National Native American Human Resources Association Celebrates 26th Annual National Conference While Shining Light on Leadership Awards

Annual conference to discuss current trends and the latest in leadership and best practices for human resources professionals from experts in various industries.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 12, 2022) – The National Native American Human Resources Association (NNAHRA) will host its 26th Annual Conference September 26-28 in San Antonio, Texas. The annual conference offers three days of education, networking, mentoring and fun with multiple strategic sessions and presentations from keynote speakers and industry experts.

NNAHRA is a nonprofit organization comprised of professionals employed for a Native American Tribe or a tribal enterprise. The organization truly understands the challenges and opportunities facing professionals and their organizations and aims to help and create real systems and solutions.

The three-day conference will be loaded with valuable and relevant information in human resources with many networking opportunities. Attendees will find information and hear expert presentations on: Tribal and HR Leadership, Talent Acquisition and Retention, Organizational Development and Training, Benefits/Recognition, Best Practices, Legal/Compliance and more. Whether attendees are just starting out in the Human Resources field, seasoned professionals or Tribal leaders, the conference offers something for everyone.

The conference is set in San Antonio this year, acknowledging the various Indigenous communities from which the city was known as the traditional homeland of Yanaguana, homeland of many Native Americans.

To celebrate its 26th year, NNAHRA will honor its past and embark on future opportunities while shining light on very influential members of the organization. At this year’s conference, the Sam Henny Mentorship Award recipient will be announced. Sam Henny was an early leader of development of programs and policies to mentor tribal members into leadership roles. Her work at the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde motivated many other tribes to introduce similar programs based on her early work and foundation-building skills. While she has passed on, NNAHRA celebrates her life and work by presenting the annual Sam Henny Award. The award recognizes tribes with successful tribal programs that promote mentorship, succession planning or other areas of leadership.

In addition to the Sam Henny Award, NNAHRA will recognize its HR leader for 2022. This award requires a demonstrated level of accomplishment in three to four different areas: leadership, organizational impact, commitment to HR profession, and dedication to the mentoring and development of future tribal human resource leaders. The award recognizes model Human Resources leaders who contribute to their organization by improving their tribal organization’s bottom line, achieving business results, demonstrating leadership or developing innovative programs.

NNAHRA is currently accepting submissions for the 2022 Sam Henny Award and the 2022 HR Leader of the year. To be considered for this national recognition, tribes can submit information regarding their program policy and/or procedures to the selection committee at info@nnahra.org. The Board selects a committee of three to review the submissions and selects a program to be celebrated during the conference. Those who have submitted in the past but were not selected are encouraged to submit again for consideration. To make a nomination, please click here.

For more information on NNAHRA or the annual conference, please contact Judy Wright at jwright@nnahra.org or click here.