We would like to thank all who have contributed |
ABOUT US
JERRY TELLOCo-Founder and Director |
SUSANNA "SUSIE" ARMIJOCo-Founder and Project Coordinator |
Jerry Tello is a father, grandfather, son, brother and relative of many. He is from a family of Mexican, Texan and Coahuiltecan roots, and was raised in the South Central/Compton areas of Los Angeles.
Over the last 40 years, he has dedicated himself to the service of individuals, families, communities. He has done so by speaking to over half of a million people, and training thousands of service providers across the nation. Mr. Tello is considered an international expert in the areas of: transformational healing, men and boys of color, racial justice, and community peace and mobilization. He is co-founder of the National Compadres Network and is currently Director of Training and Capacity Building. He has authored numerous articles, videos, and curricula addressing fatherhood, youth “rites of passage,” culturally-based family strengthening, and healing the healer. He is the author of A Father’s Love, a series of children’s books, co-editor of Family Violence and Men of Color, has served as a principal consultant for Scholastic Books on International Bilingual Literacy curriculum, and has published a series of motivational health and healing CDs. He has appeared in Time, Newsweek, Latina and Lowrider magazines. He is the recipient of numerous awards, which include the 2016 Maria Shriver’s Annual Advocate for Change award, the 2015 White House Champions of Change award, two California Governor’s Awards, the Ambassador of Peace Award presented by Rotary International, and the 2012 Presidential Crime Victims Service award, presented by President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno. Finally, in collaboration with the American G.I. Forum, Mr. Tello was part of an effort providing domestic violence awareness, healing, and support services to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Persian Gulf veterans and their spouses. Presently, he continues to serve families and communities directly at the Sacred Circles Center in Whittier, California and is a member of the Sacred Circles performance group, a group dedicated to community peace and healing. He is the proud father of three children: Marcos, Renee, and Emilio; and grandfather of Amara, Naiya and Greyson. |
Susanna Armijo comes from a family of Mexican roots and was raised incorporating traditional healing in her life. As a young girl and caretaker for her mother, she learned to use touch and massage as a way to communicate and soothe her mother’s ills. After graduating from high school, she was blessed to be invited to learn under the guidance of Maestro Florencio Yescas, a master teacher of indigenous Aztec Dance and ceremony from Mexico, and has performed across the world. Ms. Armijo, for over 30 years, has combined traditional music, dance and healing arts to work with people of all ages. In 2004 she performed in Rome for the Noble Peace Prize Laureates and was featured on the front cover of Native People Magazine.
In 2005 she co-founded the Sacred Circles Healing Center in Whittier, California, where she began her more formal process of serving the community in a healing capacity. Ms. Armijo has utilized her therapeutic skills and experience by providing health prevention presentations and conducting healing councils to girls and women who were victims of trauma and relationship violence. In addition, and in conjunction with Jerry Tello and the American G.I. Forum, Ms. Armijo worked with returning war veterans and their spouses experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Ms. Armijo is co-founder of the Sacred Circles performance group, founding member of the Comadres Network, Healing Women’s Circle facilitator, and Project Coordinator at the Sacred Circles Center in Whittier, California. |
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