Quiobole’ everyone, mi nombre es Andreina Zamudio. In this lifetime, I was gifted with the medicina to talk! Soy consejera del alma y corazón, a clinical social worker. I began using my medicine of the wind as early as my preschool days (that’s what my ama recalls), there she knew that it was one of my gift to others, to help via mi palabra. My most memorable life experiences have revolved around servicing the youth community, even when I was a youth myself. Fast forward to today, I hold social work degrees from Long Beach City College and CSU Long Beach. To continue the passion and love for my community y la juventud, I created Corazon Conversations and Therapy; a space where mental health services are provided to guide BIPOC reclaim our roots, strengthen our identity, and prioritize our salud mental. The journey of creating my own private practice led me to El Instituto de Chicana/Chicanx Psychology. Exactly where I need to be. So here we are today, receiving the gifts of el Profe Manuel and Tlazoltiani and mis hermanxs del consejo 13. I look forward to growing with and supporting el instituto so that collaboratively we can give our gente this knowledge, space, and deeper sense and validation of belonging and living Brown.

Dr. Catalina Cayetano is an innovative leader in the field of Intercultural Communication. Her experience as a Latina first-generation student guides her research perspective of what it means to build communities of dialogue through social and cultural ecological observations and reflections of the self. Her research focuses primarily on the Latinx immigrant family and the cultural intermediation their young engage in during the process of acculturation. Additionally, Dr. Cayetano's pedagogical work emphasizes the need for individuals to be active participants in their lifelong learning by asking the question, 'Who am I?' before asking the question, 'Who are you?' Her beliefs about exploring, engaging, and questioning the self when in conversation with Others can guide individuals into the beginnings of discovering a free and authentic voice. Dr. Cayetano has built and delivered various intercultural communication courses throughout her ten years in higher education. As Director of Learning Enterprise and Community Engagement for the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University, Dr. Cayetano is responsible for creating/seeking opportunities where outreach, engagement, and collaboration become integral to underscoring the value of community partner knowledge. Dr. Cayetano emphasizes the development of community embeddedness as an intercultural communication journey where intercultural competence and cultural humility guide the building of community relationships.

Cualli Tonalli. My name is Silvia Gomez de Soriano, y soy Xicana, madre to 4 grown children, abuela to 4 beautiful nietos, hija, hermana, esposa to my partner Carlos Soriano Leal and maestra. I currently work as a Bilingual Resource Specialist at Madison East High School, and advisor to the Raza United Student Association, MENA (Middle East & North Africa) Student Association, and MELAANA, the Affinity Student Leader Council. My passion is working with Raza Youth, and since living in the Midwest for most of my life I have seen the need for guidance and cultural reconnection to our roots with our youth. This has lead to the founding of the Xicano Institute for Education and Self Determination summer program co-founded by Dr. Jorge F. Rodriguez and I. I am also a member of the Sister City Committee of Madison/Tepatitlan, and co-organizer for the Annual Día de los Muertos Performance and Fundraiser at East High School, among other things

Dr. Azucena Verdín is a Chicana scholar, mother, daughter, sister, and academic madrina. Her academic research takes up Chicana feminisms and critical race theories to examine issues of identity and knowledge making in Mexican-origin families across the Latinx diaspora. She is an Assistant Professor of Child Development at Texas Woman's University and is the Principal Investigator for the Chicana/Latina Flourishing Project at TWU. She acknowledges her own positionality as a settler-colonist, de-indigenized Chicana and is committed to a lifetime of learning the ways of her ancestors and indigenous ways of knowing. Azucena lives in Dallas with her children, sister, and husband.

Dr. Madeline Ofina is a speaker, community educator, Clinical Psychologist, intuitive, and consultant. Her training focused on program evaluation the Wellness and Recovery model of mental health, and her interests include decolonizing mental health and Indigenous Spiritual Practices. Dr. Ofina is a biracial child of immigrants from the Philippines and Mexico born in the United States. After her clinical training and work in the hospital system, she took time to realign her work and decolonize her mind and practice. She founded MOfina, a Spiritual Wellness and Education company focused on supporting people seeking alignment with their purpose and honing their spiritual gifts. On the continual path of decolonizing her mind and practice, she reconnected with her cultural roots in Mexico and is reconnecting to her roots in the Philippines. She is a student on the Ñusta Paqo Pampamesayoq path, learning from Q’ero elders in Perú, and joined community groups to re-indigenize her mind. In her private practice to work, she focuses on working with predominantly BIPOC and adult children of immigrants on healing from the impact of immigration, intergenerational wounds, finding your voice, and oppression through decolonization.

I identify as Xicano and was born and raised in Los Angeles (Tongva territory) by migrant parents from Michoacán (Purépecha territory), Mexico. I earned my Masters degree in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Community Mental Health from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2012. I have worked in various settings as a therapist, lead clinician, supervisor and program manager prior to starting my private practice. These include Instituto Familiar de La Raza, La Familia Counseling Service, the Community Mental Health Certificate Program at City College of San Francisco and Kaiser Permanente. I also teach in the Department of Counseling at San Francisco State University. My work is culturally responsive, rooted in social justice, trauma-informed, strength-based and centered in re-indigenizing and liberation psychology. I utilize humor and focus deeply on the healing relationship. I incorporate multiple approaches including narrative processes and trauma healing modalities such as EMDR. I honor and recognize my mentors and teachers along the way beginning with my mother and older sisters whom have taught me lessons in strength, resiliency and humility. As a therapist, my mentors include Maestra Concha Saucedo, Dr. Sal Nuñez and Tio Samuelin Martinez whom have all showed me what it's like to work from a place of authenticity and love. I have apprenticed with Dr. Sal Nuñez in Medicinal Drumming Praxis and have been trained in Chicanx Affimative Therapy, EMDR, and Somatics and Trauma from Generative Somatics. I am a Mexica Mitotiani and Huehuetero (Mexica Dancer and Drummer) with Calpulli Nanahuatzin. I am a husband and father to a young Huitzin (hummingbird).

