OUR TEAM

Grisanti Avendaño

Grisanti Valencia (Ita Kwaan)  is a flower of gold from everywhere and nowhere. Originally from Oaxaca , Mexico and resides in her adopted home in Fresno, CA . She grew up as the odd old soul as the middle child of her familia. She brings 10 years of organizing experience in the valley . While youth organizing at Californians For Justice she saw the need to bring healing to all of our communities and she along other dope individuals that became family co-founded the Central Valley Healing Collective. She writes poetry from personal experiences focused on her childhood and the Oaxaqueño culture. You can find her having family time and hanging around Fresno with her furbaby Flicka, attending poetry nights and building a future centered on Love . 

Angela PAULA hERNANDEz

(She/her/hers)

Angela Paula Hernandez is a Mexican-American who was born and raised in Fresno, ca. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who currently works in community mental health helping others navigate severe mental health, barriers to secure housing, systemic injustice, and attachment styles. As a mental health professional Angela also identifies the limitations to providing holistic healing and is an active learner and support for those who want to expand their knowledge on decolonized practices in the mental health field. 

Jasmine akins

My name is Jasmine Atkins and I am African American and Indigenous Native of the Chiricahua and Kiowa Apache tribs. I am a collage graduate with my bachelors degree in sociology from California State University Fresno. I find great joy in working with youth in my community, either voluntarily and in my current job position working within a Afterschool program in Merced county. Being able to contribute to my community by bringing a sense of connection through youth outreach, healing resources such a collaborating in Healing Clinics, or community ceremony, are passions of mine that I feel can help to bring the Central Valley closer together and continue a cycle of unity that our communities are in need of.

Marsha Hawkins

Marsha is a first generation  Chicana, Associate Marriage and Family Therapist. Her passion and love for her community have continuously led her to work in community  mental health. Marsha specializes in infant  mental health,  dialectical behavioral therapy, child parent psychotherapy, all while understanding the impact of trauma on a family's  well-being. As a mental health practitioner,  Marsha works  to bridge the gap between  social justice  and mental health, integrating  healing from intergenerational  and racial trauma in her daily work, while supporting people  of color to reclaim their  inner wisdom and ancestral healing practices.

Adrianna “boo” Sorondo

Adrianna is a mixed-media artist, anthropologist, and naturalista from the Highway City barrio of Fresno, CA. Rooted in a holistic practice (playfulness) of healing, learning, unlearning, and re-remembering, Sorondo centers plants, gardens, and art intentions as ways of decolonizing her own wellness journey. An integral part of Adrianna’s work is to share knowledge her elder and youth comrades have shown her, with other community members. Sorondo’s work extends throughout the Central Valley in a multitude of ways: from acknowledging the original stewards of the land, learning alongside Yokut youth on organic farms, starting holistic garden programming for incarcerated youth in Fresno County’s Juvenile Justice Campus, painting murals, to helping create a commissary kitchen for low-income/migrant/diasporic women of color, food entrepreneurs. Adrianna is guided by the Great Spirit, her ama, Tonantzin, her Central American ancestors from the territories of Guanajuato, Michoacán, and Nayarit in so-called Mexico, and the understanding that we are all connected as one.

Crisantema Gallardo

Daughter of immigrants from Oaxaca and Guanajuato, Crisantema was born in South Central Los Angeles and has lived most of her life in California’s heartland, the Central Valley. Crissy loves and considers Merced her home. The youngest of three children, she was the first in her family to attend college. Crisantema graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies with a concentration on Culture and Identity. Living in the Bay Area, she engaged in activities that helped develop her consciousness and passion for healing and community organizing. Seeing her parents struggle as campesinos, motivated her to return to Merced and continue organizing for racial justice and immigrant rights. Crisantema believes that all youth are the promise of transforming communities, which is why she is part of establishing 99Rootz: a program that uses art, culture, and healing to empower youth of color in rural communities. In her spare time Crissy enjoys listening to hip hop mixtapes, learning about birth charts, and spending time with her 9 year old nephew.

Daulton jones

I’m Daulton Jones 23, and I’m a Community Organizer with Faith in the Valley Kern! I’m a Central Valley native who genuinely wants to see my home become a healthier place for all, and not just the select few who have privilege. Growing up I always felt like an outsider due to always being the only one or one of few black people in spaces, and I credit that for my drive for legitimate diversity and inclusion. To often we have been comfortable in our society being separated from our siblings in different groups, and that has got to stop. I want my life’s work to facilitate space for communal healing throughout the Central Valley. Rightnow that looks like song circles. I use song circles as a form of sound healing to facilitate space for myself and others to liberate our voices, and build resilience! I am so thankful to be apart of this collective, and excited for our future! Do good things beloved

Mai thao

Mai Thao is the daughter of Hmong refugees who escaped the Secret War in Laos and resettled in the United States. As a first generation Hmong American womyn born and raised in Fresno, she witnessed her family and relatives struggle with language barriers, poverty, and gang violence. These experiences fueled her passion for health, education, and gender equity for immigrant and underserved communities. Thao received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley with a dual major in Ethnic Studies and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies. Currently, she serves as a Governor’s Appointee in the CA Complete Count Census 2020 Office as the Central California Lead Regional Program Manager. Thao is a proud aunt and honors her mother, Ka Vue, as the most resilient womyn she knows, and a continuing example of how to be a better person each and everyday.   

Lorena lara

(SHE/HER)

Originally from Guanajuato, Mexico, Lorena has been living in the Central Valley for the last 23 years. She is a community organizer, wife and daughter and is deeply passionate about  helping to create a Central Valley where everyone is able to thrive. In her spare time, Lorena likes to travel, go to comedy shows, and spend time with her dog. 

Yenedit

Yenedit Valencia was born in Ayoquezco de Aldama, Oaxaca. She arrived to the United States at the age of 8. Since then she has lived in Fresno and considers Fresno her home. She received her B.A. in Sociology from California State University, Fresno. She also received the Humanics certificate ; a certificate program in administration and leadership for community benefit organizations. She is a daughter, a sister, friend, partner, and mother to a joyful boy. Currently, she is Co- director for Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño, a community benefit organization that works with the Indigenous community from the Central Valley. She enjoys reading, poetry, coffee, hiking, and dancing.

Baby Sebastian

As the Central Valley Healing Collective was beginning to form, one of our members (Yenedit) was also in the process of forming new life. Sebastian has been present at every single meeting, conference call, video chat and clinic- via the womb. And just as the Collective entered into its second phase of development, baby Sebastian was born. Sebastian has been the greatest blessing to our collective. He has brought a tremendous amount of joy, levity, laughter, tenderness and hope to our efforts. He has offered us a grounding perspective and allowed us to remember our own youthful selves. He has helped our collective become a more inclusive space and he has reminded us what the power of love can accomplish. We love you dearly Sebastian, thank you for the gifts!