Program Director, Bioneers Indigeneity Program
Bioneers

Cara Romero (Chemehuevi), Program Director of the Bioneers Indigeneity Program, previously served her Mojave-based tribe in several capacities, including as: first Executive Director at the Chemehuevi Cultural Center, a member of the tribal council, and Chair of the Chemehuevi Education Board and Chemeuevi Headstart Policy Council. Cara is also a highly accomplished photographer/artist.

U.S. Poet Laureate

Joy Harjo, the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate and member of the Muscogee Nation, is the author of ten books of poetry, several plays, children’s books, two memoirs, and seven music albums. Her honors include Yale’s 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry, National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ruth Lily Prize from the Poetry Foundation, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Tulsa Artist Fellowship. She is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, and is the inaugural Artist-in-Residence for the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she lives.

Musician, Storyteller and Cultural Educator

Grayhawk Perkins, a renowned musician, storyteller, and cultural educator whose work has earned him recognition as a living treasure of Louisiana, is an internationally recognized authority on Southeastern Native American and Colonial history who regularly shares his knowledge at festivals, museums, and educational institutions. Grayhawk, whose music blends blues, jazz, and Indigenous rhythms and who has performed widely in Louisiana and in Europe, is also an accomplished educator, teaching visual and performing arts through artist residencies in schools across Louisiana, engaging students in storytelling, songwriting, and mural creation, bringing history to life through creative expression.