Sharaya Souza – Keynote

Sharaya Souza (Taos Pueblo, Ute, Kiowa), is Executive Director of the American Indian Cultural District, and is dedicated to recognizing, honoring, and celebrating American Indian legacy, culture, people, and contributions. She is an ambassador for promoting equitable resource distribution to American Indian communities, increasing Native visibility and political representation, and protecting and preserving American Indian cultural resources in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her prior work included establishing Native visibility in tech, sacred site and tribal cultural resource preservation, land use mediation, helping tribal groups gain recognition as non-federally recognized tribes, and protecting Native American human remains.

Sara Moncado – Keynote

Sara Moncada (Yaqui), M.A., is a Native educator, dancer, filmmaker, author and cultural arts advocate. She is CEO of The Cultural Conservancy, a native-led non-profit working in Indigenous land, rights and revitalization projects, is co-founder of Wise Women Circles, a women-owned media company, and is co-director of Sewam American Indian Dance, a Bay Area-based cultural arts and education organization. She presents internationally on traditional Native Foodways, arts and culture and is co-author of the book The Dance of Caring, a book exploring Native American Hoop Dance as a model for wellness.

Philip Hua – The Why & How of Public Art

Phillip Hua is an artist living and working in San Francisco. He graduated from the Academy of Art College with a degree in Illustration. Hua has created numerous public artworks all over the Bay Area as well as in Texas. His clients include the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the San Francisco MTA, BART, San Francisco Public Works, the Cities of Sunnyvale, Dublin, Davis, Palo Alto and San Antonio, among others. Last year, he was nominated for the SFMOMA SECA award.

Kath Tsakalakis – Permits & Events: Best Practices

In 2020, Kath Tsakalakis co-founded the Friends of Lakeside Village, a fiscally sponsored project of SF Parks Alliance. A large group of volunteers is partway through a shared vision to transform the commercial corridor. Before that, Kath worked in strategy consulting for nearly 20-years, including 12-years with Bain & Company in London and San Francisco. Since retiring, Kath has used her strategic planning expertise to help various startups, schools, and nonprofits. She uses facts and research to frame problems and refocus teams on practical actions that will make a difference.

Warren Logan – Reimagining our Streets

Warren Logan is an Oakland resident with a strong history of public service and community engagement. Professionally, Warren is a government affairs advisor at Progress Public Affairs where he manages government relations and strategic communication projects. Before working in the private sector Warren worked in several public agencies including the City of Berkeley’s Transportation Division managing parking and travel demand management, the City and County of San Francisco managing shared mobility policy, and the Mayor’s Office of Oakland managing local, regional and state transportation policy.

View all panelist bios here