I work alongside Latine immigrants through folklife-based participatory action research to co-create inquiries based on lived and shared experiences.

What is folklife?

“Folklife is the everyday and intimate creativity that all of us share and pass on to one another.”

— American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

These collaborations draw on creative forms and traditions like storytelling, music, dance, foodways, rituals, language, and crafts that communities use to make meaning, hold memory, and respond to the world together through shared practices.

My role has included facilitating sessions, co-generating findings, and helping shape creative and public outputs. While these projects belong to the groups who led them, I remain a companion in carrying and circulating the findings we cultivated together.

Somos Esenciales

Somos Esenciales began during the COVID-19 pandemic as a community-led response to the mental health impacts on immigrant essential workers. Through participatory action research (PAR), Latine immigrant volunteers at the Mission Food Hub co-created a bilingual mental health report rooted in cultural practices, dignity, and mutual care. This initiative was founded by artist Paul Flores.

Somos Remedios

Somos Remedios is a folklife-based PAR project exploring natural, ancestral, and community-rooted approaches to emotional well-being. Participants tested and shared traditional wellness practices—such as herbal teas, temazcal, ocean immersion, nature walks, and working with clay—while reflecting on how these practices support mental health beyond clinical systems.

Somos Investigadoras

Somos Investigadoras is a collaborative PAR project led by immigrant Latine women in partnership with UCSF researchers, currently focused on the traumas of migration. Through creative, reflective, and research-driven methods, the group developed a culturally grounded resource: the Guía para acceder a servicios de salud mental y apoyo emocional en San Francisco.