CURRENT PROJECTS/PROYECTOS

Facilitation and Project Management

Restorative Justice Commission (Lakeland, MD

From the 1960s through the mid-1980s, the urban renewal process in Lakeland, MD demolished the family homes, displaced 104 of 150, African American households, and replaced the neighborhood with subsidized high-density housing, now largely inhabited by students. The result was the decimation and the removal of generational wealth, cultural heritage of a thriving Black community. Only at the onset of the Black Lives Matter movement and the death of George Floyd, the Mayor and City Council unanimously passed a resolution acknowledging the damaging structural racism in the city and instituted a Restorative Justice Commission charged with promoting reconciliation and restoration for the Lakeland Community and those displaced. As part of the Orugas Collective, we joined with Radical Presence, LLC, a certified trauma recovery therapist, and Leah Vaughan a diversity and equity practitioner to facilitate and incorporate equitable development policies towards transformative justice. Together we are contracted as a supportive consultant to provide thought leadership, project management, analysis, and facilitation, and guidance in the work of the Commission.

Client: Lakelanders and City of College Park, MD

Community: Lakeland an established African-American Community

Facilitation for Policy Development

Impact of Distance Learning on Education among vulnerable families

Facilitating focus groups and engaging with parents, educators, students and adult learners about their experience with virtual learning due to the COVID19 pandemic health crisis in D.C..

Qualitative data collection to evaluate the implementation of educational services provided by schools in the District of Columbia. 

Specifically engaging with Latino/a/x parents and adult learners.

Helping to establish methods of engagement to inform yearly monitoring and evaluation of public education through focus groups, questionnaires, follow-ups and data analysis.  


Client: Building Bridges, Inc.

Community: Latino/a/x parents & adult learners in D.C.

Project Management & Strategic Planning Services

Strategic Placemaking Arts and Cultural Education (SPACE) 

Project Management and Strategic Master Planning to implement streetscape improvements projects in an international commerce corridor, in Prince Georges County.  Strategic Placemaking through Arts and Cultural Education (SPACE) Project will promote the businesses along University Blvd, and purchase street signage to create a cohesive and cultural preservation in the main corridor. 

Client: Northern Gateway CDC

Community: International Corridor in Langley Park, MD (Prince Georges County)

OUR CLIENTS/NUESTROS CLIENTES

The Northern Gateway CDC:  A nonprofit Community Development Corporation (CDC) founded to strengthen and revitalize the unincorporated neighborhoods of Adelphi, Avondale, Carole Highlands, Chillum, Hampshire Knolls, Lewisdale, and Langley Park. They implement market-based activities intended to increase the quality of life for residents and economic potential of small businesses in one of the most diverse communities in the Washington metropolitan region.  

Building Bridges to Success: Provides community outreach and engagement, technical assistance, capacity building and economic and business development.  Implementing training, workshops and capacity building programming to strengthen the community's voice and build its capacity in a shared vision for growth and development.  

OUR PARTNERS/NUESTRAS COLABORACIONES

Radical Presence, LLC: A radical healing, long-time educator, certified trauma recovery therapy, and experienced group facilitation practice.