THE HOPI FOUNDATION

The natwani coalition project - the natwani coalition works to preserve and strengthen the healthy food system and agriculture traditions of the hopi and tewa people by supporting our unique agricultural practices and increasing local food production and consumption that are healthy for individuals in the community. The natwani coalition (natwanit tu'sawyungqam) serves the hopi and tewa people by leveraging engagement from volunteers, collaborators, and institutions on and off the hopi reservation to reaffirm and preserve the traditional farming practices that create a path to a healthy lifestyle in developing innovative sustainable strategies that promote wellness. We do this by providing a platform and space for community dialog and activity, sustaining a food and agriculture endowment that provides grants to the community that will strengthen the local food and farming practices, serving as a community liaison to leverage and expand educational programming. Our impact is found within initiatives geared toward healthy food access, seed protection, and the overall food sovereignty of the hopi people. In 2024, the program continued to strengthen local food systems through direct grantmaking, educational programs, and community partnerships. The natwani coalition awarded $15,800 in micro-grants to 9 hopi farmers, gardeners, and ranchers supporting food production, water harvesting, and youth agriculture education. The program also hosted the 2024 hopi agriculture and food symposium, bringing together over 150 participants for presentations, hands-on workshops, and cultural demonstrations. Additionally, the coalition supported six hopi farmers markets featuring over 20 local vendors and over 600 attendees, generating more than $4,000 in direct farmer sales.

Hopi emergency relief fund - the hopi foundation provides the following services:emergency response fund accounting; emergency grant-making to communities and organizations; relief staging and distribution operations to receive in-kind donations and materials/goods for communities. The foundation works collaboratively with national, state and local agencies or charitable organizations to support the scope of the fund. The herf's goal of operation is to support families and individuals during declared state of emergencies by providing resources and needs. This includes and is not limited to: food, ppe, flood prevention and repair materials. Herf is comprised of a dedicated management team along with crew members who respond with strategic planning, operation development, distribution services, and management of a community intake database. The herf overall strategy and service is to help prevent harm while promoting safety on the hopi reservation. In 2024, the herf distributed a value of over $90,000 in grants to support local relief efforts amongst villages and community groups. Grantees reported an impact of over 550 households in providing emergency firewood and other fuel for home heating during winter, home repairs for elders, and coordination of ongoing village food security and safety needs.

The hopi opportunity youth initiative - hoyi is a community-wide collaboration of youth, parents, service providers, and community leaders engaged in research and development to improve the educational, career, and cultural attainment of all hopi and tewa youth ages 14-26. Hoyi serves over 1,700 hopi youth and young adults on the hopi reservation through its programming activities. Hoyi supports new and existing youth initiatives through its role as a facilitator and convener in the development of initiatives that are identified by youth in the community. Through collaboration with youth and local service providers, hoyi leads the development of three pathways that support the broad vision of our youth. The pathways, unique to our hopi youth, include the creation of mentoring services and opportunities, service learning for career exploration and advancement, as well as strengthening the cultural well-being of our youth. The pathway development utilizes data collected by hoyi and continues to inform strategies that will demonstrate long-term impacts. Hoyi also leads a community-based approach to collecting youth perspectives on the education, career, and cultural attainment of the local youth community. The hoyi program went into dormancy in 2022 and remained in dormancy throughtout 2024 to re-evaluate its trajectory in community work coming out of the covid-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, hoyi remained active in maintaining existing partnerships and collaborative efforts and is currently exploring the changing landscape of youth development, direct service of partners, and the rise in mental health issues among the youth due to the pandemic. An impact report is being prepared to further define what has occurred and highlight hoyi's work from 2013 to the end of 2021. The impact report will be shared with our youth, community partners, families, and stakeholders.

The hopi leadership program is designed to grow strong and culturally grounded hopi and tewa professionals utilizing a model based on the hopi culture and western education to build effective leadership skills. Since 2006, the hlp has grown to provide programming for three participant groups which include: 1) high school age youth/students; 2) adult cohort; 3) hlp alumni. The curriculum is enhanced by local individuals who share their cultural knowledge and experience in management and leadership skills. Our leadership curriculum successfully bridges the cultural and non-native worldview in a way that is firmly grounded in community. Program impacts reach various leadership and service capacities across the hopi reservation. The hlp expanded its culturally grounded leadership curriculum and tailored lessons for youth ages 14-26 to support the growth and development of a new generation of leaders. In addition, hlp will help to develop a framework for mentorship to support the youths' personal and academic development. The program has provided in-person programming with the adult and youth leadership programs and invited guest speakers to engage on topics focused on community health and well-being. In 2024, the program graduated 9 youth participants of the hopi youth leadership program and implemented its enhanced adult leadership program curriculum for use in program delivery for the seventh cohort of the hopi leadership program.

The hopi foundation capacity building program - supports building local selfdetermination through our fee for service training, internal resource development training with our staff, and investments in our community through facilitating cross-sector collaboration to leverage resources to further local, rural community development. We provide training locally to strengthen organizational growth, management practice, and stewardship of assets that compliments hopi values and perspectives. We manage our programs using cultural perspectives infused with western tools/training to monitor and measure program impact and self-sufficiency, practice effective management and long-term financial sustainability. We convene and facilitate cross-sector collaborations at the local level to further community development. We advocate on all levels with foundations, private donors, government, businesses, and nonprofits to educate, build awareness of the needs, and connect our community with resources to further their work. In 2024, our grantmaking, training and facilitation services were limited due to our internal focus on our program and back to in-office operations post-pandemic. Our capacity grants are used to assist with organizational development such as strategic planning and capacity building to support sustainable services to the community.