I’ve traveled the world long before I could walk. Born to TWA employees, the world was always just outside of a moving window, in a steaming cup of koshari on the street, or between the cracks of an ancient pyramid. Before I could speak, I’d hear multiple languages around me. In the foreground was English and Spanish, from parents that represented two different hemispheres and two different religions. I was born in the US and spent many vacations with my family in Chile.
In high school I studied Spanish and classical guitar in Salamanca, Spain. In college, I studied abroad focusing on Sinology in Kunming, China. By 20, I was hopping around continents by myself, grieving the loss of my father who felt closer to me on a plane more than anything else.
I felt the call to return to his roots and firmly plant my own feet. So, over the course of 12 years in Chile, I founded and ran a cultural and ecological center, hosting hundreds of local and international volunteers to produce events, festivals, workshops, internships and courses. I worked in the micro-finance non-profit sector to use entrepreneurship as a tool to alleviate poverty, grocery stores to change sourcing and innovate with regenerative principles, and ecological non-profits to create systems of mutual aid. I designed and administered an art residency to bring artists from the global north to the global south to learn, gather inspiration, and cultivate meaningful connection. I was also the director of an international exchange school, helping to place European students into internships and volunteering programs while they became proficient in Spanish and the local culture.
All the while, I stayed connected with the global north, studying and supporting the facilitation of transformational experiences in the area of social justice, regeneration, food justice, female empowerment, community, and meaning making.
All this to say, I love people, creating community across the globe (ask me about Best Friend Network!), sharing resources and empowering others to walk with purpose and belonging. I consider myself to be a weaver of context and culture, looking to regenerate a fertile soil for a thriving and interdependent social ecosystem, by bridging the gap between important change agents of South and North America that envision a world where we overcome the existential threat of racism and climate crisis. Coaching and facilitation are my tools. There’s nothing more powerful than knowing who you are and being willing to take action from an authentic place. I’m here to help these bridge builders to listen to the song of their heart as they traverse these landscapes.