Jacob Johns is the 2025 Activist In Residence

The Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies Department/WAGE Center is hosting a series of workshops, starting on Jan. 15, that will usher in the return of the Activist in Residence program.

This year’s Activist in Residence is Jacob Johns, a Hopi and Akimel O’odham environmental defender who has worked tirelessly to advocate for social justice, minority rights and environmental protection.

Johns, a climate activist, is an organizer for the community-supported Backbone Campaign, which uses “creative strategies and artful activism to manifest a world where life, community, nature, and our obligations to future generations are honored as sacred,” according to its website.

Johns also expresses activism through his artwork, which will be displayed in JFK Library’s Secrist Gallery during winter quarter. (Read more about Johns’ activism on backbonecampaign.org and in The Spokesman-Review.)

The Activist in Residence hasn’t been offered since 2022. The return, this year, was made possible by numerous university donors who supported a special fund, named the Activist in Residence Endowment.

Johns, a Spokane resident, has traveled the world to stand up for a wide range of causes, including protecting water and opposing the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

He was in New Mexico attending a rally/vigil to celebrate the decision by the city of Española to pause the process of installing a controversial statue of Juan de Oñate, a Spanish conquistador, when he was shot by an armed agitator.

The bullet, which struck while Johns was praying, nearly killed him. Yet, the near-death experience didn’t deter Johns from his drive to make a difference. Five weeks after the shooting, and just two weeks after leaving the hospital, Johns led a delegation of Indigenous representatives to COP28, the United Nations’ annual climate conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

As the Activist in Residence, Johns is the keynote speaker for a series of workshops open to anyone who is interested in learning how to spread activism within the EWU and regional communities.

The winter quarter workshops will take place from 3-5 p.m. on the following Wednesdays, inside the WAGE Center, in Monroe Hall 207.

Jan. 15 | Breaking Free from the Non-Profit Industrial Complex

Jan. 29 | Indigenous Wisdom and Climate Policy: A Path to a Sustainable Future

Feb. 5 | Reclaiming the Narrative: Transforming Trauma into Artful Resistance

Feb. 19 | Weaving the Future: An Organizing Model Rooted in Traditional Knowledge and Collective Vision