Richelle Hubbell-Hudson, HR Specialist Sr. (Business Office)
Yá'át'ééh! Richelle Hubbell-Hudson likes to introduce herself in her native language, Navajo (Diné). Her maternal clanship is Dibé Łizhiní (Black Sheep) born for the Tábąąhá (Edge Water) clan. Her maternal grandfather’s clan is Honágháahnii (One-Walks-Around), and her paternal grandfather’s clan is Tódích’íi’nii (Bitter Water).
A member of the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona, Hubbell-Hudson is from Lupton. This small village in Apache County on the Arizona/New Mexico border is famous for its Painted Cliffs. In 1926, the storied Route 66 ran through Lupton following the Old Trails Highway. While she now makes her home in Phoenix with her husband and three children, her mother still resides in Lupton in the house Hubbell-Hudson’s grandfather built.
Hubbell-Hudson’s father lives in Shiprock, New Mexico—a town on the Navajo reservation named after the massive volcanic rock that juts from the ground like a ship at sea. Called the rock with wings (Tse Bit ‘a’i), legend has it that it was a piece of land that became a bird—carrying ancestral people of the Navajo on its back. Rock climbers once considered Shiprock a great feat; however, this rock has been off-limits since the 1970s (in accordance with Navajo custom).
Hubbell-Hudson holds a BAE in elementary education from ASU. She is currently pursuing a master’s in legal studies (with an emphasis in human resources/employment law) from ASU’s Sandra Day O’Conner College of Law and plans to graduate in December of 2019: “This degree will allow me to build on my career interest,” she explains. “I feel it is more of a personal accomplishment because my true calling and passion is human resources type of work.” She has been in the HR field for eight of her 12 years at the university.
Over her tenure at ASU, she has worked in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, The School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, the College of Health Solutions and now in English where she is the HR liaison between English and ASU’s HR/Payroll office. “When the opportunity was open to work in a new department and with Lorinda Liggins—I applied,” she says.
Hubbell-Hudson loves to organize family birthday parties and get people together to enjoy each other. Needless to say, her coworkers are now reaping the benefits of her party-planning skills; she has organized some fun and memorable staff events.
She and her family love to travel to the beaches in California. A HUGE Pittsburgh Steelers fan, on her bucket list is to attend a home game in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Go Steelers!
Image: Courtesy photo of Richelle Hubbell-Hudson.