​On behalf of the members of TAASA’s Collective Healing Initiative (CHI), we wanted to write a note about the positionality of the authors. Our hope is to de-center widely-held norms within the data and evaluation and learning fields of “objectivity” and writing “without bias”. We believe that our biases are dependent on our individual identities within a collective group, our experiences, and other consciousness-shaping factors. TAASA’s CHI was built by women who identify as Black, Indigenous, Asian and Latina. We represent various age groups and may go by “tia'', “aunty”, “mama”, “grandma/yaya”, “sister”, and/or “chingona” among other titles of honor, and we are beloved members of our respective communities. 


The Community Healing Series was dear to our hearts as BIPOC women. We are honored to share our learnings with the collaboration of healers who participated in the Series and our community partner, allgo, a queer people of color organization. From the bottom of our hearts, we’d like to thank the healers who offered their time, gifts and knowledge to the participants, which included sexual assault program staff, TAASA staff and membership, and community members. We recognize the lineage many of the healers come from, and the ancestors they recognize as guides. Their traditions continue to nourish a collective future for their peoples. For everyone who participated in each of these sessions, whether it was one or a handful, we thank you for your time and what you contributed to the space and our learning about what healing in community means. 


We’d also like to acknowledge previous members of CHI who were absolutely crucial to the inception of and coordination throughout the Community Healing Series. Namely: Maya Pilgrim, Amanda Lewis, Alexis Hinojosa, and Jessica Moreno.


Throughout our time as CHI, we’ve learned so much about the responsibility and sacred work of tending to relationships and kinship networks we keep in our lives. We want to acknowledge that these personal relationships, many of which began and were tended to outside of this learning project, are what allowed this learning project to come alive. Through these relationships, we learned about ourselves, our ancestors, and our collective responsibility to heal and be a part of someone else’s healing journey. We honor all that has been shared with us in the spirit of reciprocity, for the benefit of all.