Téana David

Téana David is the Executive Director of the Illuminate Film Festival, dedicated to bringing about personal and planetary transformation through cinema. She is also a writer, producer, and life-long environmental activist working at the intersection of ecology, spirituality, and social justice. Her recent short films and environmental messaging campaigns have featured Txai Surui, Lisa Bonet, Morgan Freeman, Barbara Streisand, Wagner Moura, Frances Fisher, Rosario Dawson, Bill Pullman, Fran Dresher, and many others. She is the former Co-Director of The Shift Your World Film Festival and served as the Impact Producer for the 10-episode series, Changing of the Gods. Téana has also worked as an actor and on-camera host, appearing in socially and ecologically-focused projects for Canadian TV: 10 episodes of Take Off Again!, directed by Hilary Jones-Farrow and Kids for Sale for The National Film Board of Canada.

Téana curates and conducts interviews with contemporary wisdom keepers from around the world as the director of the online video library, Circle of Wisdom. Previously, she served as the director of Deepak Chopra's NYC center, Deepak Homebase, where she designed and produced a year-round lecture series with spiritual, environmental, and social justice leaders such as Vandana Shiva, Brené Brown, Marianne Williamson, Paul Hawken, Eve Ensler, Chase IronEyes, and many others. Téana has apprenticed in herbal medicine with Susun Weed, trained in soil advocacy with Kiss the Ground, and holds an MFA from Naropa University in Contemporary Performance.