For Bioneers’ 36th conference, we are excited for art to play a vital, celebratory, and transformational role at the conference. Check out this year’s contributing artists.
2025 Performers
Bow and Arrow Circus Theatre Collective
Bow & Arrow Circus Theatre Collective
Bow & Arrow Circus Theatre Collective was founded in 2017 by womxn on a mission to combine circus artistry with politically relevant storytelling, striking visuals, and ensemble comedy to create a unique circus-theatre hybrid. Follow @bowandarrowcircus for updates on upcoming performances.
Panel Presentations:
Circus Theater Performance: Box [M]
March 28th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm
Cello Joe
Musician
CelloJoe is a pioneering musician from the South Bay, born to a first-generation Taiwanese immigrant and a Polish Jewish mother. His unique heritage informs his artistry, blending classical cello with beatboxing, live looping, and original compositions to create his signature “classical hip-hop” style. Known as “the wildest beatboxing cellist in the west,” CelloJoe captivates audiences with his dynamic performances that combine virtuosic cello playing, rhythmic beats, and thought-provoking lyrics about sustainability, cooperation, and environmental stewardship.
Panel Presentations:
Performance: Giant Puppets Save the World + CelloJoe
March 28th | 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm
Gabriel Cortez
Poet, educator, and organizer
The Ecology Center
Gabriel Cortez is a poet, educator, and organizer based in the Bay Area, California. He is the inaugural poet in residence at The Ecology Center and Shelterwood Collective, where he uses poetry to uplift local legacies of resistance rooted in environmental justice and food and land sovereignty.
Panel Presentations:
Poetry Performance and Workshop with Gabriel Cortez
March 29th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm
Giant Puppets Save the World
"Giant Puppets Save the World is a performance art collective founded and directed by artist Toni Tone Mikulka-Chang. Specializing in large-scale puppets, props, and costumes, the collective uses sustainably sourced materials such as silk, bamboo, reed, and papier-mâché, crafted with eco-friendly, nontoxic processes. Each creation is designed to inspire wonder, educate audiences, and promote environmental stewardship.
Panel Presentations:
Performance: Giant Puppets Save the World + CelloJoe
March 28th | 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm
Katherine Eid Wild
Storyteller & Filmmaker
Katherine Eid Wild is a storyteller and documentary filmmaker whose work weaves intergenerational narratives drawn from her Lebanese-American heritage. Her performances explore themes of resilience, connection, and the wisdom passed down through generations. Her signature piece, Inheritance: An Intergenerational Resilience Story, invites audiences to reflect on the strength of family bonds, ancestral knowledge, and the transformative power of storytelling.
Panel Presentations:
Storyteller Katherine Eid Wild presents: Inheritance: An Intergenerational Resilience Story
March 28th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm
Lauren Turk
Musician
Lauren Turk is a life long musician and multilingual singer based in Oakland, CA, with a soulful and ethereal sound steeped in a reverence for nature and the powers of the feminine. Her songs have been streamed nearly a million times to date in 128 countries. When she's not making or performing music, Lauren works towards creating bioregional climate resilience. Her recent work focuses on helping clients start, strengthen and scale compost infrastructure.
Panel Presentations:
Live Music: Lauren Turk
March 29th | 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm
SambaFunk! w/ King Theo
SambaFunk! is a collective of dancers, drummers, musicians, visual artists and community members who are dedicated to preserving and presenting African centered Art from throughout the African Diaspora currently under the Artistic Direction of Theo Aytchan Williams. SambaFunk! fuses African Brasilian and African American cultures in unique ways that benefit and educate under-served African American communities in Oakland and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Our mission is to present works that create new intersections between the Arts and Health & Wellness.
Panel Presentations:
Performance: Sambafunk!
March 29th | 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm
Wildchoir
Wildchoir’s purpose is to invoke the power of music to activate humanity towards radical love and action - from the stage to the streets. Grounded in a commitment to social justice, ecological regeneration, and healing for all beings, Wildchoir’s music illuminates the joy, pain, and beauty of what it means to be human.
Panel Presentations:
Song-Leading for Social Justice with Wildchoir
March 27th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm
Thursday, March 27th
Lunch & Learn & Link: Artists Exchange
Inviting all artists and creatives, and people who want to bring more arts and creativity into their environmental/climate work! Come and share your projects and passions and lay the foundation for future partnerships. Bring your lunch to the Marsh and make surprising connections with other conference attendees in an informal setting. This will be lightly facilitated by Shilpa Jain with ample time for organic connections as well.
