Cherry Y.E.W. Yamane, MPH, is a senior research analyst for the Indigenous children, youth, and families program at Child Trends. Cherry is a Kanaka Maoli scholar-practitioner with over eight years of experience working with Indigenous communities. Their experience is grounded in land-based, cultural practices, and drawing on ancestral wisdom as a source of healing and thriving. Their scope of public health practice ranges from CBPR, mixed-methodologies, mental and behavioral health, substance use, harm-reduction, trauma-informed care, positive youth development, to Traditional Ecological Knowledge and climate justice. 

Educationally, Cherry holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health, minor in sociology and certificate in Hawaiian language from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. They also hold a Master of Public Health, with a specialization in Community-Oriented Public Health Practice from the University of Washington where they dedicated themselves to the creation of a community-based, culturally driven intervention aimed at addressing mental and behavioral health concerns among Hawaiian youth, adolescents, and families.  

Cherry is currently pursuing a PhD in Indigenous Health at the University of North Dakota to continue their work in connecting youth with the land and cultural practices as a deliberate act of cultural sovereignty, self-determination, and resistance.