Introduce yourself! What should the world know about you?
Hi, I’m Gabrielle (they, she, he). I’m a new business owner contracting writing, editing, and strategic communications services. I have a Master’s degree in Creative Writing and a Bachelor’s degree in English. I am a 200-hour registered yoga teacher, an aspiring music connoisseur, and I have a cat named Cinnamon. I live in Inglewood, CA.
What are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about art. I’m currently writing a book about gender, nature, and spirituality.
Career-wise I’m passionate about designing information, building new structures, telling stories, and exploring all things media.
Overall, I’m into healing and health. I’m constantly trying to grow. I believe movement is medicine and I’m very interested in plant medicine.
What drives you as a person, a leader, and a storyteller? What or who shapes you?
Generational healing drives most of what I do. I guess that means that love is underneath it all.
My commitments to expansion have led me to the practice of cultivating joy and pleasure. I am currently attempting to immerse myself in these ideas and apply them to my life and work.
Additionally, I think safe spaces for shared vulnerability are crucial to our survival and I would like to create work that makes that space.
Why did you apply to the Rethink Outside™ Fellowship? What are you hoping to learn from this experience?
For most of my life, I felt completely disconnected from the outdoors and like it wasn’t accessible to me. I had absorbed the idea that the outdoors belonged to white people. Subconsciously, I also struggled with generational trauma related to the land. Years later, during my time in the Southeast, instead of losing myself I found my voice in nature. Now, I see an opportunity to bring my love of storytelling, media, and editing into the environmental space, but I’ve struggled to find community. I also feel intimidated to use my voice because I don’t feel represented.
How will the Rethink Outside™ Fellowship experience help you address the systemic barriers for access to, and representation / leadership of Black, Indigenous, and people of color in the movement to connect people and nature?
I have tons of ideas and dreams. This fellowship is an investment in the potential of that work, and an opportunity to nurture it. The workshops and scaffolding will certainly help with strategy, messaging, and resources, but I think community will be key for me in finding a way to support this change. The movement is about connection and story. So, I am most excited about opportunities to connect as I believe we will accomplish more innovative and inclusive successes together.
What is your favorite activity / place which connects you to nature and the outdoors?
I lived in an urban forest during 2020 and it changed the way I felt about presence so drastically I find myself craving the tenderness of being enveloped in nature.
I also like to paint, hike, and do yoga outdoors. I would like to spend more time dancing and cruising the water.