Melissa K. Nelson, Ph.D. (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) 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).

Nícola Wagenberg, M.A. (Colombian) is programs director for TCC. She has worked for 20 years with diverse communities using the arts, media and psychology towards personal growth and social justice. Nicola was programs director with the Just Think Foundation, leading media literacy and media production projects in schools and after-school programs for teachers and
youth. Her work with teenage women in Bay View Hunters Point in San Francisco led to the production of two award winning short videos where they tell personal stories of struggle, resistance and resilience. As a psychologist in training, Nicola recently worked with individuals and groups at the Living Arts Counseling Center and led a drama therapy support group
for Latina immigrant mothers. She is currently a staff therapist at The Psychotherapy Institute. Nícola is a doctoral candidate in Psychology and is currently writing her dissertation on the relationship between survivor guilt, healing intergenerational trauma and the cultivation of authentic power.

Philip M. Klasky, M.A. is a writer, educator, oral historian and cultural and environmental justice activist. He is the Director of The Storyscape Project of The Cultural Conservancy and consults with indigenous peoples in the U.S. and abroad on the preservation and revitalization of their cultural resources and the protection of their ancestral lands. Klasky teaches in the Department of American Indian Studies and College of Ethnic Studies and is a consultant with the Cesar Chavez Institute at San Francisco State University where he received his MA degree in Cultural Geography. He has worked to oppose nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear power, and to promote responsible radioactive waste management through legislation and as a consultant to the state of California. He received the 2007 SFSU Leadership in Action Outstanding Advisor Award and the 2009 Anthony Grassroots Environmental Justice Award. His writings have appeared in academic and popular journals. Website: www.philipmklasky.com

Bernadette Zambrano (Chicana) is the Coordinator for TCC’s RAIN FED program, and an urban gardener, seed collector and saver. Bernadette worked at the Native plant nursery in the Presidio of San Francisco, and she presently gardens at various sites throughout the Bay Area. She also conducted research for a documentary on the indigenous perspective of corn/maize. She is a co-founder of the Terra Madre Fund for Indigenous Women and has served as a board member of the American Indian Contemporary Arts in San Francisco

The Cultural Conservancy – Trainers

Bessie Dvora China Leipakumakaniokalani Ching (China Ching), MA (Native Hawaiian) is digital storytelling and oral history trainer and technical consultant for TCC. China has taught video production and digital storytelling across the United States and in Africa with a particular emphasis on using media technologies and storytelling for social and community change. China was a founding member of Third World Majority, a new media training and production resource center where she was the Director of Circle of Voices, a Native-specific training program. China worked for four years at the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center where she developed a national HIV-stigma media campaign and authored a media production-based HIV prevention curriculum for Native teens. China is honored to have come from a family of artists and to have had the opportunity to serve Indigenous communities around the world. She received her Bachelors Degree in Hispanic Studies from Connecticut College and her Masters Degree in Oral History from Columbia University.

Colin Farish is a composer, pianist, and producer fluent in many diverse musical languages. He has served as a volunteer and consultant to TCC since 1993. From documentary films, dance performances, compositions for both small and large ensembles, orchestral and symphonic commissions, jazz trio, quartet and solo piano recordings, Colin works in multiple genres, formats, and styles. The wide scope of his influences are represented in his twenty-album discography of original music. For fifteen years Colin owned and operated Stillwater Sound recording studios. For eight of those years his studio was located in the Presidio Chapel of San Francisco where he recorded numerous CDs and produced dozens of cultural and concert events, many in collaboration with The Cultural Conservancy. Colin continues to serve as a regular trainer, producer, and technical assistant to TCC’s many media recording projects. He was the lead producer and audio engineer for the Salt Song Trail audio recordings, Corbin Harney’s Mother Earth Songs, and composer for the soundtrack of TCC’s award-winning documentary film, The Salt Song Trail – Bringing Creation Back Together. He is currently developing a television series called “Sound Insight,” which he will host. Three new websites will be launched in July 2010 featuring Colin’s work:www.soundinsight.tv, www.colinfarish.com and www.stillwatersound.com.

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.