Note: Food will not be provided, but, maybe like the school cafeteria, your buddies will share some of their treats with you…
Location: Marsh Main Stage
Workshop: Mending & Stitching with Women Eco Artists Dialog (WEAD)
Stop by to learn “visible” mending techniques for your clothes and household fabrics. Discover how to darn socks, embroider, sew ashiko-style patches, and more. WEAD will provide samples and tutorials on stitching. Feel free to bring an item that you would like repaired. Instruction will focus on learned skills, rather than a final product. Needles, thread, buttons and patches will be available for use during the instructions. Or: bring your knitting and join the mending community!
Location: Marsh Cabaret
Participatory Art Installation: END-angered
END-angered is an interactive installation that encourages us to pause, notice, and contribute to a speculative form of species liberation that reverses the narrative of endangerment and extinction but also helps us explore the fragility of life on Earth. The installation consists of a (trash) bin filled/overflowing with crumpled pieces of hand-made paper made with different species of mushrooms that each contain the name of an endangered species. We will be invited to pick a piece of paper from the bin and uncrumple and rehydrate it (the speculative act of liberation of the species “contained” inside). Once flat, the paper will be hung on a wall piece that will simulate a map of entanglements between the species liberated. Crochet threads connecting them will represent the mycelial networks in the soil, highlighting the vital roles of fungal systems and reminding us that no life form can be untangled from its entire ecosystem.
Location: Marsh Main Stage
March 27th | 1:30 pm to 2:45 pm | The Marsh Arts Center
Panelists
Shilpa Jain
Researcher, Writer and Workshop Leader
Shilpa Jain, a researcher, writer and workshop leader on topics including globalization, creativity, ecology, democratic living and innovative learning, has facilitated dozens of transformative leadership gatherings around the world and worked with hundreds of young leaders from 50+ countries. Her past positions include: Executive Director of YES! (for 11 years); Education and Outreach Coordinator of Other Worlds; and learning activist with Shikshantar: The Peoples’ Institute for Rethinking Education and Development in Udaipur, India.
Welcome to The Chrysalis Project, an immersive workshop designed to ignite personal transformation and foster leadership through dynamic, collaborative artmaking. We’ll dive into wire-sculpting and reflective writing in which we weave our unique stories into a collaborative art piece. This workshop isn’t just about learning a craft, it’s about embracing our roles as leaders and change-makers in our communities. As we twist and shape wire, we’ll also weave connections with other young visionaries, collaboratively crafting art and a collective vision. Come discover how the act of making can shift us from passive onlookers to active creators of our futures. No artistic experience necessary. With Chrysalis creator Carrie Ziegler.
NOTE: This workshop will initiate the art project, which will continue with drop-in sessions on Friday & Saturday for youth to continue working on the collaborative project throughout the conference weekend.
March 27th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Kinzie Room, Brower Center
Panelists
Carrie Ziegler
Artist
Carrie Ziegler, an international artist and leader in collaborative art initiatives, seeks to harness the collective power of art to drive social and environmental transformation. Through her Art in Action initiatives, she collaborates with local governments, organizations, and educational institutions to create multi-dimensional works that blend participant creativity with pressing societal issues, inspiring active engagement to bring communities together to create lasting change. The Chrysalis Project, now a global initiative, initially contributed to the passing of the Thurston County, WA, Climate Mitigation Plan, and the Plastic Whale Project played a pivotal role in the successful passing of a local ban on single-use plastic bags.
Join the renowned, beloved activist vocal ensemble Wildchoir for a workshop that will introduce us to the concept of “song-leading” and its significance in social movements. Participants will leave with new songs and techniques that they can use to bring music to their rallies and community events. We will also make time for learning songs together and some joyous community singing as a group!
March 27th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
Panelists
Wildchoir
Wildchoir’s purpose is to invoke the power of music to activate humanity towards radical love and action - from the stage to the streets. Grounded in a commitment to social justice, ecological regeneration, and healing for all beings, Wildchoir’s music illuminates the joy, pain, and beauty of what it means to be human.
Discover the profound ability of music and movement to inspire resilience, healing, and transformation in this soulful workshop led by Rising Appalachia. Drawing from their acclaimed Folk Choir master class, sisters Leah and Chloe Smith invite you into an immersive exploration of how art and sound can hold space for beauty, hardship and disaster alike. This workshop weaves together community singing, storytelling, and embodied practices to tap into the universal language of music as a means of connection and catharsis. Learn how to use your voice as a tool for personal and collective empowerment, exploring melodies, harmonies, and movement rooted in folk traditions and global rhythms. Together, we will explore how music can be a balm in times of struggle, and a celebration in moments of Joy.
