Shawn Imitates Dog, Oglala Sioux Tribal Member, joined the commission back in 2017 as a community elected commissioner.

Shawn is currently the Vice President, Head of Human Resources in the entertainment and tech sector. Shawn has held leadership roles for over 25 years for companies such as House of Blues, Live Nation, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), and Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Shawn also has a passion for helping Veterans build their careers. He created a Veteran Apprentice Program while at Live Nation, and previously sat on the board of directors for Veterans in Entertainment and Media.

Shawn’s main passion is working with his American Indian community. He enjoys volunteering for different cultural and community events.

Mark Villsenor (Fernandeño Tataviam) is an active and determined member of his community both culturally and politically. Mark Villasenor has been an engaged leader and citizen of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, a sovereign tribe of Los Angeles County, for his adult life. He is the descendent of lineages/villages of Ta’apu, Tapo Canyon, Siutcanga, the village at Encino, and Chaguayanga, a village in Santa Clarita Valley. As the current Tribal Vice President for his tribe.

Mr. Villasenor collaborates with Federal, State and Local municipalities, as well as other sovereign nations, in efforts to better his tribe. Engaging in civic activity and responsibility, Villasenor has been active in City sponsored initiatives.

In addition to advocating for his tribal community, Villasenor supports other City residents. He is often called upon by his alma mater, CSU Northridge to support student-initiated programs and provide guest lectures or songs. Additionally, Villasenor supports programs by other community-based organizations providing services to the broader local community.

To better accomplish financial, political, or cultural objectives for his tribal community, he graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration with a focus in Global Supply Chain Management from California State University, Northridge.

Denise Escoto is Northern Cheyenne and Native Hawaiian from the island of Kauai. She is very dedicated and takes pride in serving the Native American community and supporting their needs. She has over 20 years of involvement and experience with the Native community. She aspires to deliver true leadership and vision to our Native community. She has the potential to view the present as it is and invent a future for our community. Denise has worked for Native American Indian Social Service agency for 20 years. She has also worked with multiple agencies and projects within the Native community including Native American Diabetes Project, Walking Shield volunteer services, Students Run LA/United American Indian Involvement, Inc., COVID food services and supply distribution to Native families and working with Baby2Baby to secure critical items for Native babies. Denise also outreaches to the community at Pow Wows, Native community events, and conferences to provide resources to the community.

Caroline Bhalla is an enrolled member of the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin. She serves as the Executive Director of the Neighborhood Data for Social Change Project, housed in the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the USC Price School of Public Policy and USC Marshall School of Business. She is skilled at building strong and lasting partnerships with community-based organizations, pairing university resources with community expertise to maximize impact for collaboration and social change. At the Neighborhood Data for Social Change Project, she has built a culture of inclusion, diversity and overall excellence: training students, diversifying staff, and co-creating and managing community-based research and data projects.

Caroline was most recently the Executive Director of the Price Center for Social Innovation, whose mission is to develop ideas and strategies to improve equity and quality of life for people living in low income urban communities. In this role, she directed all activities and operations of the center while helping to expand the strategic vision and impact of their work. She spearheaded and launched the Neighborhood Data for Social Change (NDSC) initiative in 2017.

Over the years, Caroline’s research and advocacy have worked towards Native American representation and inclusion in various spaces. She has striven to include Native American voice and considerations in all facets of work.

Caroline earned her B.A. in Mass Communications/ Rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley. Caroline received an M.A. in Culture and Communication from NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education and an M.A. in American Studies from NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Science. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Educational Leadership at the Rossier School of Education at USC.

Chrissie Castro is the Vice Chair of the Los Angeles City and County Native American Indian Commission, and co-led the change to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day in the city and County of Los Angeles; She was a co-founder of Indigenous Women Rise, which organized the Indigenous women’s contingent of 1,000 Indigenous Women at the Women’s March in DC. She is the Network Weaver of the Native Voice Network, a national network of 35+ Native-led organizations that mobilize through indigenous cultural values; and recently launched two projects to build community and political power of Native communities – locally, the California Native Vote Project and nationally, Advance Native Political Leadership.

