What Has She Done?
Prayer Vigil for the Earth:
The annual Prayer Vigil for the Earth which lasted for 20 years ending in 2012 took place next to the Washington Monument every fall. An icon of spirituality in our nation’s capital, people of diverse faiths, cultures, ethnic backgrounds and all ages gathered together to pray for harmony with the Earth and each other -- and to share knowledge, celebrate, and participate respectfully in multi-faith ceremonies. The Prayer Vigil, a 100 percent volunteer event, expanded each year by adding more simultaneous celebrations at various sites in the United States and throughout the world. I paricipated in the Prayer Vigil since I was about 6 or 7 with my mom. She became apart of the stering commity for the event and I would help with many of the ceremonies & help build the set up for the Vigil. Over the years I met many people who have now become like family to me. People came from all over the world from places like Guatamala, Japan, South Dakota, and more to celebrate and share in prayer and culture to pray and celebrate our Mother Earth. Being apart of the Vigil even landed me in the Washington Post when I was 8 with a picture of myself running around the labyrinth. I am proud to have been apart of such a great gathering for 20 years in honor of Mother Earth.
Native American Club:
Started the Native American Club at my high school in 2008 and it lasted until 2010 the year we graduated. I was the president and founder of the club with my best friend who is also Native American. We brought the North & South American Natives together through cultural sharing and working for unity. This club taught Fairfax High School students about Native culture. We held meetings every other Thursday with a total of 12 members. Held fundraisers at sports events to benefit Fairfax High School. Planned a Native American program at the library with dancing, singing, storytelling & crafts.
AmeriCorps NCCC:
The mission of AmeriCorps NCCC is to strengthen communities and develop leaders through team-based national and community service.
AmeriCorps is a program where you do various community & national service programs. In side of AmeriCorps there are many different programs like Vista, State & National. Vista & State are kind of similar as you are able to do AmeriCorps from your state or city. National which is what I did is called AmeriCorps NCCC and is the most recommended for kids 18-24. It’s where you get to travel, meet new people and experience new things while doing good for others. In 2010-2011 I traveled throughout the Southwestern United States to participate in service related activities. Worked with Faith Communities for Disaster Recovery in building houses and data entry in McAllen, TX. Worked with Child Life in the Children’s Play Room and the Ear, Nose & Throat room doing various art projects with kids at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Helped restore a living land museum in San Antonio, TX at the Land Heritage Institute. Worked with Denver Mountain Parks in various mountains of the parks. Helped register disaster relief volunteers in Joplin, MO.
Rural Coalition:
The Rural Coalition is a national non-profit of farmers, farm-workers, indigenous, migrant and working-people working toward a new society that values, unity, hope, people and the land. I worked at the Rural Coalition from 2011-2014 as a community fellow. Assisted with planning and executing events. I also updating website databases with field teams’ event report, and recording meeting minutes. Supported outreach campaigns to existing and potential members as well as attended congressional hearings and debates and prepared summaries for congressional members. Assisted with social media strategy, office management and other administrative duties as assigned. Reviewing credit card receipts and expense reports with ED for government accountability.
Rooted In Community:
I started working with Rooted in Community the summer of 2012 when I participated in their summer summit in Ames, Iowa. At first I didn’t know much about RIC other then that they worked a lot with youth. Once I participated in their summit and saw what RIC was all about I haven’t looked at youth conferences the same. What is Rooted In Community? It is a grass roots non-profit organization, that works on food and environmental justice issues, but their focus is on empowering the youth. It’s about giving the youth the tools they need to become leaders in their communities. Then I participated in the RIC summit in Los Angela’s, CA in 2013, where they asked me to participate in a panel on youth of color working in food justice work. After that summit in LA I was asked to become a part of the Rooted In Community Advisory Board which was amazing. I was asked at the July summit because of working with Rural Coalition at the time, my good natured spirit and my passion and commitment to the issues. I helped with the 2014 New Mexico summit and the 2015 Detroit summit which were both big hits. I love to help people its in my blood and being able to help uplift the youth of today and tomorrow to become better leaders and take their futures into there own hands is an amazing feeling.
Ecohermanas:
EcoHermanas is a community of women that weaves and reconnects communities to Mother Earth. Together we create a bold sisterhood culture of awareness, energy, and flow around place-based environmental issues, cultivating community and contributing to the greater co-fulfillment of our potential as a whole. Ecohermanas started in 2010 when in collaboration with the Bolivian Embassy and individual donations, EcoHermanas led a group of 12 Indigenous, Latino and Afro-Descendant leaders from across the United States to participate in the World People’s Conference on the Rights of Mother Earth and Climate Change in Cochabamba, Bolivia. We now do earth circle work and events in the community while supporting eachothers personal work towords Mother Earth. I am a board member and work on some of the social media.
Permaculture Certificates:
Back in 2013 I participated the Permaculture Design Course at the Accokeek Foundation in Accokeek, MD. What is permaculture you ask? Permaculture is an ecological design system for sustainability in all aspects of human endeavor. It teaches us how to build natural homes, grow our own food, restore diminished landscapes and ecosystems, catch rainwater, build communities and much more. It helps you to live a more sustainable life by teaching you how to build a small-scale farm or garden the easy way. Our teacher for our course was world-renowned permaculture specialist Wayne Weiseman. The Permaculture Institute of Australia and the World Wide Permaculture Network certified Mr. Weiseman. This was an intensive weeklong course with lectures as well as outdoor learning. We learned many different things dealing with sustaniable farming and gardining and in the end I got a certificate.
Last year I was in the woods of Western Massachusetts in the town of Rowe where I was taking a Earth Activist Training course taught by Starhawk, Charles Williams and Rushelle Frazier. What is the Earth Activist Training you might be asking? Permaculture, earth-based spirituality, organizing and activism… with Starhawk and a team of stellar teachers and designers. This was a two week course where I learned about permaculture from a spiritual lens and from a agricultural lens. I got a EAT certificate in the end and learned a lot.