Shana Inofuentes (Aymara and Ashkenazi) is an Indigenous art activist who revels in communication that inspires joy and justice. She earned a Master of Arts degree from Georgetown University in Communication, Culture, and Technology, and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College, Columbia University. 

She is a proud daughter of the Bolivian immigrant community of metro Washington, D.C.—the largest Quechua and the largest Bolivian community in the U.S., with approximately 300,000 people. A communications strategist by profession, Shana recently launched Ch’ama: Native Americas, an Indigenous consulting firm and a hub for creative material by Native Andean artists, tailored for the diaspora. Ch’ama is the only provider in the U.S. of Certified Professional translations between Aymara, Quechua, and English.

She founded and is President of The Quechua Project, “a novel, 21st century approach to addressing linguistic oppression and Native erasure,”1 using social media activism for Quechua language revitalization among her community’s youth.

After the passing of her Aymara-speaking grandmother in Bolivia, Shana became acutely aware of Native language loss ramifications. Recognizing the potential for this same loss among friends in her predominantly Quechua (Qulla) community, she sought partners to turn the tide. Shana feels compelled to give back to her community by building a future where youth like her son, Amichai, can thrive without sacrificing their identity, a luxury their ancestors did not have.