Andrea Garcia is a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation on her maternal side, and Mexican on her paternal side. Andrea works at the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health where has the privilege of focusing exclusively on the health and wellbeing of the Native American community through her clinical work, larger community initiatives, and through research. As a Mayoral appointee for the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission, she serves as Chair of the subcommittee on homelessness as well as for the ad hoc Natives in LA COVID-19 Response Working Group. She also has the privilege of serving as Board chairperson for United American Indian Involvement, and Vice Chairperson for We Are Healers. Through all of her work, research, and volunteer endeavors, Andrea is most interested in centering the brilliance and inherent wisdom of Native people in addressing the structural determinants of health.

Vivian Garcia, a proud member of the Cherokee Nation, is a fierce advocate for the Native American community in Los Angeles. With ties to both LA and Oklahoma, she has devoted her career to promoting the well-being and unity of Native people within Los Angeles and across Indian Country. After completing her Bachelor's Degree in American Indian Studies at UCLA in 2011, she pursued a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education with a Trauma Studies specialization from Pacific Oaks College.

Vivian began her professional journey by providing direct services to women, children, and families, and has since risen to her current leadership position as the Tribal & Community Liaison for UAII. In her role, she plays a crucial part in fostering positive relationships and effective communication with tribal governments, communities, and organizations. Vivian thrives on working closely with tribal leaders, representatives, and internal stakeholders to facilitate productive dialogue, enhance cultural competency, and establish mutually beneficial partnerships.

In true Cherokee tradition she values her family and the role of being a Mother to her two daughters. Vivian will pursue a doctoral degree from the University of Southern California in the fall of 2024, and is honored to serve on the Native American Indian Commission.

Throughout her career within the entertainment industry, Dawn has served as a liaison to the Native American community. She is an enrolled member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan. She has served as a community elected Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commissioner and Self-Governance Board Member since 1994.

As a Commissioner, she has served in a variety of capacities including press liaison for a historic White House Urban Policy Initiative, art curator and was part of the team that successfully lead the call for Los Angeles to ban Columbus Day and establish Indigenous People’s Day.

Dawn joined The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) in 1993 working in product design, brand marketing and creative development. In 2005 she became Executive Director of the American Indian National Center for TV & Film at ABC/Disney Prospect Studios. For over twenty-eight years Dawn has continued to work with business units throughout TWDC as a strategic cultural advisor.

As an independent film producer, Ms. Jackson has a produced three PBS documentaries, including MANKILLER (2017). She served as co-curator of Through Indian Eyes: 100 years of Native Cinema in association with the UCLA School of Film & Television. She is a board member of the American Indian Scholarship Fund of Southern California, and a member of the Producer’s Guild of America.

Bryce Lewis-Smith, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, is an environmental justice professional at Better World Group. He works at the intersections of public policy, conservation sciences and community engagement to serve his community and advance Tribal Sovereignty.

Over the years, Bryce has worked with Native youth to tell the story of the interdependence of language and culture revitalization with ecosystem restoration, launched an equitable urban greening program for Los Angeles' previously redlined neighborhoods, and reimagined diasporic Potawatomi relationships with our homelands. He approaches complicated issues of water rights, renewable energy, and land management by braiding together relational accountability and place-based responsibility.

Bryce received his B.A. in Environmental Biology from Occidental College. He earned his Masters of Marine Affairs and Graduate Certificate in American Indian and Indigenous Studies from the University of Washington.