March 27th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Lotus Cafe, Dharma College
Panelists
Rising Appalachia
Internationally Touring Folk Ensemble
Rising Appalachia, the brainchild of Atlanta-raised sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith, rooted in the rich musical traditions of their family and region, is an internationally touring folk ensemble with a passionate global following. Eschewing industry norms, they have independently forged their own exemplary, deeply ethical, value-driven path for 16 years, producing seven albums and conducting tours around the world while simultaneously immersing themselves in community-building, cultural exchange programs, and music gathering and sharing everywhere they go. Their most recent album (their first of carefully curated cover songs) is: Folk & Anchor.
Let’s get serious. Life is a carnival and people sure is strange. Human folly is bottomless, and in this moment of existential climate dread, laughter is good medicine. When the Empire has no clothes, it’s open season on paradigm-busting and retiring tired old archetypes. Join this irreverent circle of satirists directing gallows humor toward a habitable, glutton-free world. Stand-up for your rights… Hosted by Andrew Slack, actor/comedian and co-founder of the Harry Potter Alliance. With author, humorist, and climate activist Andrew Boyd; Staci Roberts-Steele, Managing Director of Yellow Dot Studios; another panelist TBA.
March 27th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Goldman Theater, Brower Center
Panelists
Andrew Slack
Co-Founder | The Harry Potter Alliance
Andrew Slack is a narrative strategist and former sketch comedian whose campaigns have mobilized a number of celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Meryl Streep, to advance pro-democracy, climate, and Indigenous rights efforts globally. A co-founder of the Harry Potter Alliance (for which he was named an Ashoka Fellow), Andrew inspired 1 million+ fans to become first-time activists. His work has driven international action, influencing heads of state and legislative bodies to address some of the most pressing issues of our time. His videos, including Save Santa’s Home, based on a children’s book he co-authored about the climate crisis, have garnered 100 million+ views.
Andrew Boyd
Co-Founder and Chief Existential Officer | The Climate Clock
Andrew Boyd, an author, humorist, and climate activist, is co-founder and CEO (Chief Existential Officer) of the Climate Clock, a global campaign that melds art, science, technology, and grassroots organizing to get the world to #ActInTime. Boyd also co-created the grief-storytelling ritual the Climate Ribbon; founded the art-activist toolbox Beautiful Trouble; and led the 2000s-era satirical campaign “Billionaires for Bush.” His most recent book is I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis with Grief, Hope and Gallows Humor.
Staci Roberts-Steele
Managing Director | Yellow Dot Studios
Staci Roberts-Steele is the Managing Director of Yellow Dot Studios, a non-profit media studio founded by Academy Award-winning writer, director, and producer Adam McKay that seeks to raise awareness and mobilize action on the climate emergency by creating entertaining, memorable, and scientifically accurate digital media and videos that challenge the decades of disinformation pushed by big oil. Previously Co-Producer at Hyperobject Industries, Staci has also acted in many shows including Parks and Recreation, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, 90210, and in the film Vice as well as produced numerous political and comedy videos at Funny or Die.
This session invites participants to explore the concept of “Cultural Currency,” a framework for exchanging value that centers creativity, care, and collaboration over monetary returns. Through storytelling, group discussion and reflective prompts participants will identify ways their personal and professional practices can contribute to building a culture of reciprocity and shared humanity. Participants will leave with actionable ideas for fostering transformative relationships and projects that honor cultural and artistic sovereignty. Facilitated by Sol Guy, founder of Quiet.
March 27th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Skillful Means Center, Dharma College
Panelists
Sol Guy
Co-Founder | Quiet
Sol Guy, an award-winning producer and director whose career in filmmaking, music, community-building, and support of artists seeks to demonstrate the power of art to heal and to catalyze social change, is the co-founder of Quiet, an artist-led community seeking a new approach to creative practice and support anchored in value alignment, artistic sovereignty, spiritual well-being, and reciprocity. Honored by National Geographic as an “Emerging Explorer,” Sol most recently directed the documentary about his family, The Death of My Two Fathers. He has also co-produced and directed a number of highly acclaimed projects in music, film, and TV, including the Oscar-nominated film Bobi Wine: The People’s President.
Sioduhi Studio is a futuristic Indigenous brand that creates pieces with collective stories, responsibly bringing original ancestral technologies to the current moment with elegance, sensoriality, and affection. Through their creations, Sioduhi (Piratapuya from Alto Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil) expresses pride in their Indigenous origins and the resistance of the people of the Amazon to colonial oppression.
Location: Marsh Main Stage
March 27th | 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm | The Marsh Arts Center
Friday, March 28th
For the 2025 Bioneers Conference, Giant Puppets Save the World, led by puppet maker and Director Toni Tone Mikulka-Chang, will present an immersive installation celebrating local pollinators. Featuring hummingbirds, monarch butterflies, a caterpillar, and a chrysalis, the installation highlights the ecological importance of these species and their connection to sustainability and environmental stewardship.
