MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Greetings everyone, we hope that everyone’s year is off to a great start. Here at the Chamiza Foundation, we would like to congratulate all of the newly appointed and reappointed Pueblo leadership. We wish you a productive, safe and blessed year!

Here at the Chamiza Foundation we are eagerly awaiting applications from all of our Pueblo communities. We are pleased to be able to offer support for our traditional priority areas and for COVID-19 Emergency Relief support. As a reminder, we are currently accepting applications for Round 1 of Chamiza Foundation support. Our first deadline will be on Friday, February 12, 2021, for both Traditional Applications and COVID-19 Emergency Relief Support Applications. We will be accepting applications that focus on our traditional priority areas such as: language preservation, traditional architecture, sustainable agriculture, traditional arts & crafts, tribal & ancestral history, oral histories & storytelling, youth education & leadership, intercultural/intergenerational exchange and education. We will also be accepting applications for COVID-19 Emergency Relief Support. Our foundation has set the following grant making priorities for COVID-19 Emergency relief efforts:

• Food, medical supplies and personal items
• Water
• Community and Individual Relief and Recovery Needs
• Internet access and connectivity
• Other needs and expenses directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic

Eligibility-The Chamiza Foundation invites proposals from the following:

• New Mexico’s 19 Pueblo Indian tribal communities
• Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, El Paso, Texas, member of the All Pueblo Council of Governors and the 20th Pueblo
• Pueblo community leadership
• Non-Pueblo organizations that serve Pueblo communities. These entities must submit a letter of support from the Governor of the Pueblo as evidence that the community has requested their involvement

TIME SENSITIVE: Deadline February 12, 2021

There are three ways that you can apply 1) You can complete your application online through our website (Please make sure to read “Notice to proceed”) 2) You can email your application to apply@chamiza.org or 3) You can send your completed application directly to me at executivedirector@chamiza.org. I can also review your application before the deadline to ensure that you have included all required information (Please submit your application for review no later than February 8, 2021). Please let me know if you have any questions.

We pray that the new vaccines that are currently being disbursed help our world to heal so that we may get back to our customary ways of living in our Pueblo communities. As the Executive Director, I miss going to visit the various Pueblos to see the great work that is taking place on the ground. I look forward to visiting everyone again, until then, take care and be safe!

Sincerely,

Dr. Amanda J. Montoya

 

 

New Chamiza Foundation Board Member: Ben Calabaza

 

 

Ben Calabaza (Kewa) has 15 years of marketing and design experience. He is a managing partner with Iroots Media, LLC, a design and marketing group based in Santa Fe, NM. Calabaza has led many local and national branding projects, most recently the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, the Native American Community Academy, the Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund, and the Pueblo of Jemez Department of Planning Development and Transportation. He worked at the Institute of American Indian Arts for ten years in various roles: outreach coordinator, adjunct instructor (first-year seminar, digital arts, cross country), activities assistant, and advisor to the Associated Student Government. He is a communications advisor to the American Indian Sight Initiative at the global eyecare non-profit, the Seva Foundation.

Calabaza is currently the Public Relations Manager for the Wheelwright Museum. He has helped the museum gain market position in the Santa Fe area through a comprehensive marketing plan, producing first-place in the 2019 Journal North Readers’ Choice Awards. Calabaza recently assisted the museum with receiving a multi-year Google Ad Grant for greater online visibility.