Amy Bowers Cordalis is a devoted advocate for Indigenous rights and environmental restoration. A member of the Yurok Tribe and ceremony family from the village of Rek-Woi at the mouth of the Klamath River, she is a fisherwoman, attorney, and mother deeply rooted in the traditions of her people.
As co-founder and executive director of the Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group, she leads efforts to support tribes in protecting their sovereignty, lands, and waters, including the historic Klamath Dam Removal project—one of the world’s largest river restoration and dam removal initiatives.
Former general counsel for the Yurok Tribe and an attorney at the Native American Rights Fund, Cordalis has been honored as a UN Champion of the Earth and a TIME 100 climate leader and as a L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth. She is also the author of the newly released book The Water Remembers.