I was raised in rural Southern Oregon, and it’s shaped how I show up in the world. I think I’ve been doing doula work for a long time — I just didn’t have the word for it yet. Over the past twenty years, I’ve built capacity for communities, nonprofits, and families across the U.S., Mexico, and Peru — and it always came down to the same thing: showing up steady, listening closely, and helping something, or someone, move through a hard transition with more clarity and less fear.

I did this for my own grandmother, too. She lived in a remote, rural stretch of Southern Oregon, and when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer during COVID, I stayed by her side through her final weeks — coordinating her care, holding space for my family, and staying attuned to her wishes and legacy. She lived her whole life this way, caring for whoever needed her. I think some of this was always going to find me.

For twenty years my title was some version of capacity builder. What I’ve come to understand is that it was never really about the organization — it was always about the people inside it. Neighbors Nomadas is that same work, brought home: the readiness, the listening, and the story-holding, for families and communities navigating their own transformative times.