I am a Social Imagineer who is dedicated to creating networks of care and liveable futures, through creative practice, somatics and organisational development. I work as a writer, facilitator, consultant and curator across the realms of embodied social justice, grief, harm reduction and the arts.

I cross pollinate ideas and approaches from various fields, whilst weaving in trauma informed, care based practices. Alongside my visionary imagination, I am able to inspire and support people and organisations to build new infrastructure that can support liveable futures. 

For me the journey is as important as the end-goal. I prioritise weaving in pleasure, body awareness and rest into working practices. One of my strengths is my holistic and interdisciplinary approach. 

An experience that changed me

In the summer of 2020, I lost my home to a house fire. This experience was pivotal as it forced me to slow down and re-evaluate everything. My bodymind was in shock and high stress, also impacted by many cycles of burn out which had depleted me over the years. I focused on nervous system support to recover and I pared back my work as much as possible, which included closing down my social enterprise – the Collective Liberation Project. I became certified in the Resilience Toolkit – a somatic modality to reduce stress and increase capacity to change the conditions that create harm. This process supported me to learn what rest can feel like and begin to prioritise that in my daily life. It also was an opportunity to reach out for community support and feel the care of the people in my community. This experience has taught me that care networks are essential for survival. We cannot thrive in isolation.

Since then, I have continued to focus on growing cultures and relationships that support the changes we would like to see in our world. This journey led me to becoming the Director of Ecologies of Transformation, a temporary masters programme researching how art making and embodiment can create social change.

My background

In 2014 I graduated with BA International Relations at The University of Sussex which gave me a strong foundation in understanding global power relations, colonisation and neoliberalism. My experience at Sussex and desire for more embodied forms of activism led me to California where I was introduced to somatics, restorative justice (in my job as a youth worker), clowning and the radical Black, Queer, femme led organising of Black Lives Matter.

When I moved back to the UK in 2016, I felt inspired to share some of the wisdom and approaches that had shaped me in California. To do this, I established the Collective Liberation Project (CLP), an organisation teaching anti racist practice alongside embodied mindfulness techniques. This approach focused on acknowledging that emotions and bodily sensations are gateways to understanding how oppression functions and is maintained in our everyday, non verbal interactions with each other. CLP operated for five years, offering public workshops, talks, training for organisations in the arts and non profit sector, as well as consultancy. A central feature of this work involved defining key terms, exploring how colonisation functioned and how its legacies live on today. It is important to articulate issues and understand historically how we arrived at this moment. However, it is also important to tend what we wish to see in the world. I decided to shift my energies towards growing networks and practices that support liveable futures. This project has anti racist practice inherently embedded within by necessity; so my learning from CLP has not been lost, it has simply transformed. 

Some Ancestors & people that Inspire my work

 

  • Sobonfu Somé & Malidoma Somé
  • adrienne maree brown
  • The Combahee River Collective
  • bell hooks
  • Rae Johnson
  • Staci Haines
  • David Graeber
  • Oguntola Sapara
  • Rupa Marya & Raj Patel
  • Bernie Grant
  • Biomimicry & Mycelial networks 

Qualifications

  • BA International Relations – The University of Sussex
  • Restorative Justice, Level 1 Circle Keeping –RJOY, Oakland, California
  • Certified in The Resilience Toolkit 
  • 200 hour Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training

My Vision & Values

  •  I grow networks and practices that support liveable futures. 
  • Values :: Curiosity, humility, compassion.
  • In these times, it feels necessary to resist urgency and move at the speed of trust. 
  • We all have a role to play in creating a more beautiful world. When we tap into our agency and use our gifts in collaboration with others, we can wield a great deal of power.  
  • In order to create social change, we must embody cultures of care and practice behaviours that are aligned with the values we would like to see in the world.