Cocopah Tribe Communications Director Outlines Initiatives, Community Outreach on KAWC

Jonathan Athens arrived at the Cocopah Indian Tribe's communications director role through an unusual combination: military service that brought him to Arizona and a career background spanning print and television journalism. On April 6, he put that experience to work on KAWC's "What's Up Yuma?", walking listeners through roughly 24 minutes of tribal initiatives, community programming, and how the Cocopah reaches the broader Yuma County public.

Athens described the tribe's communications infrastructure as a multi-platform operation. The Cocopah Now newsletter, a tribal podcast, and a YouTube channel all carry Cocopah news and event information to residents across the region, including in Somerton, where the tribe's headquarters sits at 14515 S. Veterans Drive, about 13 miles south of Yuma.

Two areas of tribal outreach that Athens highlighted carry direct relevance for Yuma County families. The first is veterans' mental health, specifically suicide prevention support, which the tribe actively promotes. Given the concentration of active-duty and veteran households across a county that includes Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, that program extends well beyond reservation boundaries. The second is environmental work along the Colorado River, a top priority for the tribe in 2026. In March, the Cocopah launched a habitat restoration effort at the North Reservation that will route Yuma effluent through a newly constructed 40-acre wetland before it reaches the river, improving water quality and creating habitat. Volunteers from nonprofits outside Yuma joined tribal members for a planting workshop there on March 12, adding willows and other native species to the site. Long-term plans call for the restored area to connect via pedestrian trails to the West Wetlands.

The tribe also extended a direct public invitation through the broadcast: the Cocopah Earth Day Festival on April 18, along with standing access to the Cocopah Museum. Both draw visitors from across southern Yuma County and beyond to the reservation, which spans approximately 6,500 acres and is home to Cocopah Casino, the Cocopah Resort and Conference Center, Cocopah Rio Colorado Golf Course, Cocopah Speedway, and the Wild River Family Entertainment Center.

The Cocopah Reservation was established in 1917 and today supports roughly 1,200 tribal members living and working on or near its three non-contiguous parcels. Community organizations, schools, and local agencies looking for direct points of contact can reach Athens through the tribe's Somerton headquarters, and the full April 6 episode is available through KAWC's podcast archive.