Tirso A. Gonzales, Ph.D. (Peruvian of Aymara descent) His accumulated work experience as scholar, international consultant and activist has allowed him to work closely with Indigenous Peoples and related issues in the Americas (North, Central and South). Dr. Gonzales is an assistant professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia - Okanagan, Canada. He completed his Ph.D. in Rural Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He recently worked for two years as a member of the Peruvian National Commission of Indigenous Andean, Amazonian and Afro Peruvian People. His current work explores the use of participatory methodologies and techniques on issues central to indigenous development, community development, indigenous and local histories, indigenous strategic visions, and local management of natural resources. Dr. Gonzales is committed to supporting the agenda of Indigenous Peoples as well as processes related to ecological knowledge, cultural affirmation and decolonization. Click for more information.

Kimla McDonald, Secretary, M.A. Kimla is trained both as a landscape architect (University of California, Berkeley) and as a midwife, and is currently working in the health care field. She has worked as a producer of documentary films with the Earth Island Institute's Sacred Land Film Project. She has decades of experience protecting sacred sites and working with Native nations in the desert Southwest and serves as a special advisor to our indigenous health projects. Kimla is an original founding board member of the Sacred Land Foundation, the parent organization to the Cultural Conservancy. She lives with her family in Washington, D.C.

L. Frank Manriquez (Tongva/Ajachmem) is a Native California Indian artist, tribal scholar, cartoonist, language advocate, singer, and self-described “decolonizationist.” L. Frank has exhibited her artwork (paintings, sculpture, weavings, photography, cartoons, regalia) in museums and galleries locally, nationally, and internationally. L. Frank is the co-founder of Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival. She works to revitalize indigenous languages as a language trainer utilizing Total Physical Response (TPR) and motivational and experiential methods. She has provided training for indigenous individuals and communities through the annual Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival conferences and workshops and with indigenous communities throughout the US, including Hawaii, and in Australia and Nunavut. L. Frank is also on the board of directors of Neshkanukat, and for fifteen years served on the board of directors of the California Indian Basketweavers Association. She is a strong advocate and practitioner of sustainable living and builds straw bale and waddle and cob buildings. L. Frank is the author of two books, Acorn Soup, a collection of cartoons, and First Families: A Photographic History of California Indians, both published by Heyday Books. She is a regular contributor to News From Native California. Click for more information.

Melissa K. Nelson, Ph.D. (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) Melissa is a writer, researcher, educator, media-maker and cultural and environmental activist. Melissa has served as The Cultural Conservancy’s president and executive director since 1993. In 2000 she completed her Ph.D. in Cultural Ecology with an Emphasis in Native American Studies at the University of California, Davis. Since 2002 she has also served as a professor of American Indian Studies at San Francisco State University. Nelson is a Switzer Environmental Fellow and Leadership Award recipient and has served on the boards of numerous environmental organizations including Earth Island Institute and the Collective Heritage Institute, the parent organization to the Bioneers Conference. Her published works have appeared in academic and national journals. Her new edited anthology is Original Instructions – Indigenous Teachings For A Sustainable Future (Bear & Company 2008). Click for more information.

Enrique Salmón,Ph.D. (pronounced sahl-móhn), is a Rarámuri (Tarahumara) scholar and indigenous advocate who completed his doctorate in Anthropology from Arizona State University. Enrique is currently head of the American Indian Studies Program at California State University East Bay. He feels indigenous cultural concepts of the natural world are only part of a complex and sophisticated understanding of landscapes and biocultural diversity, and he has dedicated his studies to Ethnobiology and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in order to better understand his own and other cultural perceptions of culture, landscapes, and place. During his doctoral course studies Enrique was a Scholar in Residence at the Heard Museum. He also served as the Southwest Regional Program Officer for the Christensen Fund. Enrique is also on the Board of Directors of the Society of Ethnobiology. Enrique has published several articles and chapters on Indigenous Ethnobotany, agriculture, nutrition, and traditional ecological knowledge and has just completed his first book, Eating the Landscape, TCC’s first sponsored book project. Click for more information.