OUR STAFF

Ahtza Dawn Chavez

Executive Director

 

Ahtza (Ahh-ttsaa) D. Chavez is a two-spirit asdzą́ą́ member of the Diné Nation born for Kewa Pueblo. She is the proud mother to a son and the daughter of Cari W. (Diné) and Everett F. Chavez (Kewa Pueblo). As the Executive Director of Naeva, she oversees partner organizations tasked with educating and creating an Indigenous voting bloc in New Mexico working with key organizations and governance within the state.

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Charlotte Little

Indigenous Center Administrator

 

Charlotte joined Naeva in April 2022 as the Deputy Director, having previously contributed to the NAVA Education Project team in leading GOTV efforts for elections and campaigns in targeted Tribal communities, coordinating the Native Census Coalition during the 2020 Decennial Census, and 2021 Redistricting efforts.

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Alma Rosa Silva-Bañuelos

Chief of Staff

 

Alma Rosa Silva-Bañuelos is the Chief of Staff for Naeva and is part of building Native power through strong community relations. From supporting and uplifting staff as well as creating access to systems that have historically left Native voices out, they believe in the strength of identity and in the journey of decolonizing and honoring their whole self as they embrace their two-spirit identity as Mexica Azteca Chichimeca/Xicana.

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Bernadette Hardy

Albuquerque Organizer

 

Bernadette Hardy is from Albuquerque and is a member of the Navajo Nation and Jemez Pueblo, and she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of New Mexico. Being an urban Native herself, she has experienced and witnessed the disenfranchisement and inequities of urban Natives striving to achieve and live a good healthy life in Albuquerque and across the United States, leading her to dedicate her time to public service and working in mutual aid.

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Wendy Atcitty

Indigenous Energy Manager

 

Wendy Atcitty is a Navajo Nation tribal member, born for the Bitter Water Clan and Salt Clan. From 1996 to 2007, Wendy achieved various research projects with science degrees in Earth and Environmental Science and Chemistry. From 2007 to 2018, she has been an educator in schools on Native American reservations teaching a cultural-based science curriculum in physics, chemistry, environmental science, and business.

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Joseph Hernandez

Indigenous Energy Organizer

 

Joseph Hernandez grew up in Pueblo, Colorado in the Bessemer Community and graduated from Shiprock High School in 2006. Joseph worked as support staff for the Youth Opportunity Program with the Navajo Nation Office of Youth Development, Shiprock Agency.  He was a field organizer for Anthony Allison’s campaign for the New Mexico House of Representatives as well as the former Committee President of Gadii’ahi-To’koi Chapter Community Land Use Planning Committee.

Aaron Lee

Indigenous Policy Advocate

 

Aaron Lee is a Navajo, Cochiti Pueblo, and Oglala Lakota person from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is a recent graduate from Dartmouth College with a major in Environmental Studies and a minor in Native American Studies. Prior to joining Naeva and NM Native Vote, Aaron served as a K-8 th grade horticulturalist teacher for Bernalillo Public Schools, a forest conservationist for Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, and program site manager for Story Riders.

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Petyr Xyst

Comms Director

 

Petyr Xyst is from Albuquerque, New Mexico and is a citizen of the Laguna Pueblo. He graduated in 2022 with a BFA in Film and Digital Arts from the University of New Mexico and has been involved in political organizing since he was a sophomore in high school as an organizer for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.

He has also participated in organizing and protest movements involving environmentalism, gun violence, and police abolition. He is an alum of Sundance’s Indigenous Program and was nominated for Rolex’s Mentor and Protégé initiative.