AzLand

Join AZ(LAND) for our three-year anniversary fundraiser on Saturday, November 7, from 5–8 p.m. at The Sagrado Galleria.

Celebrate three years of community, creativity, and environmental impact with AZ(LAND)!

Read, download, and share our three year impact report here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1II7wQPnqqQ9y9A-bXajMkHUgu6xvr441/view?link_id=2&can_id=f10cb80c19f196a13478da95ebed1216&source=email-azland-3-year-anniversary&email_referrer=email_3412269&email_subject=azland-3-year-anniversary&&

Thank you to the Sagrado for kindly donating the venue space and time. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, or have any questions, please contact [email protected] and view details here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ic8-rKHSFMewcweib9MafrmG-mhgB04-/view?link_id=3&can_id=f10cb80c19f196a13478da95ebed1216&source=email-azland-3-year-anniversary&email_referrer=email_3412269&email_subject=azland-3-year-anniversary&&

In just three years, AZ(LAND) has planted over 161 trees, served more than 16,000 community members, 2,000 students, and so much more. Your support helps carry this work forward. By attending and donating, you directly sustain AZ(LAND)’s programs and projects, support local Arizona artists, and strengthen the work of our coalition partners; Protectors of the Salt River. During the anniversary we will also recognize community members and organizations that have championed AZ(LAND) and local environmental education.

Light refreshments and appetizers will be provided. Business casual is suggested but feel free to have cultural and creative freedom. Space is limited, register today!

REGISTRATION LINK: Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/azland-third-year-anniversary-fundraiser-tickets-1999714545035

Website: https://www.azlnd.org/azlandfundraiser

We look forward to celebrating with you,

AZ(LAND) & Board of Directors

🌵 Three years rooted in community. Three years growing environmental and climate justice.

We’re excited to share the AZ(LAND) 2023–2026 Impact Report, reflecting on our first three years of learning, building, creating, and taking action alongside communities across Arizona.

Since formalizing AZ(LAND), our work has grown into an ecosystem rooted in Education, Research & Data, Future Building, and Action & Advocacy. Together, we’ve reached 16,000+ community members through 100+ Community Academy events across eight Valley cities, supported 2,000+ youth and 17 educators, and helped connect environmental and climate justice education to classrooms and community spaces.

We’ve also supported 41 local artists and counting through TierrArte and Teatrico AZ(LAND), developed community-centered resilience projects, strengthened environmental coalitions, and produced four research publications that bridge academic knowledge with community practice.

These first three years are only the beginning. Read our Impact Report, celebrate what our community has cultivated, and help us continue co-creating environmentally and racially just futures. 🌱🌎

Read and download the report here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1II7wQPnqqQ9y9A-bXajMkHUgu6xvr441/view?usp=drive_link

Inspired to invest and scale this work across Arizona? Reach out to [email protected]

This fall, the AZ(LAND) Community Academy is growing Project GREEN in South Phoenix!

🌳Project GREEN (Growing Resilient Environmentally Engaged Neighborhoods) brings residents together to learn how environmental justice, neighborhood design, native and food-bearing trees, and water harvesting can help build a cooler, healthier, and more resilient South Phoenix.

Join us at Sagrado for three free, hands-on community academy workshops, then help put our learning into action as we build up to community tree planting and water basin building day:

🌿 Sunday, September 13 | Design + Environmental Justice community academy
🌳 Sunday, September 27 | Right Tree, Right Place community academy
💧 Sunday, October 18 | Water Harvesting + Basin Building community academy
🤝 Saturday, November 14 | South Phoenix Community Tree Planting Day

All Community Academy workshops take place from 9:00–11:00 a.m. Light food and snacks will be available. Open to all. Attend one gathering or grow with us through the full series. You can also complete the survey to request a tree at the workshops.

📍Sagrado: 809 S 8th St, Phoenix AZ 85034.

This week, the AZ(LAND) Community Academy partnered with the City of Phoenix Parks & Recreation at Desert West Community Center in Maryvale to bring environmental and climate justice education directly into the community. While we’re a hyper-local grassroots organization rooted in South Phoenix, our work reaches communities across Arizona wherever we’re invited because every neighborhood deserves access to culturally grounded environmental and climate justice education.

Together, we explored the Indigenous teachings of the Three Sisters that include corn, beans, and squash and how these plants represent resilient and sustainable solutions for today’s needed food systems. We connected these teachings to the realities of food apartheid, examining how historic policies like redlining continue to shape access to healthy food today while highlighting why climate resilient, culturally relevant foods remain essential for building stronger communities.

To help prepare youth for the new school year, the youth also created maize worry doll keychains to accompany their free backpacks. We were able to support local artist Stephanie Verdin who was Inspired by the tradition of corn husk dolls found across Indigenous cultures including the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), where corn husk dolls carry teachings of humility, gratitude, and the sacred relationship between people and maize. These teachings remind us that environmental and climate justice cannot be separated from culture, story, and Indigenous knowledge systems.

Thank you to the City of Phoenix Parks & Recreation team and all the families who joined us in Maryvale. Here’s to a school year rooted in culture, community, and care.

✨We’re excited to welcome Nicole Huser to the AZ(LAND) Board of Directors! A respected environmental stewardship and conservation leader, Nicole brings more than 15 years of experience advancing environmental justice, watershed protection, climate resilience, and Indigenous land stewardship across Arizona and the Southwest.

Nicole currently serves as a Portfolio Manager with Bloomberg Associates, where she leads climate resilience initiatives for the City of Phoenix, including the Rio Salado watershed restoration, the Shade Phoenix Plan, and citywide heat mitigation strategies. Her career has focused on building trust-based partnerships among Tribal nations, municipalities, nonprofits, and community leaders to advance equitable conservation solutions, sustainable land use, and community-driven environmental action. She has also helped secure millions of dollars in funding for conservation, environmental justice, and community resilience initiatives throughout her career.

A 2024 Next City Vanguard Fellow and Harvard Kennedy School Executive Certificate holder, Nicole is recognized for her leadership in urban environmental innovation and climate justice. We’re thrilled to welcome her expertise, vision, and deep commitment to community-centered conservation as AZ(LAND) continues working to protect Arizona’s lands, waters, and communities for generations to come.✨

A huge thank you to our entire BOD that continues to grow 🙏🏽

Join our Urban River Coalition as we host the Sonoran Seasons Series: Mesquite Harvest.

📅 Sunday, June 28th

Explore how mesquite nourishes people, supports wildlife, and strengthens desert ecosystems through a service-learning experience featuring identification, harvesting practices, uses, and future community milling opportunities.

6:30am-7:45am Invasive species pull & mesquite walk

Rio Salado Audubon Center Roundabout - 3131 S Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85040

8:00am-9:30am Breakfast and educational talk

Sagrado Galleria - 809 S 8th St, Phoenix, AZ 85034

We’re also happy to share other opportunities for you to plug into this seasons harvest happening around the valley.