Shannon Rivers, Speaker

Shannon Rivers is a member of the Akimel O’otham (River People) Nation. Shannon was born and raised on the Gila River Indian Community located in the southern state of Arizona. He is an Indigenous Peoples human rights activist speaking on Indigenous movements and the fight for the rights of Indigenous Peoples. His focus has been on the immigration and migration of Indigenous Peoples into the state of Arizona and throughout the United States. Shannon served as a delegate and participant at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for nearly a decade, and from 2008 – 2010 Shannon served as Co-chair for the Global Indigenous Peoples Caucus at the UN. Shannon has conducted and hosted lectures on the United Nation Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) at the State Capital of Arizona and for numerous universities, and colleges nationally and internationally. Currently Shannon is a Native American spiritual leader and cultural advisor to the Indigenous inmate population in the state, federal, tribal, and private prisons in Arizona and California, and a Co-Chair for the Underserved Cultural Committee (UsCC) for the Dept. of Mental Health Los Angeles. Shannon received his BS from Northern Arizona University and his MA from the University of California, Los Angeles.