The OJI:SDA’ Center for Intergenerational Learning - 2025 Virtual Spring Summit brings together educators, policy-makers, scholars, activists, teachers, and communities to explore Indigenous knowledge systems and their power to transform our relationships with the land, water, and each other.
Online | 3rd May 2025 | 10am - 3pm (EST) & Available Recordings After the Event
This year, our focus is on food sovereignty, plant knowledge, and cultural resilience—how Indigenous communities continue to cultivate life, preserve traditional growing practices, and advocate for policies that protect seeds, plants, and food-sharing traditions.
Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Carriers, and Environmental Stewards from across Turtle Island and beyond will share their stories of resilience—revitalizing Indigenous food systems, passing down plant-based wisdom, and ensuring that future generations inherit both the knowledge and the responsibility to sustain life in a good way.
OJI:SDA’s goal is to amplify these teachings in classrooms, communities, and homes—ensuring that both Native and non-Native people understand their role in restoring balance to the land.
What can you expect?
Hear and engage with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Carriers about the deep-rooted connections between plants, food, and cultural resilience.
Learn the latest challenges and opportunities in Indigenous food sovereignty, from legislation on seed banking to sustainable food-sharing practices.
Connect with Indigenous leaders, educators, and community advocates working at the forefront of land stewardship and food sovereignty.
Whether you are an educator looking to bring Indigenous teachings into your classroom, a policymaker seeking to support just legislation, or a community member ready to take action, this summit will provide the knowledge and network to move forward with purpose and impact.
Who Should Attend?
• Indigenous community members, scholars, and activists.
• Environmental and sustainability professionals.
• Youth and educators interested in cultural and environmental education.
• Policy-makers and community leaders.
Join us for this transformative gathering—rooted in tradition, growing a sustainable future.
Your Speakers
Brooke Rodriguez (Taino)
Founder, Board Vice Chair, and Director of Programs for the Grinding Stone Collective
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Brooke Rodriguez (Taino) is the Founder, Board Vice Chair, and director of Programs for the Grinding Stone Collective. She lives in New York City, Munsee Lenape territory, and serves the Indigenous community in several areas: Grants and Operations Manager for the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund, co-owner of Buffalo Jump NYC, a Native food catering business, and Board President of the BoriKua Taino Foundation. She spearheads initiatives to uplift Indigenous communities through impactful events, workshops, classes, and the development of databases for traditional ecological knowledge sharing. As a founding member of the Borikua Taino Foundation, Rodriguez is committed to preserving the unique cultural identity of Borikua Taíno through traditional education, land preservation, and re-indigenization. Recognized for her contributions, she was awarded a fellowship in Solve MIT’s Indigenous Communities cohort in 2022, showcasing her commitment to innovation within the Native Solver community. GSC is also a proud member of FAO’s North American Urban Indigenous Food Systems Group. With academic roots in agriculture, animal husbandry, biology, and anthropology, Rodriguez brings over 20 years of experience to her advocacy for Indigenous justice, education, and coalition building.
Mariana Vergara, EdD (Mapuche/Aymara)
Educator and activist who developed Mindfulness into Action (MIA), a transformational learning methodology based on Indigenous ancient knowledge
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Mariana Vergara, EdD (Mapuche/Aymara), is an educator and activist who developed Mindfulness into Action (MIA), a transformational learning methodology based on Indigenous ancient knowledge.
MIA helps participants identify, observe, and change self-sabotaging behaviors. "Research in neuroscience supports the idea that 95-98% of what we do is the result of unconscious habits that override conscious thought and truly drive our behavior." – Mariana Vergara.
MIA focuses on epigenetics, empowering individuals to address complex societal issues by fostering greater self-awareness and consciousness through cycles of reflection. Dr. Vergara has used MIA to help communities heal and develop the activist skills needed to confront oppression, change policies, and build solidarity. Much of her work has taken place in Ecuador, where Indigenous participants in MIA reclaimed their land from invading mining companies and upheld Indigenous rights to their land. This Kichwa community in the Amazon rainforest grows traditional crops and cultivates medicinal trees and plants. Vergara brought students from Europe and the USA to live with Indigenous families, learning traditional medicines while paying "tuition" to their Kichwa hosts.
Wallace Cleaves, PhD (Gabrielino/Tongva)
Activist, Author, Cultural Preservationist, who has served in several positions on the Gabrielino/Tongva Tribal Council and is the director of the writing department at UC-Riverside
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Wallace Cleaves, PhD (Gabrielino/Tongva), is an activist, has served in several positions on his tribal council and is the director of the writing department at UC-Riverside. He was a key advocate in getting land back from LA County as well as a one-acre parcel from a private donor, which is in the Altadena section of Los Angeles. Dr. Cleaves serves as president of the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy.
Dr. Cleaves maintains that the reason the Gabrielino/Tongva lands did not sustain as much fire damage as the rest of LA is because they had used traditional stewardship principles when they got the land back a decade ago. He is the founder of the tribe’s stewardship program and also serves on the UC President’s Native American Advisory Council. Cleaves says: “We see ourselves as descended from the land. Our duty to return that gift is to steward the land, which means to preserve it; to work with it, to make the land healthy.” Wallace Cleaves, Ph.D
https://laist.com/news/la-history/why-a-property-worth-millions-was-returned-to-tongva-tribe
Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard (CHamoru, of the Tugong Clan)
Executive Director of Cincinnati, Ohio’s Urban Native Collective (UNC)
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Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard (CHamoru, of the Tugong Clan) is ED of Cincinnati, Ohio’s Urban Native Collective (UNC), which sponsors urban gardens for Indigenous people as well as cultivates traditional medicine plants. She is a community organizer, an environmental conservation advocate, educator, and the cofounder of the Indigenous Field Guide- a centralized online resource for individuals and organizations in the outdoor industry, which provides public education to prevent the damage of nonrenewable cultural resources, address access concerns on public and private land, and amplifies Indigenous concerns regarding cultural land resources.