CelloJoe will provide live music, enhancing the experience with original compositions and lyrics about cooperation and care for the planet. Visitors will interact with the puppets, guided by expert puppeteers who will demonstrate how to operate the rod-supported creations. This engaging and visually stunning installation invites participants to connect with nature and take meaningful steps toward protecting vital pollinators.
Toni Tone Mikulka-Chang’s handcrafted puppets, created using sustainably farmed silk, bamboo, reed, recycled materials, and papier-mâché with nontoxic processes, serve as powerful symbols of hope, collaboration, and environmental awareness. Through this installation, Giant Puppets Save the World aims to inspire action and foster a deeper appreciation for the interconnectedness of all living things.
Location: Zellerbach Theater Lobby & Patio following the morning main-stage program
March 28th | 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm
Panelists
Giant Puppets Save the World
"Giant Puppets Save the World is a performance art collective founded and directed by artist Toni Tone Mikulka-Chang. Specializing in large-scale puppets, props, and costumes, the collective uses sustainably sourced materials such as silk, bamboo, reed, and papier-mâché, crafted with eco-friendly, nontoxic processes. Each creation is designed to inspire wonder, educate audiences, and promote environmental stewardship.
Cello Joe
Musician
CelloJoe is a pioneering musician from the South Bay, born to a first-generation Taiwanese immigrant and a Polish Jewish mother. His unique heritage informs his artistry, blending classical cello with beatboxing, live looping, and original compositions to create his signature “classical hip-hop” style. Known as “the wildest beatboxing cellist in the west,” CelloJoe captivates audiences with his dynamic performances that combine virtuosic cello playing, rhythmic beats, and thought-provoking lyrics about sustainability, cooperation, and environmental stewardship.
Lunch & Learn & Link: Cross-Pollinating & Seeding Collaborations
Are you looking for people in your bio-region or issue area to collaborate with after Bioneers is over? Or want to know more about what’s happening in your local community or in your areas of concern? Join this networking experience to engage with fellow travelers on shared roads. Bring your lunch to the Marsh and make surprising connections with other conference attendees in an informal setting. This will be lightly facilitated by Shilpa Jain with ample time for organic connections as well.
Note: Food will not be provided, but, maybe like the school cafeteria, your buddies will share some of their treats with you…
Location: Marsh Main Stage
Workshop: Painting with Foraged Soils
Stop by for a hands-on workshop in making paint from foraged soils and charcoal from wildfires and prescribed burns. With these intentional materials, you can experience an intimate and somatic connection with the land.
Location: Marsh Cabaret
Participatory Art Installation: END-angered
END-angered is an interactive installation that encourages us to pause, notice, and contribute to a speculative form of species liberation that reverses the narrative of endangerment and extinction but also helps us explore the fragility of life on Earth. The installation consists of a (trash) bin filled/overflowing with crumpled pieces of hand-made paper made with different species of mushrooms that each contain the name of an endangered species. We will be invited to pick a piece of paper from the bin and uncrumple and rehydrate it (the speculative act of liberation of the species “contained” inside). Once flat, the paper will be hung on a wall piece that will simulate a map of entanglements between the species liberated. Crochet threads connecting them will represent the mycelial networks in the soil, highlighting the vital roles of fungal systems and reminding us that no life form can be untangled from its entire ecosystem.
Location: Marsh Main Stage
March 28th | 1:30 pm to 2:45 pm | The Marsh Arts Center
Panelists
Shilpa Jain
Researcher, Writer and Workshop Leader
Shilpa Jain, a researcher, writer and workshop leader on topics including globalization, creativity, ecology, democratic living and innovative learning, has facilitated dozens of transformative leadership gatherings around the world and worked with hundreds of young leaders from 50+ countries. Her past positions include: Executive Director of YES! (for 11 years); Education and Outreach Coordinator of Other Worlds; and learning activist with Shikshantar: The Peoples’ Institute for Rethinking Education and Development in Udaipur, India.
Join Chrysalis creator Carrie Ziegler and fellow Bioneers youth for a session of collaborative wire-sculpture artmaking. This relaxed, hands-on session is a perfect way to unwind, connect with peers, and engage in a creative, collective experience. Dive in at any stage and help bring our community project to completion by the conference’s end. No prior workshop attendance or experience required.
March 28th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Terrace outside Tamalpais Room, Brower Center
Panelists
Carrie Ziegler
Artist
Carrie Ziegler, an international artist and leader in collaborative art initiatives, seeks to harness the collective power of art to drive social and environmental transformation. Through her Art in Action initiatives, she collaborates with local governments, organizations, and educational institutions to create multi-dimensional works that blend participant creativity with pressing societal issues, inspiring active engagement to bring communities together to create lasting change. The Chrysalis Project, now a global initiative, initially contributed to the passing of the Thurston County, WA, Climate Mitigation Plan, and the Plastic Whale Project played a pivotal role in the successful passing of a local ban on single-use plastic bags.
