ABOUT
Samai is a Quechua word meaning breath, essence, or spirit. When Ei Ei and her partner joined their lives, they took up the name suggested by an Otavaleña friend to embody shared values around honoring the sacred planet, being global citizens, standing for gender equality, and living purpose-driven lives.
Ei Ei uses neuro, social, and design sciences to grow agility, resilience, and belonging in social impact groups. Her skill-building as a mindful facilitator began when she learned Vipassana insight meditation as a 4 year old.
She began her journey with justice work as a working class immigrant teen at a Silicon Valley High School in the 90s, later participating in student and women of color spaces in college to learn from liberation movement builders such as Angela Davis, Grace Lee Boggs, Yuri Kochiyama, and Vandana Shiva. She gained her aptitude for system and pattern thinking through a combination of oppression analysis, a Pre Med major, and a Religious Identity minor.
In addition to holding a Master of Science in Organizational Management and Transformative Leadership, she is certified in advanced facilitation, experiential training, community mediation, conflict transformation, restorative justice, ecological model of leadership, human system design, motivational interviewing, and in Conversational Intelligence® by the late Judith Glaser. In 2019, she was chosen as a Courage Catalyst in the first cohort of Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead™ Facilitator Training.
With over 20 years of experience in social impact, Ei Ei holds grounded expertise in shaping bold conversations in areas such as educational equity, diversity and inclusion, social and environmental justice, trust recovery, client experience, team dysfunction, collective impact strategy planning, program and service design, family and community engagement, collaborative partnerships, knowledge management, and organizational culture.
Ei Ei co-founded Seedles, LLC, which inspires kids (and their grown ups) to positively impact the planet they are inheriting. Seedles has made possible the growing of millions of wildflowers for pollinators across the US through collective action. In 2017 she was recognized by Congresswoman Jackie Speier for her accomplishments as an immigrant entrepreneur.
She has lived, studied, or traveled in 6 continents and identifies as a global citizen. As a mom of two, her primary professional mission is to make the world a safer, kinder, fairer place for all children through her contributions.
When needed, Ei Ei works with a team of experienced facilitators, trainers, and coaches to guide your journey into the brave.
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