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Ya'at'eeh,

My name is Daylene Redhorse and I am a lifelong resident of San Juan County and field organizer at the Rural Utah Project.

**You’ve probably heard about the Rural Utah Project and O₂ Utah’s merger into Stewardship Utah. As a new group, we'll continue to work in San Juan County and have big plans for this region.**

I’ve been with the Rural Utah Project for over five years, and I’m excited to be a part of this transition — continuing to organize across my community. Over the next several weeks, we will highlight our incredible work and staff leading up to launching Stewardship Utah into the world. We’re starting with our work in San Juan County and the Navajo Nation.

**The Rural Utah Project has been cultivating a relationship with local leaders and community members on the Navajo Nation since our inception** — starting with voter registration, through our addressing program ([which we finished recently!]([link removed])), and elections.

In 2018, we participated in an aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign to help [elect Willie Greyeyes and Kenneth Maryboy to the San Juan County Commission]([link removed]). This was the first time in history that there was a Navajo majority elected to the San Juan County Commission, despite Native Americans making up over half of the county’s population.

The Rural Utah Project is proud of the work we’ve done and is excited to continue this work in the future as Stewardship Utah. You might remember the [work we did across the state line]([link removed]) in 2020 to register nearly 6,000 Arizona Navajo voters, and turn out thousands more, leading up to the important Presidential and US Senate elections in Arizona — our program was one piece among many that needed to happen to turn Arizona blue that year.

That work will continue this year as Stewardship Utah, along with our Arizona-based partners, Wingbeat 88 and Natives Outdoors. In fact, **we’ve already passed our previous record and have registered over 6,000 voters in Arizona this year**, with thousands more on the way!

This year, as Stewardship Utah, we’re also trying something new on the Utah portion of the Navajo Nation. As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, millions of dollars in federal grants are available to improve climate change resiliency in rural communities across the country. Some of this funding is available through the EPA’s Community Change Grant program, which allows community-based nonprofit organizations to apply for grants in partnership with a local or tribal government.

The Navajo Nation is a community that relies heavily on wood and coal burning for wintertime heat, which decreases indoor air quality resulting in high rates of asthma.

**Stewardship Utah is partnering with the Navajo Utah Commission, an entity of the Navajo Nation’s legislative branch, to submit an application for up to $20 million in funding to pay for home weatherization, installation of electric heat pumps, and other measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while improving indoor air quality and quality of life.**

This partnership is only possible because of the increased policy capacity of Stewardship Utah coupled with the Rural Utah Project’s existing relationships with communities and leaders across the Navajo Nation. **It's an exciting opportunity for us to truly bring the skills of both organizations together for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.**

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Even after these projects are over, our work on the Navajo Nation will be far from complete — this fall, Stewardship Utah will support local candidates in San Juan County and help elect the first-ever Navajo majority to the San Juan County School District. We will keep organizing through 2026 (and beyond) when there will be an opportunity to elect a new Indigenous majority to the County Commission!

We also learned during our last Rural Utah Day on the Hill, that there was a desire for more education on how to contact and develop relationships with representatives, and how legislation is developed.

I’m excited to work alongside our Democracy Policy Associate, Nat Williams, to bring these educational opportunities to my communities. We will also continue to engage in voter registration throughout San Juan County, as well as launch our boards and commissions recruitment program (stay tuned for an email on that!) 

I’m excited to continue our work within my community, here on Navajo Nation in San Juan County. I am proud of what the Rural Utah Project has accomplished these last several years, and can’t wait to be a part of many more incredible programs under our new name — Stewardship Utah.

Onward,
Daylene Redhorse
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

**P.S. If you’re in Salt Lake City, come by our new SLC office! We’re having an open house this Wednesday, July 10, from 4-7 p.m. at 68 E 2700 S, South Salt Lake, UT 84115 - **[**RSVP here!**]([link removed])** **

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O₂ Utah is an environmental nonprofit whose mission is to clean our state's air and eliminate our contributions to climate change through elections and policy. _[Donate today]([link removed])_ to support our work and clean Utah's air. YourOu


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