Using visual storytelling, dance, circus and acro-pole, this unconventional duo show about a father’s relationship with his trans son speaks to the times we live in while offering a hopeful vision of the future. Both a moving and a joyful meditation on all that unites and divides us, Box [M] explores concepts of masculinity through the lens of our closest relationships. Performed by Landyn Endo and Os Roxas; directed by Genie Cartier.
[Note: This is a formal performance– to avoid disruption there will be no late admission.]
March 28th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
Panelists
Bow and Arrow Circus Theatre Collective
| Bow & Arrow Circus Theatre Collective
Bow & Arrow Circus Theatre Collective was founded in 2017 by womxn on a mission to combine circus artistry with politically relevant storytelling, striking visuals, and ensemble comedy to create a unique circus-theatre hybrid. Follow @bowandarrowcircus for updates on upcoming performances.
Grayhawk Perkins, renowned culture keeper from the United Houma Nation, will open the Indigenous Forum with a story and song.
Art in many forms is both a spiritual practice and survival skill for Indigenous peoples. Often described as a healing journey, Native people work through art practices to reconnect to ancestors and traditional knowledge, recover from intergenerational trauma, and find ways to support family and build economy in suppressed reservation living standards. In this intimate conversation, Joy Harjo and Cara Romero will discuss the creative process, inspirations and the importance of art and “artivism” in healing and resistance for Native peoples.
March 28th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Berkeley Ballroom, Residence Inn
Panelists
Cara Romero
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.
Joy Harjo
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.
Grayhawk Perkins
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.
4:45 pm: Storyteller Katherine Eid Wild presents: Inheritance: An Intergenerational Resilience Story
Through deeply personal narratives rooted in her Lebanese heritage, Katherine Eid Wild weaves a tapestry of ancestral wisdom and the interconnectedness of family and community, delving into themes of identity, heritage, and shared human experiences. In line with Bioneers’ mission to foster innovative, nature-based solutions for a more just and sustainable world, Katherine’s storytelling illuminates the wisdom of the past and its relevance for creating a brighter future. As a storyteller, her work transcends borders, inviting audiences to connect across cultures and generations, emphasizing the universal truths that bind us all.
March 28th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
Panelists
Katherine Eid Wild
Storyteller & Filmmaker
Katherine Eid Wild is a storyteller and documentary filmmaker whose work weaves intergenerational narratives drawn from her Lebanese-American heritage. Her performances explore themes of resilience, connection, and the wisdom passed down through generations. Her signature piece, Inheritance: An Intergenerational Resilience Story, invites audiences to reflect on the strength of family bonds, ancestral knowledge, and the transformative power of storytelling.
Sioduhi Studio is a futuristic Indigenous brand that creates pieces with collective stories, responsibly bringing original ancestral technologies to the current moment with elegance, sensoriality, and affection. Through their creations, Sioduhi (Piratapuya from Alto Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil) expresses pride in their Indigenous origins and the resistance of the people of the Amazon to colonial oppression.
March 28th | 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm | The Marsh Arts Center
8:30 pm: Rising Appalachia at the Freight & Salvage
Bioneers Conference special event
Join us for an Intimate Concert with sisters Leah and Chloe (and the incredible cellist Duncan Wickel) for an evening of stripped down and unfinished songs…showcasing brand new unreleased songs, stories, and sounds from life after Hurricane Helene.
NOTE: Access to this performance requires a separate registration from Bioneers attendance, with an additional ticket price of $45 in advance ($50 at the door, space permitting). This concert is open to the general public. Doors at 8:00pm.
Rising Appalachia, the brainchild of Atlanta-raised sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith, rooted in the rich musical traditions of their family and region, is an internationally touring folk ensemble with a passionate global following. Eschewing industry norms, they have independently forged their own exemplary, deeply ethical, value-driven path for 16 years, producing seven albums and conducting tours around the world while simultaneously immersing themselves in community-building, cultural exchange programs, and music gathering and sharing everywhere they go. Their most recent album (their first of carefully curated cover songs) is: Folk & Anchor.
March 28th | 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm | Freight & Salvage
Saturday, March 29th
SambaFunk! will bring their unique brand of joyful dance and percussion in a fun interactive call-and-response community dance welcome session. Their presentation will be funky and will showcase the African heritage of carnival dance and rhythm.
