AIFI BOARD
Andrew Ebona
Ebona of the Tlingit Nation of Juneau, Alaska, is the Vice President of Copper Shield Consulting, LLC, a 100% American Indian Owned company which promotes and advances Tribal/village/municipal economic and community development services.
Amber Forrester
Forrester of the Tlingit Nation of Juneau, Alaska, is a versatile professional with unusual combination of experience, blending leadership and product management in diverse environments ranging from startups to the marine environment to entertainment and performing arts.
Del Curfman
Curfman of the Crow Nation of Montana graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Studio Arts with an emphasis in painting and in Museum Studies in May 2017. Curfman looks to contribute to contemporary Native Artist history through his work in oil paints and community-based projects.
Jessica Harjo
Harjo of the San Carlos Apache Nation, specializes in non-profit grants management, human resources, event logistics, administrative and financial operations. She is the cofounder of NativeFlix, an Indigenous focused online video streaming company and is a dedicated volunteer and advocate for Indigenous arts and media efforts through the Indigenous Arts Institute.
Lucinda Spencer
Spencer of the Navajo and Laguna-Pueblo Nations, is a retired social worker of the Native American Health Center of Oakland and San Francisco where she served over 30-years of service to the Bay Area Native American community.
Mytia Zavala
Zavala is from the Navajo, Pueblo of Laguna, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde nations and is an enrolled member of the Fort Peck Sioux Tribe in Montana. She has a background in Event Producing, Independent film, Live Sports Production, Editing and Administrative management. She carries an M.A. in Multimedia Communication Arts from the Academy of Art San Francisco and B.A. in Journalism from San Francisco State University. She brings leadership, community awareness and nearly 20 years experience with AIFI.
Paloma Flores
(Pit River, Purhepecha) is Director of Community Development & Partnerships at the American Indian Cultural District SF, a champion for American Indian Communities supporting the shifting of consciousness through professional development, youth empowerment, and creating systemic change. She is an advocate for American Indian voice and representation in the arts, curricular development through a racial equity lens, and is passionate about cultural education. Paloma co-directs the National Bioneers Native Youth Leadership Program and serves locally on the Human Rights Commission Community Roundtable, Racial Equity Taskforce, Committee for Bay Area Native Foodways and has been featured as a spoken word artist at SPECTRUM 21 for SOCAP Global most notably presenting ‘Visionary Ways take Visionary Action’. She has served as a racial equity consultant for Courageous Conversations about Race, leading national workshops focused on educating the educators.
Maria Shuckahosee
Maria is a media professional based in San Francisco, CA and hails from the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas. Her first love of film inspired her to start volunteering for the American Indian Film Festival in 2010, and since then she has contributed to many aspects of the festival as a jury member, programmer, social media marketer, event production assistant and grant researcher. Currently Maria works as a Project Manager for SmartNews focusing on content. Her prior work experiences include content operations for Audible, and editorial planning for Al Jazeera America and Current TV.