Indigenous Futures Society was pleased to welcome this February new Board Member Maria Azhunova.

Maria Azhunova is a Buryat-Mongol Indigenous conservationist from the Lake Baikal region in Siberia, of Ekhirit and Sagaan/Khongoodor clans. Sacred to Buryat-Mongolian peoples, Lake Baikal is known as a living ancestor and source of life and is celebrated as a sibling lake to Lake Tahoe, reflecting an ancient kinship between waters, Indigenous Peoples, and mountain ecosystems across continents.

Since childhood, Maria has helped organize international Indigenous cultural exchanges, building bridges between Elders, youth, and cultural practitioners across regions and generations. She holds an AA from Foothill College, a BA from Harvard University, and a Masters in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge.

Maria served as a Consultant with Snow Leopard Conservancy and Director of the Land of Snow Leopard (LOSL) Network, an award-winning initiative that bridges Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western science. Working alongside Indigenous Cultural Practitioners across Central and Inner Asia, she supports the revitalization of traditional knowledge rooted in the sacred relationship between people, totemic snow leopards, and mountain ecosystems. She is a member and coordinator of the World Union of Indigenous Spiritual Practitioners (WUISP) and a lifelong member of the Arigun Dalai Union—Hereditary Guardians of Baikal.