Location: Zellerbach Theater Lobby & Patio following the morning main-stage program
March 29th | 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm
Panelists
SambaFunk! w/ King Theo
SambaFunk! is a collective of dancers, drummers, musicians, visual artists and community members who are dedicated to preserving and presenting African centered Art from throughout the African Diaspora currently under the Artistic Direction of Theo Aytchan Williams. SambaFunk! fuses African Brasilian and African American cultures in unique ways that benefit and educate under-served African American communities in Oakland and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Our mission is to present works that create new intersections between the Arts and Health & Wellness.
Lunch & Learn & Link: Integration & Next Steps
Bioneers is nearly over and what now? Join us for an opportunity to digest, integrate, consider next steps, and find accountability-buddies for the days ahead. Bring your lunch to the Marsh and make surprising connections with other conference attendees in an informal setting. This will be lightly facilitated by Shilpa Jain with ample time for organic connections as well.
Note: Food will not be provided, but, maybe like the school cafeteria, your buddies will share some of their treats with you…
Location: Marsh Main Stage
Workshop: Painting with Foraged Soils
Stop by for a hands-on workshop in making paint from foraged soils and charcoal from wildfires and prescribed burns. With these intentional materials, you can experience an intimate and somatic connection with the land.
Location: Marsh Cabaret
Participatory Art Installation: END-angered
END-angered is an interactive installation that encourages us to pause, notice, and contribute to a speculative form of species liberation that reverses the narrative of endangerment and extinction but also helps us explore the fragility of life on Earth. The installation consists of a (trash) bin filled/overflowing with crumpled pieces of hand-made paper made with different species of mushrooms that each contain the name of an endangered species. We will be invited to pick a piece of paper from the bin and uncrumple and rehydrate it (the speculative act of liberation of the species “contained” inside). Once flat, the paper will be hung on a wall piece that will simulate a map of entanglements between the species liberated. Crochet threads connecting them will represent the mycelial networks in the soil, highlighting the vital roles of fungal systems and reminding us that no life form can be untangled from its entire ecosystem.
Location: Marsh Main Stage
March 29th | 1:30 pm to 2:45 pm | The Marsh Arts Center
Panelists
Shilpa Jain
Researcher, Writer and Workshop Leader
Shilpa Jain, a researcher, writer and workshop leader on topics including globalization, creativity, ecology, democratic living and innovative learning, has facilitated dozens of transformative leadership gatherings around the world and worked with hundreds of young leaders from 50+ countries. Her past positions include: Executive Director of YES! (for 11 years); Education and Outreach Coordinator of Other Worlds; and learning activist with Shikshantar: The Peoples’ Institute for Rethinking Education and Development in Udaipur, India.
Join Chrysalis creator Carrie Ziegler and fellow Bioneers youth for a session of collaborative wire-sculpture artmaking. This relaxed, hands-on session is a perfect way to unwind, connect with peers, and engage in a creative, collective experience. Dive in at any stage and help bring our community project to completion by the conference’s end. No prior workshop attendance or experience required.
March 29th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Terrace outside Tamalpais Room, Brower Center
Panelists
Carrie Ziegler
Artist
Carrie Ziegler, an international artist and leader in collaborative art initiatives, seeks to harness the collective power of art to drive social and environmental transformation. Through her Art in Action initiatives, she collaborates with local governments, organizations, and educational institutions to create multi-dimensional works that blend participant creativity with pressing societal issues, inspiring active engagement to bring communities together to create lasting change. The Chrysalis Project, now a global initiative, initially contributed to the passing of the Thurston County, WA, Climate Mitigation Plan, and the Plastic Whale Project played a pivotal role in the successful passing of a local ban on single-use plastic bags.
Join poet Gabriel Cortez for a climate justice performance, featuring writing from his two recent chapbooks, “Ecology” and “How We Gathered,” as well as new work from his one-person in development show: “Between Two Rising Seas.” Afterwards, break out your favorite writing utensil for a fun and highly interactive writing workshop in which we will explore poetry as a tool for advocating for a more just and sustainable world. We will talk about what environmental justice and injustice look like in our surroundings as well as potential solutions, drawing on the long and powerful lineages of resistance rooted in the Bay Area. This workshop is open to participants of all experience levels and all ages from middle-school to seniors. All you need is something to write with and a willingness to listen and share from the heart.
March 29th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
Panelists
Gabriel Cortez
Poet, educator, and organizer | The Ecology Center
Gabriel Cortez is a poet, educator, and organizer based in the Bay Area, California. He is the inaugural poet in residence at The Ecology Center and Shelterwood Collective, where he uses poetry to uplift local legacies of resistance rooted in environmental justice and food and land sovereignty.
