Rooted In Resistance: Cultural Self Determination in Border Communities

Border communities stretching across Arizona, Mexico, and Tribal nations are sites of resilience, cultural sovereignty, and self-determination. As political discourse and policy decisions increasingly impact these regions, artists, cultural practitioners, and organizers reclaim narratives, assert community control, and transform power dynamics between funders and grantees.

Join us on Tuesday, April 1 at 2pm ET/11am PT to explore the strategies and practices emerging from border communities to resist cultural occupation and realize liberation. Panelists will share how they are centering local knowledge, challenging traditional philanthropic models, and forging new pathways for long-term sustainability.

Live captioning will be available in English throughout the webinar. For additional accommodation requests, please contact GIA Program Manager Jaime Sharp, at least three (3) business days prior to the event.

Speakers

Casandra Hernandez Faham, Senior Program Associate, Mellon Foundation

Casandra Hernández Faham is a senior program associate for Arts and Culture at the Mellon Foundation, where she leads the Frontera Culture Fund. Prior to Mellon, Casandra served as the first executive director of CALA Alliance (Celebración Artística de las Américas), a Latinx arts organization based in Phoenix that organizes creative collaborations with artists in Arizona, México, and Latin America. Through a joint appointment, she also served as curator of CALA Initiatives at the Arizona State University Art Museum. Previously, she worked as artist programs coordinator at the Arizona Commission on the Arts, where she managed artist grants and created the AZ ArtWorker program to provide accessible and culturally relevant professional development for artists across Arizona. Throughout her career, Casandra has organized artistic and cultural collaborations in the US-Mexico borderlands. Among other honors, she was the recipient of the 2014 40 Hispanic Leaders Under 40 Award. Additionally, she completed the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program in 2020 and the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Leadership Institute in 2014. She holds a BA in cultural anthropology and an MA in museum anthropology from Arizona State University.

Anna Needham, Tribal Relations Manager, Arizona Commission on the Arts

Anna Needham is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation of Ojibwe. She serves as the Tribal Relations Manager for the Arizona Commission on the Arts, acting as the agency’s liaison with the 22 Tribal Nations in Arizona. Anna graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Theatre. She participated in the Spring 2018 Native American Political Leadership Program at George Washington University. Beyond the Arts Commission, she has worked with other public arts funders from the National Endowment for the Arts to Phoenix’s Office of Arts and Culture. These experiences have led Anna to have an extensive background in public sector arts funding and policy, which she utilizes to demystify government resourcing structures and to transform them with intentional consideration of culturally-specific communities. Her expertise has led her to be a panelist for local, regional, and national funders and serve in different capacities as an advisor and board member for local and national organizations. She currently serves as a Board Member for the Grantmakers in the Arts as well as a commissioner for Arizona’s America250 Commission, which focuses on commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States and the impact of the citizens of Arizona on the nation's past, present and future. In 2022, Anna developed the foundational Tribal Consultation Policy for the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the first-of-its-kind out of the total 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies in the United States.

Nicole Yanes, Director of Institutional Philanthropy, NDN Collective

Nicole Yanes (she/her), Director of Institutional Philanthropy with NDN Collective, is Opata from Nogales along the Sonora Mexico / Arizona /U.S. Yanes brings over 10 years of experience in organizational development, community organizing, nation building and advocating for the rights of Indigenous Peoples at tribal, national and international arenas. Yanes has been working with Indigenous non-profit organizations for 13 years and has founded Indigenous-led organizations and an international Indigenous food cooperative to support and revitalize Indigenous food systems. Nicole graduated from Arizona State University with an Interdisciplinary Studies degree with concentrations in American Indian Studies and Non-Profit Organization Management & Leadership. In 2019 Nicole received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the ASU’s American Indian Studies Department. Yanes is a farmer and gatherer and is committed to continue building sustainable Nations and communities for all generations.