2027 Plenary Speakers
Masi Mejia is East Foundation’s education outcomes manager. She leads hands-on programs in the classroom and on the land that teach youth the principles of land stewardship, conservation, and responsible natural resource management.
With a background in environmental and wildlife science and years of experience in youth development, Masi excels at leading TEKS-aligned lessons rooted in South Texas culture. She delivers programming in both English and Spanish, helping ensure that students understand and connect with the material. She also plays a central role in the Land Stewardship Ambassadors program, a partnership with the Witte Museum that promotes civic engagement among today’s youth and inspires students to pursue careers that support land stewardship. Through the program, students develop leadership and communication skills while gaining a real understanding of what it means to care for the land.
Masi is passionate about developing the next generation of land stewards and leaders, and about staying connected with students as they grow. She takes pride in helping students find new opportunities, whether that means pointing them toward a program, opening a door they didn’t know existed, or simply encouraging them to keep learning. By walking alongside students across their formative years, Masi helps them discover that land stewardship and conservation can be a calling.
Ian Thompson, PhD, RPA, serves as the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He works with a team of dedicated colleagues to protect historic sites over a nine-state area and to support the Choctaw community in traditional culture. In off-work hours, Ian and his wife, Amy, manage Nan Awaya Farm, a working bison farm that is a hands-on experiment in 21st century Indigenous land management. The farm’s goals are to rehabilitate its native landscapes, revitalize traditional food, support Choctaw traditional culture, and provide an avenue for community to interact with a native landscape. Thompson is past president of the Oklahoma Bison Association and is a current advisor to the Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledge.