Change Labs co-founders beat the odds to establish historic E-ship Hub on the Navajo Nation

The Change Labs co-founders, Heather Fleming and Jessica Stago, share their story of perseverance in their quest to create physical infrastructure on the Navajo Nation to support small business owners and artisans. Their four-year effort cost nearly $1.5 million dollars and resulted in the historic opening of the Navajo Nation’s first community space dedicated to entrepreneurship support. The struggle, say Fleming and Stago, is representative of the day-to-day challenges entrepreneurs face when starting or growing a business on Native land. According to a study published by Change Labs in 2020, the Navajo Nation ranks amongst the bottom 15% of nations in the world when it comes to accessing land for a business. Learn how the Change Labs co-founders navigated the challenges to find a solution in the Tuba City community.