EWU’s Margo Hill-Ferguson Honored for Her Advocacy and Leadership

Congratulations to EWU’s Margo Hill-Ferguson for being honored as one of the Inland Northwest Women of the Year.

Every year, The Spokesman-Review honors 10 women from Eastern Washington and North Idaho, in conjunction with Bank of America. The award recognizes inspirational leaders who make a difference to their communities. (Read this article about Hill-Ferguson recently published in The Spokesman-Review.)

Hill-Ferguson, a professor of urban and regional planning and director of American Indian Studies at EWU, was recognized for her outstanding work on behalf of tribal communities and the environment, along with her strong advocacy on behalf of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People movement. (Read about some of Hill-Ferguson’s work in this Inside EWU story.)

A member of the Spokane Tribe of Indians, Hill-Ferguson is an expert in federal Indian law, as well as urban and regional planning. From getting EWU’s urban and regional planning students engaged in hands-on learning projects that support small rural communities and nonprofits to training Department of Transportation employees in Washington state to spot potential instances of human trafficking, Hill-Ferguson is making a difference.

Hill-Ferguson was appointed to a Department of Transportation Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking and is working for change on a national scale. Her expertise in training state employees to spot signs of human trafficking and presenting at national conferences, provides a voice in helping to protect Indigenous women and other people in communities throughout the country from abduction and trafficking.

She recently gave a MMIW presentation and moderated a panel discussion with U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bree Black Horse. This event highlighted efforts to promote justice and healing through the Department of Justice’s MMIP Regional Outreach Program.

This past summer, Hill-Ferguson was included as one of eight icons as part of a mural painted in the Central Plaza at Spokane Community College.

Fifth graders from Adams Elementary School contributed their artistic talents to the project, in partnership with community members and SCC students under the direction of artist Ayuko Momono. The mural titled “Transcending Time and Love” highlights inspirational leaders who represent brilliance throughout multiple generations.

Hill-Ferguson’s likeness is captured alongside Martin Luther King Jr., Civil Rights Movement leader; Sandy Williams, Spokane civil rights activist; Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani female education activist and Nobel Peace Prize honoree; Helen Keller, disability rights and political rights activist; Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist; Yoko Ono, artist and peace activist; and Cesar Chavez, American Civil Rights activist.