| In December 2024, Cleon Yazzie was hired as UICSL’s facilities manager, marking a homecoming: As a member of the Navajo tribe, Yazzie was a board member of the Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake over a decade ago.
Yazzie brings a wealth of management and construction experience to his role, which now includes operations. Recently, he reflected on his nearly 15-year association with the Center for this month’s spotlight. Cleon, welcome, and thank you for being available for this month’s spotlight. 1) You’ve been associated with the Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake for a while. About a decade ago, you were a board member. What was the Center like at that time? Twelve years ago, UICSL experienced growth changes and facing certain challenges that we continue to face today and other challenges unique to the time period. Some things have not changed and continue to benefit the center and the community. One thing that has not changed is the passion that UICSL employees have for their positions in the organization. They work tirelessly “to Serve the People,” to improve their skills and grow as a team at UICSL. I remember a particular team-building activity in a park with games and wonderful participation. I was beyond impressed with the staff and their attitudes and the desire to improve. Some of the challenges we faced at the time, were building improvements, leadership changes and funding. Today, leadership changes still affect the organization, but I believe our current organization is in a much better position strategically and financially than ever before and can weather changes much better. As a board member I was on the Executive Committee and over finance. I worked closely with our accounting dept. Our main goals were collecting aging invoices for funding from IHS and completing audits. However, the two biggest challenges for me during this time were managing relationships with a General Contractor that I knew personally. We had served together on the Board of directors of the Utah Native American Chamber of Commerce. The project architects tasked with overseeing the renovations and this contractor did not work together well at all. It was a chaotic time and very stressful. In the end, new leaders stepped in, IHS funded our organization, the renovation was completed and new ideas for funding evolved. 2) As a board member, what issues were you most passionate about? I think at the time, my main concerns were the overall health of the organization, long-term stability and employee morale. I’ve always believed that a leader can be absent and things will still get done but remove the employees and it’s the opposite effect. So, I tried to express gratitude at any chance I had for those who do the work at UICSL. 3) How did you get involved as a board member? I was part of an email subscription from UICSL since I had worked with them in the past at events and was interested in what was going on at UICSL. One day an email came through about open positions on the board of directors and the need for additional members. I was inspired, touched up my resume and emailed it back. I received a call from another board member within a few days and had an interview soon after. I guess they were ok with me joining their group. 4) Why did you decide to leave the board? Leaving the board was difficult for me. I felt like I had been contributing to my people in a positive and significant manner. However, a position change at work required an extended travel commitment from me that made it difficult to continue my dedication to the board and everything else. That went on for almost two and a half years before I had had enough and came home for good. I recently reread the resignation email I sent and had forgotten that the board president at the time rejected my resignation. 5) How did the Center come back on your radar after almost a decade? Over the years I have tried to keep tabs on the organization from afar. I even applied for a few positions, but sadly, it wasn’t meant to be. I’m not sure at what point I realized this, but I knew I wanted to be a part of the organization once again, but I didn’t know in what capacity. So, I routinely checked the website for open positions and was finally given an opportunity. 6) Was it surreal to join an organization as an employee when you were once a board member? Talk about the changing of perspectives. At first, it was hard to believe that it could happen because I had previously submitted applications for a separate position and one for the position, I was ultimately hired to fill. I had figured UICSL had put me on a list that no one wants to be on when applying for a position here. I tried not to make a big deal of my former position on the board because it was a different role with different challenges. I just knew that if given the chance, I’d make the most of it. And finally, the opportunity arose. The unbelievable part of all of this is that I received two job offers within one hour of each other and one was from UICSL. I already knew which one I was taking. 7) Fast forward to the present: As a facilities manager, there are a lot of moving parts. Talk to me about managing your team and what you value in your direct reports. Being the Facilities and Operations Manager here at UICSL has required a unique combination of all my experience. It requires detailed planning, production, focus, accountability, compassion, construction and trades knowledge, business and finance, teambuilding, networking and an overall attitude to get stuff done and to do it all for the right reasons. With all that experience and knowledge, I still know that I cannot do it all myself. I’m constantly reminded that if I’m absent, things will still get done by my team. Maybe not how I want it done, but it’ll get done. However, if they were all absent one day, I’d be in a bit of a pickle. So, I’m grateful for them and what they do. They’re all unique and it works. With this team, there are two things I want them to focus on; one, getting stuff done - that’s our business! Two, remember why we’re here - Focus on the mission of UICSL. If there is any doubt about what we’re doing or why we’re doing it, we go back to the mission and remember why we’re here. It’s simple. 