$100,000 in cash awards to be distributed to Indigenous leaders throughout the Pacific Northwest
PORTLAND, Ore., February 6, – Ecotrust is pleased to announce that the call for 2024 Indigenous Leadership Awards (ILA) nominations is now open. This call for nominations invites individuals, families, colleagues, tribes, First Nations, and Alaska Native villages and corporations to nominate Indigenous leaders making a difference in their community and beyond.
The deadline to submit nominations is Sunday, March 31.
“The Indigenous Leadership Award is among the longest running programs at Ecotrust,” said Ecotrust Executive Director, Ronda Rutledge, Cherokee. “Throughout our programming, we seek to uplift Indigenous leadership on the lands and waters of our bioregion. Today, Indigenous leadership is more needed than ever as changes in our climate are focusing us to strengthen our stewardship of this place where we live.”
The ILAs are a celebration of the determination, wisdom, and continuum of Indigenous leadership across the region. Since 2001, the ILA has recognized 60 outstanding Indigenous leaders for their unwavering dedication to strengthen self-determination and their efforts to uplift their communities and lands. Nominated by their community and selected by their peers, these Indigenous leaders come from all walks of life and represent many different tribes, villages, First Nations, languages, cultures, and landscapes.
Eight Awards were distributed to Indigenous leaders in 2023, including
- Sgaahl Siid Xyáahl Jaad (Marina Anderson), Haida/Tlingit
- Kh’asheechtlaa (Louise Brady), Tlingit
- Frances G. Charles, Lower Elwha
- Alyssa Macy, Wasco/Navajo/Hopi
- Corine Pearce, Pomo
- Gabe Sheoships, Cayuse/Walla Walla
- Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson, Haida
- And the Umatilla Youth Leadership Council
“The Indigenous Leadership Award in 2023 uplifted leaders who are making lasting impacts across the West Coast of North America,“ said Kara Briggs, Vice President of Tribal Lands and Waters Stewardship, Sauk-Suiattle. “By focusing work in politics, in the environment, and in their cultural expression, these leaders are advancing Indigenous leadership, at the same time as restoring landscapes, restoring rivers and fish runs, recovering cultural expression, while advancing case law and policy to protect Indigenous stewardship of historic lands and waters. We are thrilled to start the process of seeking recipients for 2024.”
Selected by a panel of past ILA recipients, the 2024 Indigenous Leadership Awardees will be announced in Spring, and will receive a total of $100,000 in unrestricted cash prizes to advance their work. These Awards are made possible in-part through generous support from the Waverly Street Foundation, the Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Endowment, and Jane and Spencer Beebe. The 2024 cohort will be celebrated at the Redd on Salmon Street in the Fall.
For more information about the Indigenous Leaderships Awards, to see a complete list of past Awardees, or to submit a nomination, visit ecotrust.org/indigenous-leadership-awards. Questions can be directed to indigenousleadershipawards@ecotrust.org.
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About Ecotrust
Ecotrust creates and accelerates triple-bottom-line innovations to benefit our region and inspire the world. Our work is rooted in the region from California to Alaska that holds productive lands and determined people. On the farm, at the coast, in the forest, and across our cities, we work in partnership towards an equitable, prosperous, climate-smart future. We recognize the legacy of colonialism and the deep inequities of this place, and we believe that radical, practical change is possible and necessary. Since 1991, we have created durable change and sparked ideas across the globe. Join us at ecotrust.org.