Working in the service of others since 2007, Cierra Valles follows the legacy of their ancestors to guide their interdisciplinary practice as a Xicanx learner, educator, scholar, consultant, counselor, and musician based in metro Detroit (Three Fires Land).

Currently a second-year doctoral student in counseling at Oakland University, Cierra’s scholarship integrates anti-oppression frameworks with decolonial and Indigenous methodologies to cultivate culturally rooted, community-centered approaches to wellness in counseling and counselor education. Their practice emphasizes the integration of ancestral traditions and expressive play as pathways to joyful resistance and resilience.

Cierra is the founder and therapist at Tlazocamati Wellness, a private practice grounded in gratitude and reciprocity. They are also engaged in broader leadership and service, including their role on a SAMHSA-funded grant supporting suicide prevention at Oakland University. Their commitment to the counseling profession has been recognized through national awards, including the American Counseling Association Graduate Student Ethics Award and selection as a 2025–2026 Emerging Leader for the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.

essica Dominguez is a proud bilingual Chicana, first gen daughter of immigrants from México (Wixárika/Huichol and Náayerite/Cora territories). As a bilingual Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, consultant, and trainer, Jessica centers social justice and culture in growth and healing. She attended UC Santa Cruz, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology, and earned her master’s degree in Integral Counseling Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, California. 

With over 20 years of experience, Jessica has provided mental health support to adults, children, adolescents, and families in community, educational, clinical, and hospital settings throughout the California Bay Area. Passionate about supporting efforts to create mental health care that is equitable, destigmatizing, culturally-responsive, and centers the experience of BIPOC communities, while also challenging organizations and their leadership to be anti-racist, she continues to proudly serve the Latine community, providing consultation, workshops, trainings, and has also developed and launched several culturally-responsive bilingual Latine mental health care programs.

Dulce Lopez, Psy.D., a first generation Mexican-American, is a Licensed Psychologist whose life’s purpose has been to empower individuals to transform through Love.

Often referred to as Doctora Corazon (Doctor of the Heart), Dr. Lopez has been a practicing clinician for over 19 years in California. She is an International motivational speaker and facilitator, speaking regularly on the subjects of Love and Transformation. Thru Love: Metamorfosis Gatherings and Dra. Dulce’s Love Journal are her two core offerings designed for individuals as tools of self-discovery toward harnessing their inner Love and personal Power.

Dr. Lopez studied and worked in London, Mexico City, and Chennai, India. The enriching experiences abroad shaped her life’s journey and helped her to uncover her life’s mission. As such, she went on to receive her doctorate in psychology from Alliant International University. Dr. Lopez resides with her husband, a Social Worker, and her children in the Bay Area of Northern California.

Cynthia Arreola is a social justice advocate and licensed social worker who has been working in social services for over 25 years. Her experience ranges from direct services to managing and developing programs. She has worked with populations from infancy to adulthood in areas of domestic violence, healthcare, homelessness/housing, child welfare and early childhood trauma. During her 12 year tenure as Program Manager at New York Presbyterian Hospital’s Family PEACE Trauma Treatment Center, she co-developed a Trauma-informed Socially-Just service delivery model for young children and families impacted by trauma. Ms. Arreola serves on the Steering Committee for the National Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) and is a rostered NCTSN Trauma-Informed Organizational Assessment (TIOA) Coach. She is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Social Work and has a Certification in Spirituality and Social Work from New York University. Ms. Arreola works as a consultant dedicated to developing spiritually sensitive trauma-informed models of care that center healing through culture.

Edmundo was born in Stockton, Ca (Yokut and Miwok land) and is grandson to Guillermo Jesus Nieto, who came to work the land as a Bracero in the 1940’s from Mexico City by way of Villahermosa, Tabasco. Edmundo’s family are land workers and he was brought up working the land and building a relationship with plants, food and mother earth. Edmundo completed his undergraduate learning at University of California, Davis where he formally began his path to becoming a therapist. Coming from a family who struggled with substance use, Edmundo found his work in supporting young people and families towards substance use recovery. He quickly recognized substance use as a means of coping with illnesses rooted in multiple experiences; for many BIPOC communities the root cause often lies in the legacy of colonization. Edmundo is in daily gratitude of being called to support people in recovery through his role as a therapist and coordinator for the Intensive Outpatient program at Kaiser Oakland (Ohlone territory). He is also currently in the process of starting his own practice. Edmundo has been reconnecting to the knowledge and practice of Curanderismo and working to integrate this traditional medicine into his work as a therapist. Edmundo is also grateful to be a father of two, a partner, a tio, son, brother, and community member. Edmundo is in great appreciation to have been called in to serve on the council of 13 with the Institute of Chicanx Psychology and continue supporting the reconnection to our histories as Indigenous people.