Cyndy Garcia- Weyandt

She is a distinguished educator, linguist, and cultural advocate with a deep commitment to Indigenous language revitalization and arts-based education, currently serving as Assistant Professor at Kalamazoo College, where she teaches and mentors students in the arts and humanities. She also serves as Indigenous Language Arts Teacher for the Taniuki Project and Language Coordinator for the Programa de revitalización-Wixárika, working to preserve and revitalize the Wixárika language and cultural heritage in Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. Her academic career includes serving as Arts Initiative Coordinator and Graduate Teaching Fellow at UCLA, where she earned her PhD in Culture and Performance and a Master's degree in World Arts and Culture. She is also actively involved in volunteering as Project Development Coordinator for the Programa de Revitalización de la Lengua Wixárika and as a Tutor at El Concilio. She is recognized as a passionate, dedicated, and culturally responsive educator and advocate who is deeply committed to language preservation, Indigenous empowerment, and the transformative power of the arts in education and community building.