Education and Stewardship Program Manager
Native American Land Conservancy

Elizabeth Paige, a desert naturalist, cultural educator, and member of the Torres Martinez Band of Cahuilla Indians, has extensive experience in public conservation lands management, volunteer organization, and restoration of Indigenous ecosystems. Currently the Education and Stewardship Program Manager for the Native American Land Conservancy, her team manages four preserves in California and provides educational programs and community outreach focused on Indigenous Land Management, collaborative restoration with local and state agencies, and reconnecting Native people with their cultural landscapes.

Pikyav Field Institute Program Manager
Karuk Department of Natural Resources

Aja Conrad, a Karuk woman from her ancestral village of Katimiin in Northern California, currently works as the Pikyav Field Institute Program Manager at the Karuk Department of Natural Resources. A first-generation college student, Gates Millennium Scholar, and a proud mother of two young girls, Aja is also a traditionally trained fire practitioner and fire educator, as well as an experienced wildland firefighter.

Field Coordinator
Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance

Jordan Reyes (tribal member of the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians, affiliated as Lake Miwok with descendancy from Round Valley tribes, affiliated as Yuki, Little Lake, and Wailak) is a land steward with a background in tribal Government, including working on historic preservation and serving on the Tribal Gaming Regulatory Commission and the Tribal Council. He currently serves as the Field Coordinator with the Tribal Eco-Restoration Alliance, where his main priority is bridging the gaps between tribes, agencies and the wider community to better understand each other and work together in stewarding the land.

Executive Director
California Open Lands

Ali Meders-Knight, a Mechoopda tribal member, is the Executive Director of California Open Lands, where she works to form partnerships for federal forest stewardship contracting and tribal restoration programs on public lands. A Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) practitioner for 20+ years, she has collaborated on environmental education and land restoration projects with, among others, Chico State, the City of Chico, and Tehama County. She serves on the Tribal Relations Strategic Planning and Implementation committee for the U.S. Forest Service in Region 5 and has testified in Congress on the merits of TEK in wildfire management and forest regeneration. Ali was recently conferred an honorary doctorate by Syracuse University.

Co-Director, Indigeneity Program
Bioneers

Alexis Bunten, Ph.D., (Aleut/Yup’ik), Co-Director of Bioneers’ Indigeneity Program, has been a researcher, media-maker, manager, consultant, and curriculum developer for organizations including the Sealaska Heritage Institute, Alaska Native Heritage Center, and the FrameWorks Institute. She has published widely about Indigenous and environmental issues, and is the author of So, how long have you been Native?: Life as an Alaska Native Tour Guide.