2024 Haury Indigenous Resilience Leadership Awards Celebration Honors Levi Esquerra of Native American Advancement & Tribal Engagement Office
On April 1st, with 80s rock playing in the background, the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice (the Haury Program) and distinguished guests gathered for a surprise celebration of the Honorable N. Levi Esquerra (Chemehuevi) of the UArizona Native American Advancement & Tribal Engagement Office (NAATE) as the recipient of the 2023/2024 Haury Indigenous Resilience Leadership Award. This surprise event was not an April 1st joke but was intentionally built around the humor and joy that Mr. Esquerra brings to work, including his favorite music, an invitation to wear black clothes, Ozzy Osbourne presence (as a cutout), Ozzy-style colored glasses being handed to guests, and featuring some of his favorite foods. Also invited and attending was Mr. Esquerra’s family, including his wife, three daughters and his two grandchildren.
The Agnese Nelms Haury Program Indigenous Resilience Leadership Award program was conceived in 2020 to elevate Native voices, recognize people who advance Indigenous Resilience, and inspire others to follow in their paths. “The Haury Program also recognizes those who have been mentors to the Program,” shared Prof. Toni Massaro, Executive Director of the Haury Program, “and help the Haury Program engage in work and philanthropy with Native American communities and people that is respectful, place-based, and impactful. Mr. Esquerra has been an exemplary leader in helping the Haury program to do things right and better, and serving the communities we want to serve in the ways that would be welcome. And to do these things right is incredibly important for the University as well. We respect the time that goes into mentoring people like us, taking him away from other commitments and family, and tonight we want to honor Mr. Esquerra in the way that hopefully would fit him.”
For a full story please visit the Native American Advancement, Initiatives and Research (NAAIR) website.