The University of Arizona Indigenous Resilience Center (IRes) has announced a $2 million grant from the San Francisco-based Waverley Street Foundation in support of efforts to help tribal communities develop local solutions to climate-related issues.

In addition to supporting a two-year project called Climate Resilience Through Indigenous Co-Design at the Food, Energy, and Water Nexus, the funding will help maintain and expand existing IRes programs, sustain new Indigenous scholars and other personnel, and support additional outreach efforts with Native nations. Launched in September, the project also will enable the center to hire outreach specialists, administrative and program manager support personnel, students dedicated to tribal resilience work, and grant specialists who can assist both IRes and tribal partners in securing additional funding. In addition, the project will fund five $50,000 grants for other environment-related tribal efforts.

“The Indigenous Resilience Center is a seed that is being watered, a plant that is growing, needed and desired by tribal communities,” said Indigenous Resilience Center director Karletta Chief. “As we grow, I envision us to grow into a center that is connected to and invested in tribal communities, that we become a bridge between the University of Arizona and tribal communities while collaborating with existing Indigenous centers on campus and other tribal programs to be part of the big wheel that is working to support tribal communities.”

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