestral homelands of the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui, and we honor the University of Arizona’s commitment as a land-grant institution to the Native American students and tribal nations by putting this commitment into action.

“It takes a village”: Haury Program celebrates 10 years of collaborations to solve “wicked” problems with a garden dedication in Women’s Plaza

Oct. 23, 2024

On Friday, October 11th, administrators, staff, faculty, students and community members gathered at the Women’s Plaza of Honor to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice (“Haury Program”).

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As we are looking back to celebrate the ten years of our work, we are also looking forward. In 2024, our advisory board approved continuation of the Indigenous Resilience Initiative for another 5-year period.  We are excited to see many of the projects we supported through the first ten years continue to thrive, and are looking forward to the upcoming years of investing in the University of Arizona and communities to bring about greater justice for Indigenous peoples. 

Please join us in this work, as we all have a role to play:

• If you are at the University of Arizona, consider joining efforts to implement the Native American Initiatives’ Strategic Plan in all four of its aspects.
• If you are a student, faculty, staff, or program at the University of Arizona, please consider working with us via our granting programs and collaborations.
• If you are a philanthropic organization looking to invest into Indigenous Resilience or Native Pathways projects at the University of Arizona or in tribal communities, we would love to connect!

And we hope to see you in Mrs. Haury’s Garden at Women’s Plaza of Honor on October 11^th!

Meet the Women of Haury

At the October 11^th event at Women’s Plaza of Honor “The Women of Haury” who were there at the start of the program will also be honored. These women will be honored for their vision, leadership and work  in environment, social justice and Indigenous resilience.

The 2024 “Women of Haury” are joining the 4 women who were previously honored in 2022 with benches in the Women’s Plaza during the Weaving Beautiful Lives: A Tribute to Four Inspirational Women event: Drs. Karletta Chief, Diana Liverman, Sallie Marston, and Dean Emerita Toni Massaro.

Haury Program's Native Pathways Graduate Research Awards

Haury Program Awards Seven Native Pathways Graduate Research Awards to Expand Indigenous Resilience Research at the University of Arizona

July 23, 2024

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