Danielle Frank

2024 California Native Youth Ambassador

Hupa and Yurok

Danielle Frank (she/her) is from the Hupa and Yurok tribes, located in Northern California. She has been deeply involved in the cultural and political aspects of her community from a very early age. Born during the beginning of a 20 year resistance to un-dam the Klamath River led by her tribal communities, Danielle grew up learning from strong Indigenous activists.

Inheriting the knowledge of how to fight for her community from those who came before her, Danielle has never known a life without activism. Starting by creating clubs for Native high school students to begin to understand water policy and how they too could influence decisions made regarding their homelands, participating in the creation of Indigenized curriculum and leading efforts to build sustainable programs to introduce Native youth to the climate justice fight. She is currently working as the Native Youth Coordinator for the organization Native Americans in Philanthropy, using her experience with grassroots organizing to help make more funding available for Indigenous communities through the development of young Native leaders. She is also a board member for Rios to Rivers and the developmental coordinator for Paddle Tribal Waters, where she works both in her local community providing resources for Native youth and globally advocating for environmental justice. In 2022 Danielle was named Miss Na:tini-xwe’ of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, serving as a role model for young Native Women and as a Cultural Ambassador for the Hupa people.