Our Team

Valentina Acosta, Program and Grants Administrator
Venezuelan and Cuban descent

Valentina Acosta is of Venezuelan and Cuban descent and was raised in Huntington Beach, California. She’s received her Bachelors in Environmental Studies at Humboldt State University and hopes to use her degree to work with low-income communities in order to provide clean, renewable energy to all. Her love for non-profit work translates through the various roles and projects she’s been able to take on in order to empower and support orphaned children in Baja California, Mexico for nearly a decade. Her sense of duty to Mother Earth and respect for all living beings is what excites her about working with Seventh Generation Fund and how her passions can help the team in a multitude of ways.

In her free time she enjoys a challenging trail run, a delicious vegan meal, and dancing to her favorite music with her partner.

“The Earth is my Mother. A great living being. I vow to protect her, and she protects me.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Photo Credit: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Dine’)

Eli Bargas, Special Projects
Ohlone/Yoeme/Apache/Cheyenne/Chicano

Eli Bargas started with Seventh Generation Fund as an intern in 2015 and has filled various roles for the organization before finding himself in his current position coordinating the events, materials and outreach that make up SGF’s Special Projects.

Outside of work, Eli is a multidisciplinary artist who is always looking to further his skillsets.

Photo Credit: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Dine’)

Kimberly Brown, Fiscal Coordinator
Choctaw

Kimberly Brown is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation Tribe of Oklahoma, born and raised in Humboldt County, CA. She has been honored to have worked in the Tribal Communities for the past 11 years and will continue to do so.

Kimberly is a proud mother and a grandmother. Her drive to learn and educate others on the importance of self-care lends to being a compassionate community member. In her spare time, she loves to go hiking, riding bikes, and kayaking.

Kim is excited to her new journey at the Seventh Generation Fund as the Accounting Associate and being able to continue working in our Tribal Communities.

Photo Credit: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Dine’)

Wendy Carranza, Accounting Assistant
descendant of the Nahua-Pipil

Wendy Carranza is a descendant of the Nahua-Pipil peoples of El Salvador. She was born and raised in Pomona, CA (Tongva Land). She moved to Humboldt County (Goudini, Wiyot Land) in 2018 to pursue her educational goals. Her passions and pursuits are mainly centered on social, economic, and environmental reform.

Wendy believes in decolonizing economics through ethical business practices that are relationship based and community orientated. She is committed to building a solidarity economy that supports marginalized working-class communities’ access to the wealth and resources they need in order to facilitate collective healing.

When not working on spreadsheets she enjoys gardening, painting, exploring the outdoors, and learning about nature. She obtained her MBA in Strategic Sustainability from Cal Poly Humboldt in July of 2022.

Wendy is excited for her new journey at Seventh Generation Fund as an accounting assistant to learn more about traditional Indigenous concepts of holistic ecological stewardship and grassroots development.

Heather Freitas, Advancement Director
Lusitanian descent

Heather Freitas began as an intern with Seventh Generation Fund in 2006 while attending Humboldt State University. Her interest in sacred site protection, environmental rights, and languages prompted her involvement with the organization and a year later she joined the staff. After achieving her Bachelors with a degree in Sociology, her role continued and progressed as the Advancement Manager.

Third-generation born in the “Americas”, Heather’s paternal family comes from the Açores. She grew up in the foothills to the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Calaveras County, California. The lasting historical impact and its enduring presence throughout the County’s landscape made an impression on Heather at an early age. In addition to environmental justice endeavors; she believes in the advancement of human rights and the right for self-determination.

Photo Credit: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Dine’)

Louis Gordon, Program Director
Xicano/Purépecha

Louis Gordon (Xicano/Purépecha) has been involved with the Seventh Generation Fund since 2011 and serves as Program Director. He is responsible for working directly with community groups to develop and submit proposals, and facilitates trainings on nonprofit board development, proposal writing, budgeting and strategic planning. A lifetime student of Indigenous histories and social movements, he is dedicated to working at the nexus of philanthropy and the modern Native movement for the empowerment of Indigenous Peoples. Louis currently serves as a Board Member for the Environmental Grantmakers Association and is also a musician, backpacker, hunter and outdoor enthusiast.

Photo Credit: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Dine’)

Tineke Iris, Fiscal Manager 

Tineke Iris is of Dutch and Germanic descent, born on Duwamish lands along the Puget Sound and raised on Guarani territories in Brazil. She has had the privilege to live in Quechua country in Peru, Borari land in Brazil, and Darkinjung land in Australia. She currently lives on Wiyot land and joined the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples in early 2018.

Tineke is an Economics graduate from Cal Poly Humboldt. She has almost 20 years of administrative experience, primarily from collaborating with nonprofit organizations protecting the environment. Her experience includes setting up a non-profit project in an effort to fight the pollution brought on by global industrialization in the Brazilian Amazon. She is passionate about social justice and teaching her two children how to be stewards of the Earth. Tineke believes in the potential for collective healing, preservation of the biosphere for future generations of all species, and supporting sovereignty of Indigenous nations. She enjoys spending time whenever possible alongside bodies of water and walking in woodlands.

Photo Credit: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Dine’)

Sylvia Lazerick, Advancement Assistant

Sylvia has been active in environmental education and community work for many decades. She is part of our Advancement Team bringing many years’ of experience serving in marketing and administration. Raised in New England, she is fourth generation in the Americas from mixed descent. Helping people in inner-city communities was part of her early life, yet she was drawn to travel westward to connect with and learn from Indigenous Peoples. She studied at colleges in Massachusetts and California, finalizing her degree at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. During and following those years, she continued to travel, learning more about various peoples of the world. She is dedicated to serving Indigenous Peoples and building sustainable communities.

