AMLT Staff

Sara French, Director of Development

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Why did you want to work for AMLT / why are you doing this work?

I first became acquainted with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band in 2009 when I was an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz. As part of my double major in Environmental Studies and Anthropology, I undertook a thesis project in collaboration with the UCSC Arboretum focused on California ethnobotany. At this time, the Amah Mutsun Relearning Program at the Arboretum was just beginning, and I was moved by how determined the Amah Mutsun were to restore their ethnobotanical knowledge and the connection to their ancestral lands, in spite of the many barriers. I decided that I wanted to do all I could to support these efforts. I’ve been working in service of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band in various ways ever since. This work has been both personally and professionally fulfilling, allowing me to apply my academic interests to important local issues, and teaching me how to live in right relationship to the land.

What from your whole life's experiences are you bringing to this role?

My academic training, experiences implementing eco-cultural restoration, and 15 years of working in partnership with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band make me well suited to communicate the value of AMLT’s work to others. In 2015 I became the first person to officially work for AMLT, writing grants to fund the organization while also developing and implementing programs. After occupying many different roles, including stints as Director of Programs and even interim Executive Director, I feel that I can best serve the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band by building AMLT’s base of support and securing the resources needed for the Tribe to pursue their Indigenous stewardship goals.

Where are you from?

I grew up in San Leandro, in the San Francisco Bay Area, on the unceded lands of the Chochenyo speaking peoples. My maternal grandparents both came from the same small town in rural New Mexico, which I visited many times as a child and which I still feel a connection to today. Now I am raising my family in Santa Cruz and it is a true privilege to do work that honors the Awaswas speaking peoples – the original stewards of these lands.