Born and raised on the south side of Chicago to biracial parents I acquired an early inner resiliency from meeting the challenges and cultural complexities of my upbringing. From my Sicilian father, I learned to use storytelling and humor to navigate the tensions of street life. From my Mexican Indian mother I learned strength and consistency in the face of extreme adversity, and from my grandmother, I learned how to pray. Early in life, I was drawn to philosophy and world religions. By age sixteen I started asking questions about the nature of reality. My greatest teacher was the earth itself and my life experience was the classroom. From this point on I consciously developed my leadership abilities so as to help people realize their own truth, self-authority, and self-sovereignty.
I am psychology graduate from University of California at Santa Cruz. After graduation, I spent almost ten years in program development and management for community advocacy agencies. During this time I simultaneously lived my commitment to the Medicine Way. I saw daily life and ceremonial life as inseparable and noticed how people struggled to apply their own inner reverence to daily life. Why do people hide their spiritual lives? A desire was born. Since this time I have been teaching people how to bridge the spiritual and the mundane, and bringing Medicine Way tools and practices to communities and teams of people for the sake of creating a shift in consciousness toward collective thinking. We are one Tribe and stronger when we work together. I have stood by this truth for almost twenty-five years, and the result for the people and communities I’ve worked with has been the dramatic transformation.
In recent years I have designed and implemented leadership curricula for Kaospilots, a social entrepreneur school in Bern, Switzerland. With my guidance, the Kaospilots school has successfully combined the Medicine Way and innovative principles of social change so that each graduate truly embodies the consciousness of global citizenry. I became a certified Council Guide Training Master Educator after spending three years in a full-time apprenticeship with WhiteEagle Woman, a wisdom keeper of the Delicate Lodge Teachings. I am also a certified yoga instructor and I work with yoga studios to enhance the quality and depth of their missions. When I’m not guiding groups of people through transformational processes, you can find me outside by the ocean or eating popcorn with a friend at the movies.
