Naeva

In 2023, Naeva received $250,000 from the Marguerite Casey Foundation, ³ $155,000 from the New Venture Fund (NVF), ⁴ and $150,000 from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. ⁵ In 2022, Naeva received $805,800 from NVF, $250,000 from the Telescope Fund, ⁶ and $250,000 from the Marguerite Casey Foundation. ⁷

History and Leadership

Naeva (formerly known as the Native American Voters Alliance) has been active since the mid-1990s and was formally organized in 2008. ^{8 2 9 10}

Ahtza Dawn Chavez is the executive director of Naeva. She also is the executive director of the affiliated 501(c)(4) New Mexico Native Vote. ^{1 11}

Chavez is a member of the New Mexico Sustainable Economy Advisory Council, the City of Albuquerque’s critical race theory-influenced Justice40 Committee, the All Pueblo Council of Governors Legislative Committee, and a board member of Groundworks NM. ¹²

Naeva is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and has a satellite office in Farmington, New Mexico. ²

Activities and Funding

Naeva is a New Mexico-based, left-of-center Native American advocacy and activist organization. Categorized as a Native American activist group by a project published by Third Plateau, Native Americans in Philanthropy, and Civic(Re)Solve. ¹³ Naeva is committed to the critical race theory-influenced concepts of social justice, economic justice, and environmental justice. ^{1 2}

Naeva is engaged in get-out-the-vote activities including voter registration, voter education, and voter outreach in Navajo, Pueblo, and urban Native American communities. ¹ The organization advocates for Native American social, economic, and environmental goals both on and off reservations. ¹⁴

Naeva has hosted workshops to advocate for methane policies near the Navajo reservation, a ten-mile buffer zone around Chaco Canyon, and various other environmentalist concerns on the Navajo reservation. This advocacy included support for the far-left concept of an energy transition to weather-dependent energy. ⁷

Policy Advocacy and Activism

Naeva works in partnership with the affiliated left-of-center 501(c)(4) New Mexico Native Vote (NM Native Vote) and various tribal communities ² to support tribal sovereignty, protection of civil liberties, and what the group considers to be an “equitable education” and a “just transition” towards weather-dependent energy. ¹⁵

Naeva has advocated for the far-left concept of environmental justice since at least the mid-1990s. As of December 2024, Naeva’s program areas include environmental protection, civic engagement, youth programming, and community development. ¹⁰

In 2024, Naeva joined with the League of Women Voters of the United States and Black Voters Matter to defend Biden administration Executive Order No. 14019, which sought to expand voter registration through approved nonpartisan organizations, ¹⁶ in the lawsuit America First Policy Institute v. Biden. ⁹

Also in 2024, Navea trained community organizers to be door knockers and phone bankers at its learning institute in Albuquerque. The group has also distributed voter education tool kits, voter plans, and voter education products. ¹⁰

In 2023, Naeva organized Native American support for the New Mexico Voting Rights Act and used these relationships to create the New Mexico Native Civic Engagement and Policy table. ¹¹ That same year, Naeva spent $732,711 in support of the New Mexico Voting Rights Act’s Native American Voting Rights Act Provisions, education on methane policy near Navajo Nation, and creating what it considers an “equitable transition” to a diversified clean energy economy. ¹⁷

Funding

Naeva receives its funding from individual contributions and grants. ¹⁸ Donations to Naeva are routed through the left-of-center passthrough organization ActBlue Charities. ¹⁹ In 2023, Naeva reported revenue of $1,445,822 and expenses of $1,147,521. The organization reported revenue of $3,057,788 and expenses of $950,634 in 2022. ²⁰

In 2023, Naeva received $250,000 from the Marguerite Casey Foundation, ³ $155,000 from the New Venture Fund, ⁴ $150,000 from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, ⁵ $150,000 from the United States Energy Foundation, ²¹ $60,000 from the Catena Foundation, ²² and $50,000 from NEO Philanthropy. ^{23 24}

In 2022, Naeva received $805,800 from the New Venture Fund, $250,000 from the Telescope Fund, ⁶ $250,000 from the Marguerite Casey Foundation, ⁷ $200,000 from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, ²⁵ $200,000 from NDN Collective, ²⁶ $90,000 from the Grove Foundation, ²⁷ $50,00 from the Western Conservation Foundation, ²⁸ and $20,000 from Common Counsel Foundation. ²⁹

Naeva has also received grants from the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, ³⁰ the Environmental Defense Fund, ³¹ the Tides Foundation, ³² the Penney Family Fund, ³³ and an Equity Fund New Mexico Grant from the Sequoia Climate Fund. ³⁴