Staff Bio

Lauren Cordova is the Native American and Alaska Native (NAAN) Program Associate for the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation (Udall Foundation). She is an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Taos and a descendant of the Shoshone Bannock Tribes as well as the Pueblo of Tesuque. Lauren joined the Udall Foundation in 2022 and will be supporting both its Education Programs and John S. McCain III National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution (National Center). Her work with the Education Programs will focus directly on the Native American Congressional Internship Program, and her work with the National Center will support the Native American and Alaska Native Service Area. Lauren has had many roles over the past 10 years both in Indian Country and the Arts Education field. Most recently, she worked with Native youth at the New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Prior to moving back to New Mexico, she worked on the East Coast with several organizations including the Appel Farm Music and Arts Camp and the Therapeutic Recreation program of Arlington County’s Parks and Recreation Department. Throughout her life, her commitment to the importance of Native arts and education has been strengthened by her family’s legacy of Tribal leadership and traditional knowledge. Lauren is a direct descendant of Shoshone Chief Arimo and Bannock Chief Racehorse. She comes from a long line of governors and spiritual leaders from Taos Pueblo and Tesuque Pueblo, respectively.

Lauren is a graduate of Northern Virginia Community College where she earned an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts. She is also an alum of the American University (AU) Washington Internships for Native Students program during which she interned at the Social Security Administration and in the AU Office of the School of Professional and Extended Studies.