Inspired by Mother Earth, she loves spending time in nature, listening to the wind and nature spirits. She loves music, cooking and sharing food with others.

Photo Credit: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Dine’)

Raven Marshall, Creative Associate
Sicangu Lakota

Raven Marshall is Sicangu Lakota and Ihanktonwan Nakota/Dakota. She is going to school for Journalism & Media, as well as Critical Race, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Raven believes in supporting the grassroots movements to strengthen Indigenous communities. She is passionate about media, art, writing, and Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty.

Mitakuye Oya’sin – We are all related.

Photo Credit: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Dine’)

Teresa McGinnis, Administrative Manager
Yurok

Teresa McGinnis is an enrolled member of the Yurok Tribe, descendent of the Wiyot & Tolowa Nation, born and raised in Humboldt County, CA. Teresa has worked since the age of 16 learning different job positions while gaining multiple skills in the workforce. She is honored to have worked in the Tribal Communities since the age of 18, this helped her grow and succeed and become closer with her people.

Teresa is proud to be a parent of five and married to her best friend. She has an active role with her children’s schools, sports, and in the Native Community. In her spare time, Teresa creates art, jewelry, and crochets, which has led her to obtain her business license for her own online jewelry business. Further, she decided to attend NYIP for her photography certification in Professional Photography.

Teresa enjoys spending time with her family, eating and giving back to the community especially volunteering, hosting events and planning them. Teresa appreciates being a part of the Seventh Generation Fund and being able to help the Native Community.

Photo Credit: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Dine’)

Deezbaa Andrea O’Hare, Program Officer
Diné (Navajo), Paiute, Shoshone, Ute

Deezbaa is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, and a descendant of Paiute, Shoshone and Ute people, and resides as a guest in Wiyot territory. Her work within Indigenous community-led wellness programs, Native foodways, cultural and healing arts has deepened her commitment to Indigenous rights and sovereignty, women’s wellness and birthing spaces, and strengthening environmental integrity. She has worked with many change-making organizations that revitalize Native lifeways, are dedicated to women and youth empowerment, creative artivism, and are leading solutions rooted in social justice and change. She brings over fifteen years of combined work experience in nonprofit, philanthropic, grassroots and client service office settings.

Deezbaa holds a B.A. in Psychology from Fort Lewis College. For over four years, Deezbaa has held women’s circles across Turtle Island creating spaces of healing, wellness and empowerment. She has been a guest speaker at community-based art and cultural spaces, and has shared story-telling performances reflecting the parallels of the violence against Mother Earth and the violence against Indigenous women. She learns from the collective creative expression, beauty, and strength of her ancestors, elders, relatives, and community.

Photo Credit: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Dine’)

Mima Salas, Program Associate for Thriving Women
Diné/Xicana/Gabrieliño Kizh

Mima Salas is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation from her mother’s side and is Xicana descending from the San Gabrieliño Kizh Band of Mission Indians on her father’s side. Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona she is now living in the Humboldt area working on the Thriving Women Program as its Program Associate. She has an interest in community building that is centered on protection for Indigenous women and Two-Spirit peoples, youth advocacy, and storytelling as a way of healing. She has experience working with Native communities in Arizona while serving as a member of Morning Star Leaders Youth Council. She’s a proud older sister and hopes to pave new pathways for them and the rest of her family. Favorite pastimes include writing, running, hiking with family, and skateboarding.

Johnny Salazar, General Manager
Indigenous

Johnny Salazar was born and raised in Northeast Los Angeles and moved to Humboldt County in 2010 to pursue his degree in Social Work. He was able to join the Seventh Generation Fund team in 2014 as a Data Entry Intern.

Johnny’s passion for social justice is rooted in his uncle’s involvement as a revolutionary guerrilla fighter in the Salvadorian Civil War fighting for the betterment of the common people. Johnny hopes to continue the legacy of his uncle by engaging and assisting relatives across Turtle Island who fight for self-determination, environmental justice, and decolonization.

In his free time, Johnny likes to spend time with his dog Lady hiking, backpacking, and going to the beach. Other hobbies include: playing chess and doing mechanical work.

Photo Credit: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Dine’)

Stone Ruel Wallace, Affiliate Coordinator
Hupa

Stone Ruel Wallace is an enrolled member of the Hoopa (Hupa) Valley Tribe and a descendant of the Yurok, Karuk, Tsnungwe, & Chilula tribes of northern California. He was raised in Humboldt County in the towns of Orleans, Hoopa, and Willow Creek. He is the middle child of two sisters and mixed parental ethnicities – his mother is Native American and father is Scottish/Irish.

He has 27 years of experience working with the local Native communities through health care, emergency assistance, cultural workshops, and native youth activities. In his spare time, he enjoys gathering traditional medicinal plants & basket materials, making Native jewelry to sell, creating ceremonial regalia, and teaching cultural classes/tours. He is also known for creating a large digital collection of basket designs that he has shared at no cost for anyone to use at their own discretion.

His philosophy in life is to enjoy family, friends, food, and laughter.

Alice Woodworth, Controller 

Ms. Woodworth serves as the Controller for Seventh Generation Fund and is responsible for recording and reporting all grant expenses, as well as providing technical assistance to SGF affiliates and projects as appropriate. She has a BA, Special Major New College, from San Jose State University.

Alice has 30 years of experience as a bookkeeper and manager of information services for businesses and nonprofit organizations, and has served as a development director, campaign treasurer, and library acquisitions manager. She is a grandmother, a fiber artist, an herb gardener, and currently serves on the board of directors for Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County.

Photo Credit: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Dine’)