Kuya'karanuta'ni Gonzalez - Project Director

Kuya’karanuta’ni Gonzalez (They/Naya) is a Biawaisa (2Spirit) Afro-Borikua Taino Ceremonialist, Sacred Artist, Culture Bearer & Cultural Organizer. Kuya is deeply committed to the work of healing our collective wounds of colonization, modernization & industrialization. They are passionate about creating sacred space & altars for the facilitation of ceremonies rooted in Indigenous wisdom. They are blessed to have been walking on the Red Road for three decades. In addition to being Project Director & core facilitator for Spirit Root Medicine People, Kuya teaches workshops focused on healing, plant medicine making, self-care & Ancestral remembrance. They have also taught meditation in forests, prisons & for end-of-life services. As a caregiver, they have helped many in their journey to the other side. They have completed a yearlong Mindfulness Yoga & Meditation Training, a yearlong intensive in Commit to Dharma and a yearlong intensive in the North American Nonviolent Communication Leadership Program. Kuya has over 2 years of accumulated silent retreat practice, they have completed 4 traditional vision quests & three decades of Indigenous ceremonial practice & Vipassana practice. They are also a Master Gardener & Indigenous Permaculturist. ​ ​

Ave Padilla - Project Manager

Ave Padilla (they/them/elle) is a queer nonbinary femme who is a Mexican of indigenous and mestizo descent. Ave was born on Tigua territory along the US/Mexico border to a working-class family of Mexican immigrants descending from the desert regions of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and Durango. Ave is passionate about inner child healing, children’s protection & empowerment, breaking intergenerational cycles of violence and the collective healing and liberation of all, with a special interest in serving survivors of gender-based violence, as well as queer, trans and/or racialized (BIPOC) folks. ​Ave is a Master’s level Social Worker with more than 15 years of experience and spent the last decade supporting families living with cancer. Ave is also a Circle Keeper for survivors of childhood sexual abuse for Hidden Water, a restorative justice organization. Ave is the founder of Ave Libre LLC, their independent healing justice practice, where they offer holistic therapies, they learned with their queer, gender nonconforming Indigenous teacher of Mochica & Quechua descent- Luz Disidente of Peru. Ave previously served on the board of Health Equity Alliance for LGBTQIA+ New Mexicans (HEAL+NM). Currently Ave is the Project Manager for SRMP.