I’ve worked with a lot of different personalities, across diverse efforts and spaces. I hold a bachelor's degree in Psychology, and a minor/certificate in Holistic Health Studies from San Francisco State. My fascination with the challenges and opportunities of human collaboration is what led me to attain my master’s degree in Organizational Development (OD) and Change from Sonoma State. It was here that I learned fascinating and powerful tools that could bring people together through open dialogue, systems thinking, and collaborative action. How do people work through conflict effectively? How do people come to consensus together? Create together?

Instead of applying OD in the corporate world to help organizations increase their profit margins, I wanted to harness these learnings experiences to liberate the creative energy in activist spaces, nonprofits, and public institutions that serve the commons. It was during this time that I started consulting for campus departments within Sonoma State and nonprofits, while also integrating my insights into my work in public education.

For 7+ years, I worked in the public school systems of San Francisco and Marin County, CA serving youth in many non-traditional forms—teaching yoga and mindfulness, and mentoring at-risk youth with trauma and intensive emotional needs in inner-city schools impacted by poverty, violence, and systemic inequity. At a public high school in the Bay Area, CA, I ran a wellness center and regularly taught stress management skills, conflict resolution skills, and health education.

At this high school, I also served as the Restorative Justice Coordinator—bringing youth, families, police officers, school staff and administrators together to help heal fractures and conflicts in the community. I mentored and advocated for youth impacted by the juvenile hall system, while also empowering them to envision and create the changes they wanted to see within their schools. I facilitated community circles in classrooms and in private settings to address tough issues like school violence, bullying, substance use, youth suicide, the role of school police, sexual abuse, the impact of social media and technology, and much more—offering a restorative approach as an alternative to the traditional punitive system that often results in suspensions, expulsions, and further disconnection from each other. This disconnection deepens a culture of silence, where important issues remain stuck, unresolved, and in the hands of those in power (vs. the commons).

My work wasn’t just for the youth. I began facilitating meaningful experiences for all-staff meetings to bring different departments together and empower the staff to imagine better systems. I mediated deep conflicts between the teacher’s union and the superintendent’s office. Yet the most rewarding experience of practicing restorative justice in a school setting was the power of building community. People bloom and open up in beautiful ways when they’re seen, heard, and acknowledged. And the whole system changes for the good as a result. In this role, I learned that it’s not our differences that divide us. It’s the judgment about our differences. I'm certain that a better way of relating to each other is not only possible but necessary, especially in the face of the most controversial and divisive topics.

At San Francisco State University, I co-facilitated the Holistic Health internship in the Holistic Health Studies program. This program focused on the Season for Nonviolence, a global grassroots campaign dedicated to building on the power of a nonviolent mass movement to awaken consciousness within activism—practicing principles, values, and skills in 3 areas: Self: personal growth and transformation; Social: fostering meaningful and intelligent relationships; and World: aligning culture with nature and fostering collective awakening and a world that works for all life. “Nonviolence” is a rough translation of the Sanskrit term ahimsa, the power that comes into effect when the desire to harm is eliminated—becoming increasingly free from fear and transforming "us” vs. "them" in thought and action. Watch my inspiring interview with nonviolence and restorative justice leader Kazu Haga for more.

I also work with Project Censored, a nonprofit dedicated to critical media literacy skill building, educating on the dangers of propaganda and censorship, and advocating for independent media to strengthen media democracy. It was here that I co-created the Constructive Journalism and Mindful Media Movement, which calls for a reinvention of media and journalism, engages people across political and cultural lines, and emphasizes solutions and collective power. I am involved with Safe Tech International, a movement that advocates for balanced and wise use of technology. I am the co-founder for Restorative Practices Integration Associates, a consulting business for schools, organizations, and communities.