People

Angela is from the Acjachemen Nation, Juaneno Band of Mission Indians, the Native Nation whose traditional territories include the area now known as Orange County. She has worked with Native Nations, Indigenous people, grassroots and nonprofit organizations, artists, educators, and institutions on environmental and cultural justice issues for over twenty years. She is the Executive Director and Founder of Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples and co-founder of the United Coalition to Protect Panhe, a grassroots alliance of Acjachemen people dedicated to protecting the sacred site Panhe. She served as Board Secretary for the Blas Aguilar Adobe Museum & Acjachemen Cultural Center. She received her B.A. from Brown University and her J.D. with a concentration in Critical Race Studies and a focus on federal Indian law from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

Jessa Calderon is of the Tongva, Chumash, Yoeme Nations. She is the Land, Water, and Climate Justice Director at Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples. Jessa has held talks, presentations, workshops, and teach-ins with Universities around the world, including the University of California Los Angeles, Arizona State University, University of Konstanz, and more. She was a Fellow in the inaugural cohort for the Partners Advancing Climate Equity (PACE) Fellowship offered by the California Strategic Growth Council in 2021 and a recipient of the Artists at Work Fellowship sponsored by THE OFFICE performing arts + film and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts & Culture in 2022. and is a Fellow for 2023-2024 California Arts Council’s CA Creative Corps Fellowship.

Isaiah Mendoza (Tongva/Chicano) is a SPI’s Indigenous Media Team member. Born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, Isaiah studied film and photography at Pasadena City College before transitioning into freelance video work. Through his work at Sacred Places Institute, Isaiah seeks to gather and unearth Indigenous perspectives on land and water to protect native homelands. His pronouns are he/him.

Gabriella Lassos (she/her) is Gabrielino-Tongva. She is the Research and Policy Program Director and has previously worked as the IYEJ Program Director and a program assistant for Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples. Gabriella graduated with a B.A. in political Science from the University of California Irvine. She volunteers as one of the library curators for the Barbara Drake Library at the Robert Redford Conservancy in Claremont, California.

Queer Xicana -  Indigenous writer/filmmaker.  They began as a grassroots guerilla filmmaker in the streets of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles.  Later Film Independent-Los Angeles awarded them the Kodak Barbara Boyle Film School scholarship to attend the Los Angeles Film School, following her undergraduate degree at U.C. San Diego. Maritza began working with SPI in 2009. Since then, they have continued to work with the Xicana and Indigenous communities for over 20 years throughout Turtle Island, Abya Yala, and beyond colonial borders helping to video document Indigenous gatherings and stories related to land, water, and identity. In  2005 they wrote, shot, and produced a short that screened at the renowned Sundance Film Festival. In 2010 they founded 13 Visions, an independent film production space committed to disrupting and reframing BIPOC storytelling. 

Spenser Jaimes is Coastal Chumash, living in the village of Syuxtun, which is now commonly known as Santa Barbara. He serves his community as a caretaker of two tomols, the Xax Alolkoy and Eleye’wun. He is the Founder and CEO of Limuw Productions, an independent film production company documenting Chumash cultural knowledge and history, making it more accessible to our tribal citizens and the general public. Recently, his work at Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples on the Indigenous Media Team, Ocean Protectors, and Indigenous Youth Environmental Justice. 

Tina Calderon is Gabrielino Tongva, Chumash, Yoeme & Chicana. Tina started working with Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous People as a community advocate in 2020. She joined SPI as the Ocean Protectors Programs Director and the Indigenous Youth Environmental Justice: Homeboy Industries Program Lead in 2022— an extension of her pre-existing relationship with Homeboy Industries. Tina’s passion for sacred waters and devotion to speaking up for the rights and protection of eyoohiinkem moomve (our ocean relatives) is expressed through her leadership of the Ocean Protectors Program, which focuses on issues affecting the health and well-being of moomat (the ocean).

Nanobah Becker (Diné) is a 20-year-long, award-winning filmmaker who has worked with Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples (SPI) since its inception. Her films and music videos have been broadcast and screened at festivals internationally, including the Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Arte TV in Germany & France, and have been acquired by institutions such as the Baltimore Museum of Art. Nanobah has been documenting indigenous California communities pursuing environmental and cultural justice in their homelands with SPI. As part of SPI’s Indigenous Media team, she helped produce the feature documentary WAYS OF OUR WATER, premiering in 2024. Nanobah is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and currently calls Tovaangar home.

Roland is from the Acjachemen Nation and Gabrielino Tongva Nation, both of whose traditional territories are in what is currently known as Los Angeles County and Orange County. He has done environmental work since 2015, beginning with work on campus and since graduating, working in municipal government, outdoor education, regional water agencies, sustainable waste management, and environmental non-profits. All of this led him to gain skill sets and a growing interest in working with his own tribal communities in environmental efforts since the beginning of 2022 and currently as the Ending Extractive Industries in the Homelands Program Director and Indigenous Land Rematration Fellowship Coordinator. Roland graduated from California State University Fullerton with a B.A. in Geography.

Elizabeth Cameron, Director of Development and Operations. Elizabeth’s background is in nonprofit development and operations. She has spent the bulk of her career supporting Indigenous organizations and championing Indigenous issues, particularly through her work with California State Parks and park partners. Indigenous advocacy is the heart of her work, both personally and professionally. Her work acknowledges that she is an uninvited guest on unceded Tribal territories and is committed to supporting the Indigenous people whose lands now host her.

Ciara Morning Star Belardes, a proud member of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation, is a dedicated guardian of her ancestral heritage. Ingrained with the knowledge passed down by her late grandfather, Chief David Belardes, and her father, Spiritual Leader Domingo Belardes, she stands as a beacon of cultural preservation.

Ciara volunteers with the Blas Aguilar Adobe Foundation, focusing on educating the community about the Juaneño/Acjachemen people’s history and culture. As the Director of Education and Community Outreach for Sacred Places Institute, she continues her efforts to promote awareness. Her work reflects a strong connection to her roots and a commitment to sharing the Juaneño/Acjachemen legacy.

Starry Insixiengmay is Cahuilla and South-East Asian (Laotian and Filipino) born on Ohlone Land in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her undergraduate work focused on Race and Resistance and Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University. As a creative individual, she demonstrates imaginative capabilities toward self-determination, collective power, and anti-imperialist practices as SPI’s Programs Administrative Director.