Through her work with the Indigenous Field Guide, Mazzolini-Blanchard has worked in partnership with national environmental conservation agencies, Indigenous led organizations, hundreds of Indigenous athletes, and Tribal nations across Turtle Island, to advocate and educate on the importance and necessity of cultural land protection. She is the first rock climber to be inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame. https://urbannativecollective.org/unc-board/briana-mazzolini-blanchard-executive-director-45kka-g6y56-wbaka-8pflt-tw6n9
Your Hosts
Yvonne Wakim Dennis (Cherokee / Sand Hill / Syrian)
Educator in diverse areas of Native American heritage, history and current issues, social worker and award-winning author of non-fiction books.
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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."
Tahila Moss (Yoeme), OJI:SDA' Founder & Executive Director
Indigenous Yaqui / Jewish media maker, ancestral scribe, educator and community organizer.
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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.
Aaliyah Alberts (Lac Courte Oreille Ojibwe)
2025 OJI:SDA’ Virtual Spring Summit Host
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Aaliyah Alberts (Lac Courte Oreille Ojibwe) is from Wisconsin and is passionate about the well-being of Indigenous peoples and the Earth. She studied environmental and sustainability sciences at the University of Utah. Aaliyah is also a beader and helped to organize Nashville, Tennessee's first Indigenous arts festival.
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We are an Indigenous women-founded and led organization. We come together from diverse nations to collaborate in creating responsive educational experiences focused on reconnection to our traditional teachings, storytelling, and media literacy empowerment.
We promote tools for self-healing and community support, through Land relationships and curricula for public schools that are rooted in Indigenous perspectives.
The highest percentage of people protecting the Earth are Indigenous peoples. The foundation of their cultural worldview is rooted in this responsibility and teachings of living in symbiotic equilibrium with the Earth.
To connect the world with this perspective, to honor the people and turn these teachings into everyday practices, is the shift of world perspective that will save our planet and help us to be healthier beings on it.
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During the registration process, you will make a donation to OJI:SDA’ Sustainable Indigenous Futures for the registration fee amount.
Payments are processed through a secure server. Currently we accept VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and PayPal.
Please contact connect@ojisda.org if you are unable to register online.
Your registration fees / donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Tax EIN #84-1701476.
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The joining instructions will be sent out a couple of days before the event so that they don’t get lost in your inbox.
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What equipment or technical requirements are there for this event?
It is recommended participants use the latest version of their preferred browser to access the learning conference platform (Zoom).
Do I need to be online to access the event?
Yes, the event is accessed via the internet. For maximum flexibility, you can access the event content from a desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile device, via the Zoom platform. Event links will be sent to your registered email address prior to the event starting.
Do I need to download any software to attend the event?
No, Zoom has a web app that you can use without downloading anything. If you wish to share your video and participate using your voice, you will need to allow the web app to access your camera and microphone. If you do not wish to do this, you will be able to use the chat function.
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There are no refunds for registration fee’s, although you can send a replacement from your organization / company / friend / family member; you will still have access to recorded sessions after the event for six weeks.
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OJI:SDA’ Sustainable Indigenous Futures and the Center for Intergenerational Learning is committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, race, ethnicity, religion, national origin or other protected characteristics. We expect all attendees, media, speakers, volunteers, organizers, platform staff, guests and exhibitors to help us ensure a safe and positive event experience for everyone.
We expect all participants to abide by this Code of Conduct in all venues, including breakout groups and other event functionality (e.g. polls, chat, Q&A sessions, etc.)
Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions
Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech
Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants; alerting the OJI:SDA; team if you notice violations of the Code of Conduct
Unacceptable behaviors include:
Intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory, or demeaning speech or actions by any participant and at all related events
Harmful or prejudicial verbal or written comments or visual images related to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, disability, or other personal characteristics
Inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in event spaces (including presentation slides)
Deliberate intimidation, stalking or following
Sustained disruption of event speakers
Sharing of event passes / login credentials
Event organizers reserve the right to to refuse, mute, block at its absolute discretion and without explanation participants who violate the code of conduct without refund.
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Photo Release: From time to time, we use photographs of event participants in our promotional materials. By virtue of your registration and attendance at OJI:SDA’ events, OJI:SDA’ reserves the right to use your likeness in such materials.
Video Recording: The sessions will be recorded and available to registered participants for a limited period of time following the event, where participants can go back and view the sessions within a one week period, from within a secure online viewing page. Videos will also be used for future OJI:SDA’ education and promotional activities.
Profile / Registration Policy: Login credentials for the virtual event may not be shared. Those that violate this policy may be removed from the virtual event without refund.
OJI:SDA’ Sustainable Indigenous Futures reserves the right to update these policies.
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If you have any additional questions or special requests please contact connect@ojisda.org