8) What is the hardest part of being a facilities manager? I come from a heavy production focused industry. I understood regulations and most decisions were safety focused, incident reports meant someone almost died and P&P [policies & procedures] was the result of unsafe acts. Fast forward to this position with UICSL, where the decisions are made differently, incidents have a different definition, P&P is common and the organization cares enough about an employee to let them stay home when sick. Adapting to a new environment required a paradigm shift for me and I’m still trying to adapt to my new normal. However, I do believe that having a mission to focus on helps one to adapt and understand their role. My team and I are here to Serve the People. 9) Give us a lay of the land, in terms of preparing for an event. Part of Serving the people, honoring native cultures, strengthening health and wellness programs and cultivating communities is providing the people with opportunities to participate in accomplishing this mission. UICSL has done a wonderful job in providing the community with those opportunities. Over the last year and a half, I’ve been fortunate to participate in these events. In my role, I typically receive event request forms for all events at UICSL.I have the privilege of seeing the vision that our team members have for their individual events and get to witness the outcome. I’m often involved in the planning aspect too and I see my responsibility as giving each request the proper tools and assistance to realize the vision and to accomplish the goals of each event. Recently, we participated in the Back-to-School event. Behind the scenes our job in Facilities was to provide our staff, vendors and clients with a safe environment to celebrate a yearly tradition of students returning to school and preparing them to be successful. It began with weekly planning meetings to coordinate and share ideas. Then came preparations days before on the day of the event, we provided shelter from the sun, power for electrical items, seating and tables, plans for changing weather conditions, controlling parking lots, picking up trash, providing locations for EMS, security at entrances and inside the building, running last minute errands, helping elders, providing security codes and making sure AC is comfortable inside. Of course, there is more, but in the end, the event was a resounding success, and my team played only a small part. 10) Outside of work, what are your passions? Outside of work, I have several different things I enjoy. I enjoy travel, family time and new and different experiences with my SO [significant other]. We also enjoy good movies at the movie theater. I enjoy photography and recreating internet reels. I also really enjoy building “stuff.” I enjoy the outdoors and learning new and interesting things. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the largest Starbucks in the world in Chicago. It was three huge floors full of Starbucks fanatics. In school, we studied the business side of Starbucks. This time, the most fascinating thing about Starbucks was seeing the coffee bean piping distribution system and learning how the beans are roasted including each stage of the roasting process and the eventual grinding of the roasted bean. I purchased nothing but unexpectedly learned something very new and very interesting. 11) Last, I am sure you can see this question coming: You’ve seen the last decade of the Center. Look into your crystal ball and tell me what the next 10 years will bring! Ten years ago, I never would have thought we’d have a clinic, or a garden or even transportation vehicles. We’ve come a long way and it is our responsibility to continue to make meaningful progress for the people. Looking into the future, I see continued focus on the UICSL mission “To serve The People by honoring native cultures, strengthening health and wellness programs and cultivating community.” With this focus, I see improved and expanded tribal partnerships and influences. Urban Indian Organizations have a responsibility to properly represent tribal partners in Urban areas along the Wasatch Front. I see the continued expansion of services in Healthcare, Behavioral Health, Public Health and Community Health blended with cultural and traditional practices and influences. I think some opportunities where UICSL can grow in the future are in Native Workforce Development, Housing Services for Natives, Digital Literacy & technology training, internship opportunities and Expanded Community services both modern and traditional (Garden education, Cultural education, language preservation, youth development, cultural health and wellness, veteran services, and entrepreneurship.) The opportunities are endless for growth. One future priority for our organization must be to adapt spatially and structurally; our current home is nearing the end of its life and has served us well for more than 50 years. We must look forward to and create a new home for the next 50 years AND anticipate all the future opportunities AND accommodate the future vision of our organization. I believe our current Board of Directors, Leadership, Staff, Community partners and tribal partners are well equipped and fully committed to the continued growth and development of UICSL and meeting future challenges with the appropriate solutions. | |
