“Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.” Cornel West
| My name is Danielle Ancin, and I’m Prospera’s new Entrepreneur Success Coordinator. In my first few weeks at Prospera, I realized that something as simple as a name can sometimes require conversation! My given name is Danielle, but in my years living and working abroad I got used to answering to Daniela. I love the way Daniela captures the root of my name as well as my gender in Spanish speaking contexts. As you might infer, I’m not Latina. I’m a white woman, East Bay native, dancer, and lover of languages, with a strong orientation toward justice. I spent most of my 20’s living in other countries, and I didn’t think I would return to the US. But while working in Colombia in humanitarian assistance programs, I found that my passion lay not so much in international “development” work, but rather in the healing of trauma resulting from conflict, disaster, and structural violence. I returned to the Bay Area and spent the next eight years working with Niroga Institute, sharing trauma-informed mindfulness practices with incarcerated youth, teachers, and students. During that time, I learned a lot about my own racial identity and the history of systemic racism in the US. Desiring to center racial justice in my work, I started a business with my colleagues to advance racial equity and trauma healing in wellness businesses and nonprofits. I’m now in my third year as an entrepreneur, and it has been a struggle! I have juggled unstable side jobs to make space for the business, leading to financial and housing instability and rising stress levels. I realized that I needed to reevaluate my approach and take better care of myself. That’s when I found Prospera. Now I find myself in an organization where I can apply my entrepreneurial experience to support others; where my values of popular education and social justice are echoed; where I am constantly inspired by the women around me; and where I feel a warmth and collective spirit that evokes my experiences working in Latin America. It’s a place where I can both contribute and deepen my knowledge in program evaluation systems, group facilitation, and promoting wellness across cultures. Best of all, I know that at Prospera we are building the kind of world I want to live in: a world of collaboration, wellbeing, and justice. To know more about Danielle check out our website. |