3:00 pm: Indigenous Forum – The Power of Our Stories: Raising Consciousness Through Indigenous Media
Opening of the Indigenous Forum: Gregg Castro (T’rowt’raahl Salinan / Rumsien & Ramaytush Ohlone, Culture Director – Association of Ramaytush Ohlone (ARO)
“Talking Story” is fundamental to the Native experience. This panel features two Indigenous women at the helm of films about personal journeys that explore who we are, where we come from, and healing from intergenerational trauma. In addition to the stories behind the films, panelists will discuss how they came to become documentary artists, creative decisions they made to bring stories to life, and practical tips for others, particularly youth, about ways they can share their stories through multimedia. Moderated by Paloma Flores (Pit River/Purépecha) and featuring Jade Begay (Diné), Impact Producer of Sugarcane; and award-winning multimedia artist and filmmaker Siku Allooloo (Inuk/Taíno).
March 29th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Berkeley Ballroom, Residence Inn
Panelists
Gregg Castro
Culture Director | Association of Ramaytush Ohlone
Gregg Castro [t'rowt'raahl Salinan/rumsien-ramaytush Ohlone] has worked preserving his indigenous heritage for three decades as a writer-activist. He is Culture Director for the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone; the Society for California Archaeology’s ‘Native American Programs Committee’ Chair; and Adviser to the California Indian Conference, California Indian History Curriculum Coalition and American Indian Cultural District of San Francisco.
Jade Begay
Impact Producer | Sugarcane
Jade Begay (Tesuque Pueblo and Dine), who has worked with Indigenous-led organizations and tribes from the Amazon to the Arctic to advance Indigenous-led solutions and self-determination through advocacy campaigns, research, storytelling and narrative strategies, works at the intersections of Indigenous rights and climate and environmental justice to help shape national and international policy. Jade, who was appointed by President Biden to serve on the first ever White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council and was National Engagement Native American Director for the Harris Walz Campaign, is an Impact Producer for the Oscar-nominated film Sugarcane.
Siku Allooloo
Artist, Writer, and Filmmaker
Siku Allooloo (Inuk/Haitian/Taíno), an award-winning interdisciplinary artist, writer, and filmmaker from Yellowknife, NT, Canada (by way of Mittimatalik, Nunavut and Haiti), has had her film and artwork widely featured, including at the Whitney Museum of American Art, The National Arts Centre, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, and DOXA. Her independent journalism, poetry, and creative writing have also been widely published, including in The Guardian, Canadian Art Magazine, and Truthout. A 2025 Artist in Residence at Western Front, Siku is currently leading the production of her first documentary feature, Indigena, as the writer, director and co-producer.
Paloma Flores
Founder and CEO | Paloma Flores Consulting Agency (PFCA)
Paloma Flores, a member of the Pit River Tribe of Northern California and P'urhepecha de Michoacan, Mexico, who has 15 years’ experience working with intertribal communities in California, is the founder and CEO of Paloma Flores Consulting Agency (PFCA), which specializes in transformative speaking and storytelling, cross-cultural collaboration and partnership building, cultural education, supporting the shifting of consciousness through professional development in Indian communities, developing the next generation of youth leaders, and boosting American Indian voices and representation in the arts .
These times call on all of us to become more resilient as individuals and communities. In this engaging, highly interactive “playshop,” we will explore a dozen or so simple practices to help us calm our nervous systems, energize our bodies, and open to new possibilities. The practices span breath, movement, expression, connection and self-discovery. We’ll leave with a toolkit to create our own personalized resiliency routines, as well as practices we can share with our families, friends and communities. With: transformational coach, advisor, and eco-artist, Laura Loescher.
March 29th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Lotus Cafe, Dharma College
Panelists
Laura Loescher
Transformational Coach, Philanthropic Advisor, and Eco-Artist
Laura Loescher is a transformational coach, philanthropic advisor, and eco-artist with home bases in Oregon and Vermont. Living a semi-nomadic lifestyle, she creates Earth Altars—impermanent nature art crafted from natural objects gathered in beautiful outdoor settings. Deeply committed to personal, community, and planetary well-being, Laura developed Resiliency Cards: 64 Simple Practices for Resilient Living, a unique card deck that combines her nature-inspired art with practical exercises to calm the nervous system, energize the body, spark new possibilities, and foster self-awareness.
4:45 pm: Interactive Session – Moving Towards Belonging: A Dance/Theater Experience
Co-Sponsored with The Belonging Resident Company
Come explore the radical idea of “belonging without othering,” as espoused by the Othering and Belonging Institute’s Director, john a. powell, through simple movement and theater techniques, and guided conversation. This workshop offers participants a chance to explore personal and collective experiences of belonging, and to dream a world in which everyone belongs in the circle of human concern. Instructors: Sarah Crowell and Sangita Kumar, Co-Directors of The Belonging Resident Company, an ensemble of artists and facilitators dedicated to making the revolution of belonging irresistible.