Nawa (hello) my name is John Only A Chief, and I am a full-blood enrolled citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. I was originally born and raised in Pawnee, Oklahoma until the age of 10 years old. Not having a traditional family unit, I was a candidate for adoption and was relocated to Los Angeles in 1972 prior to the Indian Child Welfare Act. I became a ward of the Superior Court of Los Angeles for four years while my adoption was being finalized. I made my home in and around Los Angeles County. I attended Paramount Unified School District and graduated from Paramount High School (Class of 1980.) I attended Cerritos College of Norwalk for 2 years with an interest in Administration of Justice. I started a family and moved to Pawnee, Oklahoma from 2002-2017 where I raised my children. I returned to the LA county area in Sept 2017. I currently serve as the Non-Tribal Employee Personnel Committee Member for the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians.

Rudy Ortega Jr. (Fernandeño Tataviam) is a former Chairman of the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission and has served on the Commission since 2004.

He is the Tribal President of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, a native sovereign nation of northern Los Angeles County. As the current elected Tribal President of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians Ortega Jr. oversees his Tribe’s governmental body and manages affairs pertaining to the rights of all Fernandeño Tataviam people.

Mona Morales Recalde is an enrolled member of the Gabrieleno/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians. She was elected to the Commission in January 2023. Her family maintains tradition and continuity to their tribe by living on the tribal traditional land and knowing its precious history.

Mona maintains connection in community through volunteering at Kuruvungna, participating in Native Beading Circles and singing traditional songs at events such as Indigenous People’s Day hosted by the City and County of Los Angeles. Mona has been active in Native American culture, maintaining her family traditions all of her life.

In her professional life she works as a Sr. Manager for a large technical company, she holds her Bachelors in Communications from San Diego State University and her Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Cal State Monterey Bay, she is a Project Management Professional (PMP).

Mona has given various presentations to education institutions and various organizations about the Gabrieleno/Tongva and maintaining cultural traditions. Mona is passionate about Community Outreach for the Gabrieleno/Tongva and for all Native Americans, she is dedicated to Tribal affairs providing land welcoming and education sessions.

Ted Tenorio (Tiwa Pueblo) is a United States military and veteran activist and president of the Native American Veterans Association (NAVA). He helps and has brought awareness to Native Americans in the military, veterans, and their families. His leadership on the various Native American Boards and civil community committees has received many Veterans Excellence Service awards from the City of Los Angeles Office of the Mayor, State of California, Congressional, and recognition for services to all Native and non-Native veterans.

Mr. Tenorio has been an invitee and speaker for the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Defense military committee. He lectured on veterans’ issues at conferences and training seminars to address veterans’ issues. He was appointed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs as Veterans Administration Affairs, Tribal Advisory Committee Office of Tribal Government Relations. A congressional committee appointed him for the National America 250 Foundation of the U.S. Semi-quincentennial Advisory Commission on Military, Veterans, and Family.

Rich is a lifetime southern California resident and a cinematic Production Designer and most recently designed DEAD TO ME, RESERVATION DOGS, and WINNING TIME. He has multiple Emmy and Art Directors Guild nominations and awards in each. Rich is active in his professional guild (Art Directors) and holds numerous guild positions. He guest lectures at UCLA, USC, and CSUN but is passionate about mentoring disadvantaged youth considering careers in cinema.

Originally trained in architecture and landscape architecture from Cal Poly SLO he later specialized in urban adaptive architecture and urban native landscapes such as Skid Row Park, Hollywood Bowl, Getty Villa, MOCA, and numerous commercial and residential projects. While at university Rich was a certified wildland firefighter Hotshot and backcountry ranger for the USFS and a FCC licensed on-air discjockey for several radio stations in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.

Rich derives from the Acjachemen Nation though is active with Gabrielino/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians and was responsible for the naming of Tongva Peak in the Verdugo Mountains and actively liaisons for the tribe. He authored the Verdugo Wash Sustainability project and responds to EIRs and regularly lectures on Tongva tribal history.

Rich is a community activist in the Crescenta Valley/Glendale area and has served on the CV Town Council, Foothill Design Committee, Glendale-Crescenta VOICE, Historical Society of CV, Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy, Boy Scouts, and Haramokngna Indian Cultural Center.