Sara Moncada, M.A., is a Native educator, dancer, filmmaker, author and cultural arts advocate.
Sara became the organization’s second CEO in 2021 after previously serving as the first Chief Program Officer (CPO) since 2016. As CPO she was responsible for co-creating and implement-ing TCC programs in accordance with the vision, mission and goals of the organization. In addition to her work at TCC, Sara is co-founder of Wise Women Circles, a women-owned inspirational media company, and is a dancer and educator with Sewam American Indian Dance, a Bay Area-based cultural arts and education organization. She was previously the Managing Director for the nonprofit Institute for Staffing Excellence and Innovations and On Nursing Excellence, organizations devoted to inspiring and strengthening the effectiveness, recognition and wellbeing of care-givers’ worldwide. Prior to her focus in the nonprofit sector, Sara was on the team of multiple start-up technology companies with a spectrum of responsibilities that supported rapid growth, positive board and client relationships, and launching successful products and media programs into the market.
As a cultural artist and powwow and Flamenco dancer, she has presented on stages around the world and can often be found singing quietly to herself or dancing little steps while planting in the field. For more than a decade, she has presented and taught across the country and internationally on Native American arts and culture and is co-author of the book The Dance of Caring, a book exploring Native American Hoop Dance as a model for wellness. As a media maker, her work includes being producer of the internationally successful documentary film NURSES If Florence Could See Us Now honoring the work of nurses across the country, producer and con-tributing editor of the upcoming film project Finding Compás, and producer of TCC’s podcast series The Native Seed Pod.
Sara maintains oversight and overall management of TCC, our partnerships and ongoing circles of kin, and leads the development of the land and work at Heron Shadow. In 2017, Sara managed the full site at Indian Valley Organic Farm & Garden as TCC took over operational management of the teaching farm during a vital partnership and management change that year, an instrumental year in TCC’s farm management capacity as we moved towards the larger vision at Heron Shadow.