Elephant Energy

Ya’at’eeh! My name is Adrian Manygoats. I am a Program Manager for Eagle Energy on the Navajo Nation. My personal mission is to empower indigenous people to lead by example & to do meaningful work that will benefit future generations. I am Naakaii Dine'é, born for Naasht'ezhí Tábaahí. I was born and raised in Tuba City, Arizona.  Though I currently live outside the Navajo Nation borders, I do intend to continue to work within its boundaries to create opportunities for others & to be a good role-model for those who are following in my footsteps. 

I became involved with Eagle Energy in January 2013 as an intern through Northern Arizona University’s Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals program. Alongside Beth Osnes, Ph.D (Board Member for Eagle Energy and Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado), I co-founded the Navajo Women’s Energy Project (NWEP).  The program was created to implement clean energy solutions using conversation, creativity and culture.  Our mission was, and remains to be, to unite women & men for the purpose of creating a clean-energy future on the Navajo Nation. Our hope is to influence sustainable lifestyles for the benefit of our children and grandchildren.

 In the spring of 2013, I worked alongside the Eagle Energy team and the Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation’s Public Health Nurses, and the Navajo Nation’s Community Health Workers to install solar lighting systems in the homes of people with no access to the electrical grid around the Western Navajo Agency. The recipients of these systems were people who have become accustomed to using gasoline-powered generators, battery-operated lamps and flashlights, candles, kerosene and coal to light their homes. Our work has been aimed to eliminate the usage of these ‘dirty’ energy sources that are often detrimental to the Navajo people’s health and budgets by providing an economical and  ‘clean’ alternative.

Last summer, we created the Navajo Solar Entrepreneurs Program; a pilot project meant to nurture the ambitions of business-minded people located within the Western Navajo Agency in Northern Arizona.  Since September 2013, we have enabled seven people from the Western Navajo Nation to begin entrepreneurial ventures on the Reservation to make durable, good quality solar lighting accessible at affordable prices. 

At the beginning of January 2014, I was asked to become a part of the Eagle Energy team, and that is when I acquired my new title of Program Manager. This year, Eagle Energy will expand into the the Eastern Agency thanks to our partnership with Gallup Solar. Together, we are creating the Gallup lar Entrepreneurship Program.  We will also expand into the Monument Valley area (at the border of Arizona and Utah), through a partnership with the Honnold Foundation which will establish the Northern Navajo Solar Entrepreneurs Project - an extension of the Navajo Solar Entrepreneurs Program in the Western Agency.  

In addition to our expansion, the Navajo Women’s Energy Project produced ten 2-minute radio plugs that will air on the local radio station, and we published Issue #1 of the NWEP ‘zine. Longer, 10-minute segments for the radio show are in the works, and Issue #2 of the ‘zine is already being compiled. To hear the radio plugs, please click here. To learn more about Eagle Energy and the work that we do on the Navajo Nation, you can like LIKE and FOLLOW us on facebook, twitter, and instagram.