Tahila Moss (aka Tahila Mintz) is an Indigenous Yoeme and ancestrally Jewish media maker, ancestral scribe, educator and community organizer. She works across multiple platforms to amplify the voices of Indigenous people and the natural world. She has a long history of working in Indigenous communities and between communities to weave sustainable, supportive systems of utility, visibility and guardianship. She has extensive knowledge of plant medicines and traditional healing practices and is a Moondancer and a Water Protector.

Click here for Tahila’s full bio >>>

Clint Shenandoah, respected Snipe Clan Chief of the Onondaga Nation Council, has been married since 1998 and is a father of four. He holds a Diploma of Fine Arts from Munson Williams Proctor Institute of Art and a B.A. in Painting from Syracuse University. Clint is dedicated to Haudenosaunee culture, spiritual traditions, and the Onondaga language. Since 1999, he has been a Spiritual Advisor and Substance Abuse Counselor at Ganigonhi:yoh Onondaga Nation Family Healing Center. He also serves as a Native American Specialist/Chaplain for the NYS Department of Corrections, providing spiritual guidance and cultural education to inmates.

Nicole Thompson has dedicated her career to spiritual care, cultural education, and community advocacy. With an Associate's Degree in Business Administration and extensive training in union leadership and diversity, she has served as a Native American Chaplain for NYS DOCCS since 1998. As a nationally and internationally recognized speaker since 2015, Nicole addresses critical themes like suicide prevention, trauma, and healing. In 2024, she became Community Advocate for the MMIW/R program at OJI:SDA’, connecting families with support networks. She also serves on the advisory committee for the World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference and has held executive board positions with First Nations Lacrosse Nationals and the CanAm Sr B Lacrosse Organization.

Ariadne Vazenios is a Cornell University graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Environment & Sustainability, and an Associate of Science in Environmental Studies. During her time at Cornell, she concentrated in the Environmental Humanities, aiming to deepen her understanding of the relationship between conservation, land connection, sustainability, and personal wellbeing. Previously, she has worked as an outdoor environmental educator and insect conservation research assistant. Ariadne’s passions lay in learning and sharing the joys of the natural world, especially through engaging the topics of plant medicine and insect and arachnid significance. In Ariadne’s free time, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, observing the natural environment, and studying diverse environmental topics.

Nicole Edin Sundown is a member of the Seneca Turtle Clan and has been a resident of the Buffalo Creek territory her entire life. Nicole holds an Associate Degree in Occupational Studies with a focus on Business Management. With over 10 years of experience in the quality assurance and customer service sectors. Nicole has volunteered with Global Concepts Charter Schools, contributing to both their diversity and CEO committees. Additionally, she serves as an OJI:SDA’ Plant Care Fellow. She draws motivation from spending time in the garden and also takes joy in sharing the knowledge she carries with her sons, nieces, and nephews.

Annie Sumi is a mixed-race musician, grant writer, artist, and medicinal herb farmer with a passion for collective health, community building, and human equity. She is rooted in practices of deep listening as a foundational framework to orient towards earth-centred, grassroots, and community-led initiatives. She received a Bachelor of Arts in English and History studies from Nipissing University, and continues to focus her work on questioning accepted narratives, and widening the scope of our collective storytelling.

Yvonne Wakim Dennis is an educator, social worker and award winning author of non-fiction books for children and adults. For over a decade, Yvonne was the Resource Director for the Native American Education Program, NYC Board of Education, where she also developed curriculum and trained teachers. She serves on several boards and is a mentor for the Highlights Foundation Diversity Fellowship in Children's Literature. Dennis is the recipient of several awards including the Tomaquag Lifetime Achievement Award, the Drums Along the Hudson and NYC Parks Dept. Community Service Award, the National David Chow Humanitarian Award and was featured on the NYC TV series on community activists, "Neighborhood Slice, Upper Upper West Side."

Pierette Imbriano, based in Brooklyn, NYC, is an ethnobotanist educator, certified urban gardener with Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, licensed medical aromatherapist, and a DEI consultant. She integrates ethnobotanical practices into math, science, history, and art curricula, focusing on plants, global/local Indigeneity, and African American agriculture in New York schools. She also consults on land-based practices with OJI:SDA’ and Ithaca School District teachers. Additionally, Pierette lectures on alternative medicine anthropology at Helene Fuld School of Nursing and contributes to Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Native Garden exhibit. She studied at Bryn Mawr, Spelman, and Villanova, and received an Ethnobotany Fellowship from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Nyrece Cox, based in Ithaca, New York, is a 2023 graduate of Ithaca High School. As a Junior Counselor at Southside Community Center, she demonstrated her passion for service and mentoring youth. Currently, Nyrece is the Executive Assistant to the Founder and Executive Director of OJI:SDA’ Sustainable Indigenous Futures, providing comprehensive program support to all areas of the organization. She also hosted the Center for Intergenerational Learning's 2024 Virtual Spring Summit, uniting educators, scholars, activists, teachers, and communities to explore traditional "ways of knowing" and their impact on our relationship with nature. Nyrece plans to attend nursing school next academic year, continuing her commitment to helping others.

Yvonne Wakim Dennis is an educator, social worker and award winning author of non-fiction books for children and adults. For over a decade, Yvonne was the Resource Director for the Native American Education Program, NYC Board of Education, where she also developed curriculum and trained teachers. She serves on several boards and is a mentor for the Highlights Foundation Diversity Fellowship in Children's Literature. Dennis is the recipient of several awards including the Tomaquag Lifetime Achievement Award, the Drums Along the Hudson and NYC Parks Dept. Community Service Award, the National David Chow Humanitarian Award and was featured on the NYC TV series on community activists, "Neighborhood Slice, Upper Upper West Side."

Geraldine Standup (Mohawk, Bear Clan) is a Mohawk first language speaker. She is a mother and grandmother living in Kahnawake Reserve in Canada. She is a respected teacher and healer.

Geraldine has served her community as well as the Anishinaabe people of Toronto for 20 years. She also served in Hamilton, Brantford, and London Ontario.

She also spent time with the Maliseet people in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Geraldine is currently an Elder in Residence at McGill University as well as Elder for TRC training of teachers.

Michael De Munn is a Seneca author, artist and forest ecologist, who has lived and worked in the Finger Lakes region most of his life. He believes it is his spiritual and cultural duty to honor and care for the Earth for future generations. Michael is the author of several major award winning children’s books and he is currently writing and illustrating a book of forestry and ecology from a Native perspective for landowners and students. As a conservationist, Michael has been a leader in helping to establish many nature preserves and he is a founder of the Finger Lakes Land Trust and serves as their forestry advisor. Michael carries on the teaches passed down to him about the use and care for different plants important to Indian culture and the spiritual duties that come with our relationship to the Earth, including the plants, animals, soil, air and water.

Dr. Coles has over 30 years of experience in public health practice and has been a fully licensed physician for 42 years. Dr. Coles retired from the Department of Health in 2016 but remains actively engaged in issues of community health and well-being principally serving in an advisory capacity to non-profit organizations. These organizations include Native American Community Services of Erie and Niagara Counties, Inc.’s Gathering of Good Minds initiative and as a consultant to Sewakwatho, a community-based sobriety maintenance program located on the Akwasasne territory of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.