March 29th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Skillful Means Center, Dharma College
Panelists
Sarah Crowell
Co-Director | The Belonging Resident Company
Sarah Crowell, a Black, biracial, lesbian/queer dancer/choreographer and artistic collaborator, sees her work in the world as the bringing of mindfulness and physical embodiment into movements for social justice and racial healing. A leader at Oakland’s Destiny Arts Center for 30 years who now does consulting work with the Othering and Belonging Institute, Dance Mission Theater and other organizations, Sarah is currently the Co-Director of the The Belonging Resident Company, a performance ensemble that centers BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists, facilitators, and musicians and aims to foster embodied experiences of belonging and dismantle systems of oppression.
Sangita Kumar
Co-Director | Belonging Resident Company
Sangita Kumar, an organizational development consultant and somatic coach, is the founder of Be The Change Consulting, a human-centered consulting firm that seeks to support organizations and movements to bring liberatory practices into their work. She is also the Co-Director of the The Belonging Resident Company, a performance ensemble that centers BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists, facilitators, and musicians and aims to foster embodied experiences of belonging and dismantle systems of oppression.
4:45 pm: Worlds Within Us — Ancestral Wisdom, Courage, and Healing
A Conversation and Book Presentation with Distinguished Women Elders
The recent book Worlds Within Us, conceived and pulled together by Katsi Cook, whose work as Director of the Spirit Aligned Leadership Program includes supporting Indigenous women elders in transferring their knowledge and experience to younger women, presents the stories and perspectives of eight extraordinary Indigenous women elders from across North America, each representing a distinct nation and carrying the wisdom and traditions of countless generations. In this session, we will get the extremely rare privilege of being present as some of the legendary contributors to this remarkable collection share their stories and ways of seeing. With: Tekatsi:tsia’kwa Katsi Cook (Wolf Clan, Mohawk Nation); Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook (Oglala Lakota); Sarah James (Neets’aii Gwich’in).
March 29th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Crystal Ballroom, Hotel Shattuck Plaza
Panelists
Katsi Cook
Executive Director | Spirit Aligned Leadership Program
Tekatsi:tsia’kwa Katsi Cook (Wolf Clan member of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation), an Onkwehonweh traditional midwife, lifelong advocate of Indigenous midwifery and Native women’s health throughout the life-cycle (drawing from the longhouse traditionalist teaching that “woman Is the first environment”), is Executive Director of the Spirit Aligned Leadership Program. Her work over many decades has spanned a range of worlds and disciplines at the intersections of environmental reproductive health and justice, research, and policy. Katsi’s groundbreaking environmental research of Mohawk mother’s milk revealed the intergenerational impact of industrial chemicals on the health of her community, and she is a major figure in a movement of matrilineal awareness and “rematriation” in Native life.
Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook
Teacher | Seven Sacred Ceremonies
Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook (Oglala Lakota, Pine Ridge, South Dakota), endowed with extraordinary memory, curiosity and intelligence, was chosen by her elders to uphold and teach the Seven Sacred Ceremonies to coming generations. Her lifelong leadership in Sun Dance ceremonial cycles and in mentorship among women follow the teachings of her mother, renowned spiritual elder Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance, who for fifty+ years guided many Lakota families (tiospaye) in the preservation of their traditional lifeways. Loretta is currently at the forefront of the struggle over the central cultural issue of her people—the resolution of use and ownership of the sacred Black Hills.
Sarah James
Gwich’in Eco and Indigenous Rights Activist and Legacy Leader
Sarah James, (Neets’aii Gwich’in), an award-winning, world-renowned activist who been at the forefront of the struggle to defend the rights of the Indigenous peoples and the natural world and all its creatures in the far northern world of interior Alaska for decades, has traveled globally to advocate for the protection of the Porcupine Caribou herd from oil development and climate catastrophe. Sarah, a deeply respected Legacy Leader, still works from her village and remains devoted to passing on ancestral teachings to younger generations.
Join Lauren Turk for heartfelt and stirring songs that invoke the thriving, harmonious future we long for and are called to create. Compost the remnants of the old through the alchemy of sound, as layers and loops of live instruments and voice nurture something new to grow.
March 29th | 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
Panelists
Lauren Turk
Musician
Lauren Turk is a life long musician and multilingual singer based in Oakland, CA, with a soulful and ethereal sound steeped in a reverence for nature and the powers of the feminine. Her songs have been streamed nearly a million times to date in 128 countries. When she's not making or performing music, Lauren works towards creating bioregional climate resilience. Her recent work focuses on helping clients start, strengthen and scale compost infrastructure.
