Short Biography

Danielle Frank is a Hupa and Yurok changemaker from the Klamath River Basin, committed to Indigenous sovereignty, youth empowerment, and environmental justice. She recently transitioned from her role as Native Youth Coordinator at Native Americans in Philanthropy to serve full-time as Director of Development and Community Relations at Rios to Rivers. In this role, she works predominantly on the Paddle Tribal Waters program, a youth-led initiative uplifting the next generation of river protectors, scholars, and storytellers in the wake of the Klamath dam removals. Danielle has worked across movements at the intersection of philanthropy, cultural revitalization, and land stewardship, always centering the voices of tribal youth. Her leadership is rooted in ancestral knowledge, intergenerational organizing, and a deep love for her homelands. Whether coordinating a first descent of the newly free-flowing Klamath or building bridges between funders and frontline communities, Danielle’s work is grounded, visionary, and guided by responsibility to her people.

Session Title: Revitalizing the Future of Restoration

Keynote by Danielle Frank | Society for Ecological Restoration 2025

This keynote will explore what it means to restore not only ecosystems but relationships—between people, place, and purpose. Danielle Frank, a Hupa and Yurok leader from the Klamath River Basin, will share her journey growing up as a Native youth in a community of changemakers, where restoration is rooted in culture, responsibility, and deep connection to land and water. Drawing from lessons learned on the banks of the Klamath and Trinity rivers and from Indigenous communities across the globe, Danielle will offer reflections on how frontline leadership can shape the future of ecological restoration.

Through stories of intergenerational learning, global advocacy at the United Nations climate and biodiversity conferences, and grassroots mobilization at home, this session will highlight the transformative power of Indigenous-led restoration. Danielle will speak to the urgent need for the ecological restoration field to invest in tribal leadership and youth engagement—not as a gesture of inclusion, but as a pathway to long-term resilience and healing for lands, waters, and communities.

Attendees will walk away with a renewed understanding that restoration is not only technical—it is cultural, spiritual, and political. And investing in river communities is, ultimately, an investment in the river itself.