Mariana has spent the last 6 years working to promote culturally based leadership initiatives for Native youth within the northwest and nationally through her work with the Native Youth Leadership Alliance and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Youth. Mariana co-led Native student buffalo harvests at her college in Colorado which sparked her journey into Tribal Food Sovereignty. Since then, she has returned home to Washington State and is actively learning about traditional foods from her Yakama community and elders, studied with Elise Krohn in her Wild Roots apprenticeship, and is a founding development team member of GRuB's Tend, Gather, Grow program. Mariana earned a Bachelors of Arts Degree in American Indian Studies, is a member of the Yakama Nation, and a proud new mother! Welcome, Mariana!