Champions for Change
Remembering Our Sisters
Brave Heart
California Native Youth Collective
Building Communities of Hope
Creative Native
Democracy is Indigenous
Sophia Madrigal (she/her) is an enrolled member of the Cahuilla Band of Indians and of Turtle Mountain Chippewa descent. She is currently an undergraduate at Harvard University, concentrating in English and Psychology.
Sophia’s artistic endeavors, which center on Indigenous storytelling and cultural preservation, have reached national audiences, including performances at Yale University, the California State Capitol and the United Nations. She is the recipient of the 2023 Yale University Misty Upham Award for Young Native Actors and was named a 2022 Orange County Artist of the Year Theater Finalist. Additionally, she has served as a CNAY ambassador for the California Native Youth Collective and an intern for Assemblymember James Ramos.
As the founder and co-director of the Luke Madrigal Indigenous Storytelling Nonprofit, Sophia has directed, produced, and performed in Menil and Her Heart, an original Cahuilla play addressing the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons. Sophia is also the writer and director of Dragonfly and Wildflower: Indigenous Spirit, the latter of which, rooted in Anishinaabe storytelling, was honored with the Girl Scouts USA Gold Award in Orange County. In 2024, Sophia received the Ms. Foundation Free to Be You and Me Award, presented on behalf of Gloria Steinem, for her leadership in Indigenous arts advocacy.
About Sophia’s Project
Sophia used her platform as a 2025 Remembering Our Sisters Fellow to build on the success of the theatrical production of Menil and Her Heart. After each performance at more than 15 venues nationwide, the actors held a 30-minute talkback, allowing for audience interaction and community healing. In 2022, they performed for the California State Legislature – ultimately inspiring legislation to help combat the global MMIP crisis. Given the ongoing success of this model, Sophia wrote and directed a film version of the story (currently in post-production).
Sophia and her team have submitted their film to numerous festivals, even sparking some early interest in a feature-length production. As part of the National Day of Theater Readings for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives, organized by Native Performing Arts Network for May 2026, Sophia has been invited to contribute to the Boston Playwrights Theatre‘s annual Boston Theater Marathon.