I was a participant in OEI in Fall 2021 and am excited to join the community again as a Program Assistant! I am a Black Puerto Rican queer woman born and raised in San Francisco and Oakland. I am currently a high school Ethnic Studies and science teacher in Oakland, where I aim to build loving, creative and empowering learning spaces where students can ask lots of questions and gain a deeper understanding of their identities, their assets, their histories and the systems that they navigate through everyday. OEI inspired me to continue growing as a healing-centered facilitator, as a teacher and a person. Since my time as a participant, I have been focused on leading more, reading more, learning about ecology, and have continued to bike, camp and spend as much time outside as possible.