I facilitate workshops on subjects related to internalized oppression, self-care as practice of freedom, finding a social change job path outside of the non-profit industrial complex, and issues related to the intersections of race, gender, class and queerness. All of my workshops offer practical tools and aim to cause immediate shifts in perspective and behavior. In addition, I aim to make my workshops accessible to as many types of learning styles as possible and integrate visual, auditory and kinaesthetic facilitation techniques to do so. I particularly love to integrate Theatre of the Oppressed, yoga and mindfulness into my workshops. My workshops are geared towards, but not limited to, the experiences of people of color and queer and trans* people.

All workshops can be designed and tailored to meet your specific learning communities’ needs. I prefer to tailor workshops to your specific community. Examples of past workshops include:

Seeing Ourselves Free: Using Theatre of the Oppressed to envision radical QTBIPoC* communities of care

Stress, overwhelm, anxiety, depression, panic, trauma reactions. As QTBIPoC, these are very real and normal reactions to our current political and social climate. When faced with challenging emotions in the face of systemic oppression and our own personal struggles it can feel overwhelming to figure out how to make things better for ourselves and others. We often become focused on the ways we feel stuck and overwhelmed, rather than focused on a vision to help us through the suffering. Gloria Anzaldúa said, “The struggle has always been inner, and is played out in outer terrains. Awareness of our situation must come before inner changes, which in turn come before changes in society. Nothing happens in the ‘real’ world unless it first happens in the images in our heads.” In this participatory workshop, we will use Image Theatre to explore what gets in the way of our wellness in the face of oppression and how we can move forward to create the communities of care that we need RIGHT NOW. You do not need any theatre experience to participate. You simply need to be willing to participate. This workshop is for QTBIPoC only.

Self-care beyond baths and breathing: Creating a radical vision of love, freedom and community care for women of color who do anti-violence work

Simply put: doing work in the anti-violence field is hard. It is not hard because of the amazing survivors we work with. It is hard because of the institutions/systems we work in. How can our efforts at self-care be sufficient when the environments in which we work undermine the work we’ve done to care for ourselves each day? What other options do we have? How can we continue to feel inspired and alive in our work? In this participatory workshop, we will use Theatre of the Oppressed to explore what gets in the way of doing our work in a way that feels sustainable, and also, create a radically different vision for how to change this.

Internalized oppression:

In a society layered with multiple forms of oppression and injustice it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and unsure about what action to take. Often times we become consumed with calling out the oppression we see around us, while neglecting to address the ways that we perpetuate harm against others and ourselves. We get trapped in taking action to change the world outside of us, without taking any action to change ourselves. We lack awareness of the internal “cops” that police our thoughts and actions, preventing us from healing from harm and taking responsibility for the harm we cause others. Audre Lorde said, “The true focus of revolutionary change is never merely the oppressive situations that we seek to escape, but that piece of the oppressor which is planted deep within each of us.” During this workshop we will use discussion, interactive exercises and guided meditation to examine and liberate ourselves from internalized oppression, in order to change our reality, our lives, and the society in which we live.

Social Change and Coming Alive:

Civil rights leader, theologian, philosopher and author, Howard Thurman said, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Many times we get stuck in trying to figure out how we can live a life we love, while engaging in social justice work. This workshop helps participants identify their areas of passion, barriers to following their passion and immediate actions that can be taken to live a life one loves, while engaging in social change.