ALTADENA, CA — December 15, 2025 — The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy (TTPC) is honored to announce the appointment of Ravena Feather Soto as its new Executive Director, marking an important step in the organization’s long-term vision for Indigenous-led stewardship, cultural revitalization, and community-rooted governance.
Huhuunga—a one-acre parcel in Altadena returned to Tongva people in 2022, the first land returned to the community in nearly 200 years—is the heart of TTPC’s work, where the Conservancy is restoring ecological balance, revitalizing ceremony, and strengthening community connection after generations of displacement.
Soto is an enrolled member of the Estom Yumeka Maidu Indians of the Enterprise Rancheria and a lineal descendant of the Tongva Gabrielino. Speaking about her appointment, she shared: “I am honored to join the TTPC and contribute to a mission that centers restoration and healing, and uplifts cultural strengths. The most impactful and sustainable change occurs when decision-making comes from within the communities served, and through my previous work, I have fully come to understand how essential Native-led organizations are to addressing needs in ways that honor and respect our values and lived realities. I am committed to supporting the Tongva community in strengthening relationships with land, culture, and one another, and ensuring this work continues long after us.”
Soto brings extensive experience in Tribal public health, cultural revitalization, youth leadership, and sovereignty-centered policy development. She has led statewide initiatives supporting Tribal Nations across California, including programs focused on environmental protection, health equity, youth empowerment, and culturally grounded education. Her background spans Tribal governance support, facilitation, curriculum development, program oversight, and partnership building.
Her selection follows a community-guided, values-based hiring process centered on cultural accountability, relational leadership, and alignment with Tongva community priorities.
Soto’s leadership arrives at a pivotal time for TTPC. Since the return of Huhuunga, the Conservancy has restored ceremonial spaces, including the newly constructed Yobagnar (ceremonial circle), implemented Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)-guided restoration that helped protect the land during the Eaton Fire, and—most significantly—supported the return of Tongva ceremony to ancestral homelands for the first time in over 180 years. These milestones reflect the transformative impact of the land’s return and the momentum shaping this next chapter.
Wallace Cleaves, Board President of the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy, shared: “Ravena’s leadership represents a meaningful step forward for our community and for the responsibilities we hold at Huhuunga. Her grounding in both Tongva lineage and Maidu community life brings a perspective that honors our ancestors while guiding us toward a future rooted in respect, relationality, and reciprocity. She embodies the values that define TTPC — humility, cultural integrity, and community-rooted decision making. We are grateful to welcome her into this role and look forward to walking together in this next chapter of stewardship, healing, and cultural resurgence. Her leadership will help ensure that Huhuunga remains a place of ceremony, balance, and cultural strength for generations to come.”
Soto will begin on December 15, participate in the Winter Solstice gathering, and join the community for the December 17 “Rooted in Altadena” webinar.
About the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy
The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy is a Tongva-led nonprofit dedicated to stewarding, protecting, and rematriating Tongva homelands. Through the stewardship of Huhuunga, TTPC works to restore ecological balance, revitalize ceremony and cultural practice, and strengthen community relationships rooted in ancestral responsibility, sovereignty, and care.