Charlene Eigen-Vasquez
Charlene Eigen-Vasquez is a member of the Ohlone nation, whose traditional homeland is along the coast of California, and extends from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Carmel Valley. She is dedicated to land back initiatives, land preservation and land restoration because she feels that these initiatives have a direct impact on the physical and mental health of community members. As a tribal member, she has a special commitment to the preservation of sacred sites, cultural preservation, and environmental justice.
Charlene’s educational background has opened many doors during her career. Charlene earned a BS in Human Service Administration, with a focus on Nonprofit Management. She has a master’s degree in Mexican American Studies, with an emphasis in Cross-Cultural Studies. During this program her work compared and contrasted teaching strategies of Indigenous Elders to public school teachers seeing success when working with students of color. Finally, as a mother and grandmother, she decided to complete a law degree so that she might become a stronger force serving Indigenous communities. Law studies took her to a few different universities, including a summer at the Vienna School of Law in Austria. Today Charlene uses her legal skills, mediation skills and peacemaking skills to advocate for land based indigenous interests, to negotiate agreements and to build relational bridges. She is an acknowledged peacemaker, having been trained by Supreme Court Tribal Judges.
Today Charlene serves as Chairwoman of the Confederation of Ohlone People, Co-Chair of the Pajaro Valley Ohlone Indian Council and Board Vice President for the Santa Clara Valley Indian Health Center and she is the CEO and Director of Indigenous Self-Governance for the Healing and Reconciliation Institute out of the Carmel Valley in California.