Labdien, and welcome. My name is Maija Danilova West (formerly Maija Danilova Blaufuss). I am a dual citizen of Latvia and the United States, and my work is deeply informed by the cultural lineage of my mother’s family.

My mother, Laima Danilovs, fled the occupations of Latvia by both Russian and German forces during the Second World War and eventually resettled in California as a displaced person. Her people come from the Gauja River region and the lands near Aloja, north of Cēsis. The Latvian peoples are land-based cultures who have endured centuries of foreign occupation while maintaining language, traditions, and ways of relating to the natural world.

Today I live in California as a settler on the unceded lands of the Salinan, Chalon, and Ohlone Peoples. My work is part of an ongoing effort to recover cultural knowledge that was disrupted through war, displacement, and assimilation, and to share what I have learned through my own lineage recovery for others walking similar paths.

Raised within the traditions of my mother’s Latvian heritage, I learned early that leadership is inseparable from relationships, ritual, and responsibility to community and land. Over the past twenty-five years, I have carried these teachings into my professional life while working across complex systems of governance and leadership.

My background includes extensive training as an attorney, systems thinker, and leadership development specialist. I have served as a trusted advisor to nonprofits, foundations, Tribal governments, businesses, and public institutions, supporting leaders as they navigate governance, conflict, and large-scale organizational change. Much of my work focuses on helping institutions move beyond extractive models of leadership toward approaches grounded in dignity, accountability, and long-term stewardship.

I am the founder and managing partner of Maija West Consulting, where I support leaders and organizations in developing healthy governance systems, strengthening leadership culture, and resolving conflict through reconciliation-based approaches. I also co-founded the Healing and Reconciliation Institute, which advances peacemaking practices and supports the restoration of relationships across communities.

Across all of my work, I am particularly committed to advancing women’s leadership and restoring pathways for matriarchal wisdom to inform modern governance and community life.

My book, Matriarch Makeover: A 30-Day Invitation, reflects many of the lessons from this journey. It offers a practical pathway for women to reconnect with lineage, develop self-leadership, and cultivate the cultural grounding needed to lead families, organizations, and communities during times of profound change.

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