RAMAH, NM — Many communities across the Navajo Nation continue to face delays on critical projects due to lengthy approval processes and layers of bureaucracy. Empowering local chapters and community leaders to make decisions closer to home is key to delivering faster results and ensuring families receive the services and infrastructure they need without unnecessary delays.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren is continuing efforts to shift decision-making power and resources closer to local communities, emphasizing that chapters and local entities should lead the work that directly impacts their people.
Speaking at a recent community event in Ramah, President Nygren shared a clear vision for governance across the Navajo Nation:
“No local community governance should be waiting on Window Rock.”
President Nygren explained that chapters, school boards, and local leaders are elected by their communities and understand the day-to-day needs of their people better than anyone else. From water lines and broadband expansion to senior centers and local roads, many projects can move faster when decisions are made locally instead of waiting through long approval processes.
Under this approach, local chapters and community partners would take the lead on essential community projects, while the Navajo Nation government in Window Rock focuses on large-scale infrastructure efforts, federal and state funding packages, and nation-wide resource deployment.
“What Window Rock should focus on is the multi-million-dollar or billion-dollar efforts on how we deploy resources across the Navajo Nation at the grand scale,” President Nygren said. “A lot of the effort needs to happen here locally.”
To support this shift, President Nygren has also been working to streamline how State of New Mexico funding reaches Navajo communities. Rather than allowing projects to become delayed through lengthy bureaucratic processes, he is advocating for certain funds to go directly to trusted local entities that have already demonstrated success managing projects.
“A few weeks ago, I signed letters to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham requesting that some New Mexico dollars go directly to local school boards and partners who already know how to get the work done,” he said. “They can work directly with chapters, and today we’re giving the Ramah community that same effort.”
The effort also includes supporting Ramah Navajo in acting as its own fiscal agent on certain state capital projects, allowing funding to stay within the community and move more efficiently toward completion.
President Nygren said local control is about respect, accountability, and trust in the leadership closest to the people. By empowering chapters and local partners, communities can see tangible results sooner. Results such as expanded broadband access, improved water infrastructure, upgraded senior centers, and stronger local services.
Through this approach, President Nygren says the role of Window Rock is to secure major funding opportunities, while local communities lead the work on the ground. This ensures resources are placed where they can make the most immediate impact for Navajo families and elders.
