Candida Hunter is Hualapai and Mexican and serves as Senior Director of Tribal Affairs for First Things First (FTF). In this position, she is responsible for ensuring the facilitation of effective government-to-government relations between FTF, a state agency, and Arizona’s Tribes; building and strengthening organizational relations with tribal partners; fostering tribal relations through collaborative partnerships; and facilitating the provision of culturally responsive early childhood services in tribal communities. Hunter is a fellow of the Flinn-Brown Civic Leadership Academy focused on expanding the cadre of Arizonans in state-level civic leadership positions with the knowledge, skills and commitment to address the state’s critical long-term issues. She is a fellow of the BUILD Equity Leaders Action Network which works to promote racial equity in early childhood systems.

Candida previously served as a Hualapai Tribal Council member and, prior to joining staff, volunteered on the FTF Hualapai Tribe Regional Partnership Council and several other community groups. Candida was also named as a 2018 winner of the Native American 40 Under 40 award by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development and is a Global Leader for Young Children at the World Forum Foundation. More recently, she also completed the Arizona State University Indigenous Leadership Academy. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family, traveling and volunteering.