Lidia was born in Guatemala of Mayan Kaqchiquel decent; raised in Inglewood, CA, and considers herself a Bay Area transplant. She is a weaver of word, time, and cultures. A storyteller, activist, bridge builder and antiracist that is disrupting and dismantling institutions for the liberation of Black and Indigenous communities. She has worked in the fields of economic development, arts, non-profit, community outreach and engagement and county departments. Lidia is a racial healing practitioner and provides racial equity technical assistance, training, and capacity building to county departments, cities, organizations, and community leaders. She recently joined Behavioral Health Services Department (BHSD) Future Equitable Systems team as a Senior Training and Staff Development Specialist. In this role, Lidia oversees the development and implementation of education and training programs centering racial equity, reflective practice, and trauma-informed systems for BHSD staff and contractors.Lidia has been member of the Mexica Traditional Dance Circle for the last 30 years. She is a member of Calpulli Teokalli, based in San Francisco CA and founded by the late Manolo Sanchez and currently lead Irma Pineda and Alvaro Tellez. She is the founder of Movimiento Cósmico, a traditional indigenous dance group that preserves indigenous culture and protects traditional practices that promote healing at the individual, interpersonal and community levels. Lidia is a student of Pascual Yaxon, Ajqij (Mayan Elder and Keeper of Time) in the Noj Tijoxela school of Mayan Cosmovision, a multidisciplinary organization of indigenous professionals who defend the values and principles of ancestral medicine in this continent.In 2022, Lidia was selected to participate in The Culture of Health Leaders Institute for Racial Healing (CoHLI), a program run by the National Collaborative for Health Equity. CoHLI is an 18-month leadership experience that uses the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) framework to strengthen the ecosystem of practitioners who are advancing racial and health equity in their work. TRHT is an actionable model designed to bring about transformational and sustainable change that addresses the historic and contemporary effects of racism. Using the framework, practitioners will focus work in one of five areas: narrative change, racial healing and relationship building, separation, law, and the economy.