Our Board

President

Molli Myers is a Karuk Tribal member, raised at the village of Vuunharaáx, near the place where the Salmon River meets the Klamath. 

For over two decades, Molli helped lead the grassroots campaign to remove the Klamath River Dams as a founding member of the Klamath Justice Coalition. During that time, Molli also worked in Tribal natural resources administration, operations, and grants compliance roles. Molli has extensive understanding of and experience in organizational development and management, as well as generations of traditional and cultural knowledge.

Molli comes from a family and community that emphasized her inherent responsibility as a steward of the land and a fix-the-world person. She continues to seek protection and preservation of ancestral lands and cultural resources, raising her five children to carry on the tradition.

Treasurer

Sami Jo Difuntorum is a member of the Shasta Indian Nation from the Upper Klamath River canyon of Northern California. Ms. Difuntorum presently serves as the Vice Chairman of the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) representing Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and previously served as the NAIHC Chairwoman for two terms. 

Ms. Difuntorum proudly serves as the Culture Preservation Officer for the Shasta Indian Nation, a position she's held since 2005.    She is actively involved in the tribes Land Back efforts and developing programs to secure tribal traditions and culture for future generations.  

Ms. Difuntorum's experience in tribal housing spans 30 years and includes providing testimony to the United States Congress during the reauthorization of the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA).

She has served on numerous boards and committees including co-chair of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Housing Committee, Chair of the NAIHC Legislative Committee, Vice-Chair of the Northwest Indian Housing Association, Chair of the National Congress of American Indians Housing Sub-Committee, and as board member of the former Lincoln Community Development Corporation.

Ms. Difuntorum currently resides in Oregon.

Secretary

Wendy Poppy Ferris- George is a former Vice-Chair and Council Member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, and serves on the Klamath River Renewal Corporation Board of Directors. She has worked since 2002 on the campaign to remove Klamath River dams. Wendy descends from the Karuk and Hupa Tribes. She has spent her life fishing on the Klamath and Trinity Rivers and is engaged with the people that depend on them for subsistence and economic purposes. She has been a cultural arts instructor along the Trinity and Klamath Rivers for over 20 years, specializing in the return of the traditional Jump Dance Basket. Wendy served 7 years on the California Indian Basket Weavers Association working on environmental justice issues and eventually founded her own non-profit titled “World Renewal.” She currently manages her own business titled, Cultural Resources Consulting.

Frankie Myers is a Yurok Tribal member, currently serving his second and final term as Vice Chairman. Mr. Myers was born and raised on the Yurok Indian Reservation. Today, he and his wife are raising five children in the traditional village of Kenek, where his ancestors have lived since time immemorial. 

Mr. Myers is known for his success in building bridges between diverse stakeholder groups. During his two terms as Vice Chairman, he worked with tribal, state and federal lawmakers as well as non and for-profit corporations, family farmers/ranchers and conservation groups to solve some of most complex challenges in Northern California. He helped lead the decades-long campaign to remove four fish-killing dams on the Klamath River. 

Frankie has a wealth of experience in river restoration, natural resources management, community development, clean energy development, healthcare, commercial fisheries, commercial construction, wildfire prevention and environmentally sustainable economic development.

Born and raised in the heart of the traditional Karuk homeland, Leaf Hillman has spent his entire career working in one capacity or another to protect, preserve, and restore Klamath River fisheries and Karuk cultural resources. The Karuk have subsisted physically and spiritually on the bounty of the Klamath River and its watershed since time immemorial. To protect and restore these natural resources, Leaf started the Karuk Tribe’s Fisheries Department in 1990 and served as its director until 1994. At this point, under Leaf’s leadership, the department expanded to become the Department of Natural Resources. Leaf served as Director of Karuk Natural Resources Department until 2003, when he was elected to Vice-Chairman of the Karuk Tribal Council. 

Leaf Hillman is a descendant of a Karuk dance owning family and serves as a ceremonial leader during Piky’avish, the Karuk World Renewal Ceremonies. Over the past twenty years, Hillman has also taught the Karuk language at all levels of public education including adult community classes. Leaf Hillman is a leading proponent of removing Klamath River dams and played a leading role in developing the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and Klamath Basin Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement.