“Indigenous climate leadership holds the key to a healthy Earth,” said Edgar Villanueva, Founder and CEO of Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) and Liberated Capital. “For centuries, Indigenous peoples have nurtured their lands and communities with resilience, wisdom and care.”
DWP’s Indigenous Earth Fund is committed to supporting organizations that advance Indigenous-led protective and regenerative stewardship solutions. Since its inception in 2021, the fund has distributed over $5 million to organizations advancing youth leadership, food sovereignty, buffalo restoration and a range of Indigenous-led climate and land stewardship solutions. Despite this progress, there is a massive unmet need supporting Indigenous climate leadership as the climate crisis continues to grow.
On this call we will hear from Dr. Dana Arviso, director of Indigenous programs, at DWP, as well as two of their Indigenous Earth Fund grantee partners. They will share how this unique funding program and Indigenous-led climate solutions are creating future-oriented impact.
Speakers
Dana Arviso
Director, Indigenous Programs, Decolonizing Wealth Project
Diné (Navajo)
Dr. Dana Arviso serves as director of Indigenous programs at Decolonizing Wealth Project. She has 18 years of experience working in Native nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. She started her philanthropic career by working in a variety of roles including serving as the executive director of Potlatch Fund. Most recently, Dana was the senior program strategist at Native Voices Rising, a Native-led collaborative fund, where she successfully launched a funder learning fellowship. She has served on the boards of Social Justice Fund Northwest, Native Americans in Philanthropy, American Indian Graduate Center, 501 Commons and Look, Listen + Learn. Dana continues to serve on the advisory council for Native Voices Rising.
In 2024, Dana completed her doctorate. Her dissertation, "Reclaiming Philanthropy: Re-centering Native Giving in Respect, Relationships, Communal Responsibility and Reciprocity," explores how we might reimagine philanthropy as reparations to Black and Indigenous communities. She earned her bachelor's from California State University, Sacramento and her master's and doctorate from University of Washington college of education. Dana is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and grew up on the Bishop Paiute-Shoshone Indian Reservation in the Eastern Sierra region of California.
Enei Begaye
Executive Director, Native Movement
Diné & Tohono O’odham Nations, Tachiinii and To’di
Matt Remle
Co-founder, Mazaska Talks
Hunkpapa Lakota Nation