Where Our Soul Is Seen
The fellowship will run for a total of 12 months, October 2021 – September 2022. The program will include an online kickoff retreat followed by nine monthly sessions divided into three sections each covering one of the leadership domains: relationship with self, organizational change, and movement building. The last three months will be devoted to a collective project of the cohort’s choosing and to meeting with mentors (mature and successful faith leaders of color doing justice).
To achieve the covenantal network that we propose, we will create relational agreements with the group at the beginning of the cohort and evaluate periodically. Further, each monthly session will incorporate embodied spiritual practices such as breath prayers and somatic storytelling to connect participants with themselves and with one another. Ultimately, this space should be one where our soul is seen and celebrated by others so that our contributions to justice efforts can be whole.
The fellowship will happen in the year coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, so we will treat this as a re-entry space where people can imagine new ways of relating with the organizations and movements in which they participate. To do this well, we will allow time for guided discussion. We are also providing a $1,500 grant to each participant for self-care/healing activities that will nourish them as they integrate into post-pandemic life.
Each fellow will also have access to a $5,000 accelerator mini grant to support a project they are already leading or plan to lead. A description of said project will be required for approval and disbursement of funds. A report upon completion of the project will also be required within the 12-months of the program. Projects must directly advance advocacy, organizing, and/or movement building in approved areas of justice including immigration, climate and environmental justice, gender justice, non-violence and peace, voting rights, racial justice, and economic justice.
After the fellowship ends, participants will become part of an ongoing network of support, resourcing, and celebration.
Timeline
Program Elements
Monthly spport cohort meetings:
Mentorship:
Retreats:
Mini-grants:
Soul care grants:
Communal project grant
Program Leadership
Sandy Ovalle
Berenice Soto
Alina Ortiz
Sandy Ovalle Martínez is the campaigns and mobilizing director at Sojourners. She has worked in immigration legal services, refugee resettlement, and church mobilization around immigrant rights. Sandy brings seven years of experience in leadership development. She has designed intensive leadership development institutes and evaluated and written organizational policy to create a more just and inclusive environment for employees. Sandy is a table-setter and space curator. Currently, she convenes the Antepasadas in the Making group, a community of Latina women reclaiming their ancestral connections and seeking healing together. Her podcast on the intersection of healing, faith, and justice, Café with Comadres will be released in September 2021.
Two leaders will be joining the project as grant administrators and coaches for the mini-grant development. Bernice Soto is a program coordinator and community builder who has 8 years of experience mentoring and coaching Latinx college students to live out their faith and impact their campuses and communities. She has also served as a facilitator and executive with the Lenses Group, a platform that helps leaders grow in cross-cultural understanding.
Alina Ortiz Salvatierra is a cultural worker focused on community education and wellness. They have organized and facilitated with multiple organizations and non-profits. They are also a cranio sacral therapist and value collective healing in their work. Alina and Bernice served as grant administrators for the Semester of Justice Grant the Open Society Foundation granted to the Kaleidoscope Institute.
Elders and Community Leaders
Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra
