Deniale Urbina '12

Native Bruin Deniale Urbina '12, from the Acoma Pueblo tribe, earned her undergraduate degree in international development studies.

Raised in a military household, Urbina experienced a childhood marked by frequent relocations across the United States and Europe. She completed her high school education in Heidelberg, Germany, before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue her college studies. Her roommates were taken aback when, anticipating a German international student, they instead found a Native American woman as their new housemate. Urbina attended UCLA on an Army ROTC scholarship and, upon her graduation, became a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Subsequently, she obtained a master of social work degree from Simmons University and returned to UCLA over a decade later to serve as the project coordinator for the American Indian Recruitment (AIR) project. Her tenure with AIR proved to be one of the most fulfilling periods of her professional life, as she dedicated herself to nurturing the next generation of Native Bruins, earning the affectionate title of “AIR Mom.” During this time, she also found her voice in advocacy, particularly focusing on the accessibility of higher education. Urbina remains active in this arena through her involvement with the California Native Vote Project’s Native Power Building Fellowship and a Narrative Change Grant from IllumiNative. Currently, she is employed by Advance Native Political Leadership, where she contributes to increasing the representation of Native leaders in elected positions and amplifying Native issues on a broader scale.

“Pursuing higher education is challenging," Urbina said. "I feel like that isn’t said enough. As Native people, we’re often told to get an education so we can learn how to navigate systems and strengthen our communities back home. This is a heavy burden to bear during some of life’s most formative years. And yet, Native students continue to persevere generation after generation, relying on innate leadership baked into the very being of who we are as a people. I am proud to be a part of that movement and to have achieved this goal at the number one public university in the country. UCLA exposed me to new communities, cultures and ideas, giving me lifelong friends and showing me the power of solidarity to impact change. It was a place for personal growth and discovery and built the foundation from which I continue to advocate and support the next generation of Native leaders today.”

This profile was provided by the UCLA American Indian Studies Center.