Many members of our community have asked us, “How did you get your building built in Tuba City?”

It’s a valid question. According to a report we published with Causal Design in 2020 on the ease doing business on the reservation, the Navajo Nation ranks amongst the bottom 15% of countries in the world when it comes to accessing land for a business. At the time we published the report, we had already spent two years searching for a building or land in Tuba City to make a permanent home for Change Labs. It took another year to find a solution, and an additional two years to make it reality. Why does it take so long?

By all accounts, Change Labs is a fully-resourced organization with committed donors and leaders embedded in the community with connections to the highest levels of Navajo Nation government. Furthermore, we provide a critical resource that the Navajo Nation government recognizes as a priority. So why then does it take years for organizations like ours as well as small business owners to access the information, resources, and land or buildings needed to build a healthy thriving economy on tribal lands?

In this honest dialogue between Change Labs’ co-founders, Jessica Stago and Heather Fleming, they’ll share the journey they went through to realize the Change Labs E-ship Hub and the reasons why it took as long as it did to make change. We’ll explore what community leaders and elected leaders can do to ease the process, and why critical reform is necessary to create sustainable communities for the next generation.

This discussion will be hosted at the Change Labs Tuba City E-ship Hub at 2pm MDT, or join us for the livestream on our Facebook page!