Cultivating Diné community connection and leadership

2026 Civic Hub grantee

Working across the Navajo Nation in rural New Mexico, Protect the Sacred creates culturally grounded pathways for rural Diné (Navajo) communities to strengthen community participation, preserve Indigenous knowledge, and shape community-led solutions. The organization’s work responds to challenges including limited leadership opportunities for rural youth, underinvestment in arts and culture, and the urgent need to preserve ancestral knowledge while strengthening community connections.

A Civic Hub for local action

Protect the Sacred connects youth, elders, artists, Tribal leaders, national leaders, and local partners to invest in local leadership, celebrate Diné identity, and create opportunities for civic participation rooted in culture, belonging, and collective action.

Recent programs include Connecting the Rainbow, which supports intergenerational storytelling; the Native Youth Summit, which develops youth leadership; and Native 101, which builds cross-sector allyship.

“Being a Civic Hub means creating spaces where people feel they belong, their voices matter, and they have the power to shape their community. In rural Diné communities, culture isn’t separate from civic life; it’s how we build trust, develop leaders, strengthen relationships, and inspire collective action.”

—Allie Redhorse Young, Executive Director
Protect the Sacred (2026 Civic Hub grantee)

Community impact in practice

One recent example of the organization’s approach: a youth leader identified environmental stewardship as a community need and created a project rooted in her own lived experience: Reclaiming Shímá Náhásdzáán (Reclaiming Mother Earth). With mentorship and funding from Protect the Sacred, she organized a community trash cleanup, hosted a neighborhood barbecue, and facilitated a conversation about reproductive justice through both contemporary and traditional Diné perspectives.

Rather than simply participating in a program, she became the organizer, bringing community members together around a shared purpose while creating opportunities for youth and adults to learn from one another.

The opportunities ahead

Trust funding will strengthen Protect the Sacred’s year-round ecosystem of youth leadership, cultural organizing, and community participation across rural Navajo Nation communities. The investment will expand Connecting the Rainbow, support youth-led initiatives, deepen intergenerational storytelling, strengthen the Native Youth Summit and Ride for the People programs, and build lasting relationships through the Native 101 Ally Building Series.

Photos courtesy of Protect the Sacred.