Kumiko Hayashi is a filmmaker and founder of Kako Earth, a nonprofit that supports Indigenous-led cultural and ecological regeneration across the Americas. She has lived and worked with Indigenous communities from North to South America for over a decade, focusing on land defense, ancestral wisdom, and spiritual resilience. Her films include Women of the White Buffalo and The Roots Awaken, and she currently lives in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where she co-leads a cultural and ecological healing center.