Samai is a Quechua word meaning breath, essence, or spirit. When I joined lives with my partner, we took up the name suggested by our Otavaleña friend to embody shared values around honoring the sacred planet, being global citizens, standing for gender equality, and living purpose-driven lives.
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My skill-building as a mindful facilitator began when I had the fortune to learn Vipassana (Vee PAH Sa Na) insight meditation as a 4-year-old, before kindergarten! I began my journey in justice work as a working class immigrant teen at a Silicon Valley High School in the 90s, later participating in student and women of color spaces in college to learn from liberation movement builders such as Angela Davis, Grace Lee Boggs, Yuri Kochiyama, and Vandana Shiva. (I know! Such badasses!) I gained an aptitude for system and pattern thinking through a combination of oppression analysis, a pre-med major, and a Religious Identity minor. 
 
I earned a Master of Science in Organizational Management and Transformative Leadership from an international school that prides itself on 1) a justice lens and 2) practitioner teachers, who are all in the field learning alongside us. I am also certified in advanced facilitation, experiential training, community mediation, conflict transformation, restorative justice, ecological model of leadership, human system design, motivational interviewing, Conversational Intelligence® by the late Judith Glaser, and Brené Brown's Dare to Lead™ Facilitator Training. I apparently like homework so I am in the process of getting a PhD, with research on cultural colonialism and decolonizing efforts in Western Buddhist practitioner spaces, teacher development, and organizations. 
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With over 20 years of experience in social impact, I have gained some grounded expertise in shaping bold conversations in areas such as educational equity, diversity and inclusion, social justice, gender justice, climate and environmental justice, trust recovery, client experience, team dysfunction, collective impact strategy planning, program and service design, family and community engagement, collaborative partnerships, knowledge management, and organizational culture. 
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Fun Fact: I also co-founded Seedles, LLC aka Grow the Rainbow (think Skittles), which inspires kids (and their grown-ups) to positively impact the planet they are inheriting. The project has made possible the growth of millions of wildflowers for pollinators across the US through collective action. In 2017 I was recognized by Congresswoman Jackie Speier for being an immigrant entrepreneur. Check out www.GrowTheRainbow.com for a video of seedballs dropping from a plane!
 
I have lived, studied, or traveled in 6 continents and identify as a global citizen. As a mom of two, my primary professional mission is to make the world a safer, kinder, fairer place for all children. I swim, hike, dance, yoga, cook, play pickleball, and karaoke to be the joy I wish to see in the world.