Pace e Bene

I was born and raised in the town of San Luis Obispo on the central coast of California. After high school I left home for California Lutheran University, a small residential college in the hills of suburban Thousand Oaks near Los Angeles. During college my awareness of social justice issues grew and became my passion through sociology classes, a semester spent in Thailand, and the founding of the Human Rights Club on my campus. After college I spent a year on the US/Mexico border, living in intentional community with fellow volunteers in El Paso, Texas and commuting across the Border to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico each day to do volunteer work. In Mexico I volunteered at a women and children’s center in an economically poor neighborhood on the edge of town. This experience was very difficult for me, but also incredibly powerful in the relationships I built with Mexican people.  After my year on the border, I enrolled in seminary.  I am now in my 2nd year as a Master of Divinity student at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley CA, on course to become a Lutheran pastor. As a pastor, I hope to serve in a Latino community in the US and be an advocate for immigrant rights as well as cross-cultural understanding.

Non-violence is a huge part of my spirituality and faith. As an intern with Pace e Bene this year, I hope to connect the work and training of Pace e Bene to Lutheran churches, University students, and local Latino communities. I am excited about the experience of and training in non-violence  that interning with Pace e Bene will provide.  As a trained non-violence trainer, I look forward to being able to introduce others to non-violence and accompany them on their journeys of non-violent living.