Sikwani Dana
PresidentSikwani Dana (Penobscot) is the Wabanaki Rematriation School Coordinator and Co-director of Niweskok, a non-profit focused on Wabanaki culture and foodways. She also advises the board of MOFGA and the NEBEC project for improving nature access for communities of color. Outside of work, Sikwani is a homesteader and strives to live as sustainably as possible to stay connected with the Penobscot values she was raised with. Her love of educating bleeds over into this part of her life and she uses social media platforms to inspire people to live green.
Ann Pollard Ranco
Board MemberAnn Pollard-Ranco is a member of the Penobscot Nation and has been an artist and environmental activist since she was a young teenager. Now in her mid 20s, she works as a professional artist, photographer/ video-grapher, writer, cultural consultant, and in indigenous food systems recovery.
Kessi Watters-Kimball
Food Sovereignty CoordinatorKessi is a Mi’kmaq foods and medicines producer who descends from Listuguj First Nation. In addition to directing our program, Kessi is a co-director at Niweskok and the founder of Mawiomi Garden with her children, nephews and cousins. Kessi leads a team of apprentices on our planting grounds along the Sandy River. Kessi is passionate about building collaborations and radical food justice systems that inspire our communities to restore and rebuild traditional foodways.
Andrea Francis Executive Director
Andrea (she/her) is a member of the Mi'kmaq Nation and the Elsipogtog First Nation. As the Executive Director of the Bomazeen Land Trust, she is committed to ensuring that the organization’s mission, vision, and values are effectively represented through the insights of the board. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Management from the University of Arizona and a Master of Public Health from the University of Southern Maine. Andrea hopes that her work with Bomazeen will promote the connections she has identified between Wabanaki health and land and food sovereignty. Her dedication to the Maine community is also evident in her roles as a Niweskok and Maine Initiatives board member and as an advisor for the Indigo Arts Alliance and the Maine Community Foundation’s BIPOC fund.
Nathan Dana
Nathan is the land steward for Bomazeen Land Trust’s “Lemon Stream” land. He is an educator and life long learner whose passion is collecting and sharing knowledge and skills with those around him.
Lokotah Sanborn
SecretaryLokotah Sanborn is a Penobscot artist and organizer dedicated to Indigenous liberation and empowerment. He is a member of Sunlight Media Collective, an organization working to document and produce stories affecting Wabanaki people and the intersections of environmental issues and tribal rights. Lokotah has a background in political organizing and community building.
Tagwongo Obomsawin
TreasurerTagwongo Obomsawin (Odanak Abenaki Nation) grew up in Farmington, Maine (Anmesskanti). She is a renewable energy professional, a scholar of French and Abenaki language, researcher, and writer. Through her work, Tagwongo is committed to using renewable energy and sustainability ventures as tools for environmental and social justice. Tagwongo graduated from the University of Maine in 2015 with a B.A. in Economics and received an M.B.A. in Sustainability from Bard College in 2022.
Jus Crea Giammarino
Board MemberDr. Jus Crea Giammarino (Penobscot) has rich ancestral connections to Wabanaki territories throughout Maine. Understanding that health and wellness comes from our ancestral lands, she received a B.S in Ethnobotany and a Certificate in Native American Studies from UMass Amherst. She received a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from the University of Bridgeport, CT and has been in private practice since 2005. She is also trained in Indigenous Midwifery and is a Certified Indigenous Breastfeeding Counselor. She was previously a professor of nutrition and pathology and has lectured internationally on herbal medicine, ethnobotany, mid-wifery, naturopathic medicine, environmental medicine, and her cultural history and traditions.
Amelia St. John
Ancestral Knowledge Institute (AKI) Coordinator
Amelia (they/them) is a member of the Houlton Band of Maliseets, grew up in Houlton, and currently works as the Ancestral Knowledge Institute (AKI) Program Coordinator for Bomazeen Land Trust. After receiving a degree in Stage & Production Management from Emerson College and living in New York City, they returned to Maine to pursue a degree in Sustainable Agriculture and to use that knowledge to help strengthen our Wabanaki communities. Amelia is passionate about the reclamation of identity and sense of self that comes with strengthening our connection to our homelands, and they hope to foster that with any work they do.
Mali Obomsawin
Land and Culture AdvisorMali Obomsawin is an Abenaki musician and community organizer originally from Farmington, Maine and is a citizen of Odanak First Nation . She is dedicated to tribal cultural and historic preservation, land return, and community building across Wabanaki homelands. She holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College (2018) in Government and Comparative Literature.
Nipi Monet Financial Operations OfficerNipi (they/them ~2S) is an organizer, community care worker and movement leader in environmental and healing justice. They are indigenous mexican with lineage in cahuilla and yoeme nations. With a B.A. from Berkeley, they are dedicated to land return, food sovereignty and the reclamation of lifeways.