NaCRI Board

Maria Cardenas

Manchester Point Arena Band of Pomo Indians/ Michoacán/Latina, Associates Degrees in Human Services: Advocacy and in Human Services: Alcohol and Drug, NaCRI Board Secretary

  • Administrative Assistant, Indian Child and Family Preservation Program, Santa Rosa, California, including implementation of its Tribal Opioid Preservation Grant;

  • Working on Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work;

  • Former Substance Use Disorder Counselor with SUD Counselor Education Certification from the California Association of DUI Treatment Programs (CADTP);

  • Former Chair, Ya-Ka-Ama Indian Education, Inc., Forestville, California

  • Former President, Native American Student Council, Santa Rosa Junior College

 

Gregg Castro

t’rowt’raahl Salinan/rumsien Ohlone

  • Board member, Salinan T’rowt’raahl, a Salinan advocacy group (1993-present); 

  • Founding member and past Chair, Salinan Nation Tribal Council (1993-2002)

  • Principal Cultural Consultant to the Ramaytush Tribal Chair, Association of Ramaytush Ohlone (2018-present)

  • Chair, Native American Programs Committee, Society for California Archaeology (1993-present)

  • Founder and Advisor, California Indian History Curriculum Coalition (2014-present)

  • Past Advisor, California Indian Storytellers Association (1996-2002)

  • Volunteer CIC Co-Facilitator (2010-present)

  • Published author (1993-present)

Beverly R. Ortiz

Ph.D. (Cultural Anthropology, UC Berkeley), NaCRI Board Chairperson

  • Ethnographic Consultant (1996-present)

  • Retired Cultural Services Coordinator, and former Naturalist, Ohlone Intern Program Coordinator, Docent Coordinator, and Founder and Coordinator, Gathering of Ohlone Peoples, East Bay Regional Park District (1980-2019)

  • Published author (1978-present), including service as Contributing Editor and Columnist (Skills and Technology and Elders), News from Native California (1988-present)

  • Member, board member, chair, president, advisor, and/or founder of varied commissions, task forces, committees, organizations, and nonprofits (1985-present)

  • Volunteer CIC Co-Facilitator (2010-present)

 

Kanyon “Coyote Woman” Sayers-Roods

Mutsun Ohlone and Chumash, B.S. (Web Design and Interactive Media, Art Institute of California)

  • CEO, Kanyon Konsulting, and Cultural Director and COO, Costanoan Indian Research (2018-present)

  • “Indigenous Generalized Specialist,” including service as an activist, educator, artist, and published author, and catalyst of decolonizing conversations (2013-present)

  • Founder, Indian Canyon Two-Spirit Society (2012-present)

  • Cultural representative, Most Likely Descendant, and Native Monitor, Indian Canyon Mutsun Band of Costanoan Ohlone People (2013-present)

  • Facilitator, Integrated Water Resource Management Program for Association of Ramaytush Ohlone and Him.re-n of Ohlone, Bay Miwok and Delta Yokuts (2018-present)

Sherrie Smith-Ferri

Ph.D. (Anthropology, University of Washington), Dry Creek Pomo/Bodega Miwok, NaCRI Board Vice-Chairperson

  • Consultant and/or Exhibition Curator for national, state, and regional museums; parks and other public agencies; and varied organizations and nonprofits (1995-present)

  • Retired Director and one-time Curator, Grace Hudson Museum and Sun House, Ukiah, including the founding of its outdoor education project, “The Wild Gardens” (1995-2020)

  • Board Member, Council for Museum Anthropology, National Collaborative of Women’s History Sites, and Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology’s Native American Advisory Council

  • Published author (1993-present)

Associate Board Members

Sigrid Benson

M.A. (Public History, Sacramento State University), Director, Exhibits and Collections, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians; Founding Curator, concept: art+movement; and former Curator of the Indigenous Art Gallery, Maidu Museum and Historic Site

Lee Davis

Ph.D. (Cultural Anthropology, UC Berkeley), Professor Emerita, San Francisco State University, retired Assistant Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and CIC 1985-2010 Facilitator in varied capacities

Meyo Marrufo

Eastern Pomo/Robinson Rancheria, Central California Representative of USEPA Region 9 Tribal Operations Committee, California State Representative of USEPA National Tribal Caucus, and Board Member of California Indian Environmental Alliance

Barbara Reichardt

M.A. (Educational Administration, Los Angeles State University), Board Member of SUSTAIN (Setting Up Support to Aid Indigenous Needs), Charter Member of National Museum of the American Indian, and Member of NMAI Director’s Council

Sonia Tamez

M.A. (Anthropology, San Francisco State University), brings more than 45 years experience working with tribal and other communities, organizations, and governments, locally, regionally, and globally. She has worked in areas of natural and cultural resource management, land management planning, cross-cultural collaboration, and capacity building, with a special focus in California.

Mauricio Velasco

M.A. (Museum Studies, University of San Francisco), NaCRI Archives Projects Committee Chair; has served in varied capacities ranging from Collections Manager to Museum Technician and Curator. He has worked for various institutions, including UC San Francisco Archives and Special Collections, the California Historical Society, East Bay Regional Park District, and, currently, the de Young Museum.