NATIONAL COMPADRES NETWORK
“Within the collective Dignity, Respect, Trust and Love of all people exists the wisdom, practices, and resources for healthy and Harmonious wellbeing.”
- Maestro Jerry Tello
Bienvenidos
Welcome to this glimpse into the National Compadres Network community, highlighting the powerful efforts of our staff and partners, and the outcomes for the many people and communities we serve.
This year, NCN’s efforts emphasizes listening. We travelled to ten U.S. communities where adults and young people shared their suffering and their hope. They told us about their stress and trauma, it’s sources, how they were responding and the help they needed. Most tellingly, they said they do not feel represented nor supported, but rather punished by the institutions supposedly established to serve them.
Together we challenged the status quo, and dove into tough areas, like community violence and grief, rising racism and oppression. We stayed, we listened, we got uncomfortable and went beyond norms. We argued, wept
and healed. We shared each other’s dreams and felt the inspiration that comes from faith.
None of what we do would be possible without the strong relationships and sometimes difficult but always rewarding work we do together. With the support of you and all our partners, we will continue to strengthen our
ability to expand our reach and impact.
Leo Lopez | Board Chair
Mission & Purpose
Founded in 1988, the National Compadres Network (NCN) strives to re-root and strengthen individuals, families, and communities to honor, rebalance, and redevelop the authentic identity, values, traditions, and indigenous practices of Chicano, Latino, Native, Raza, and other communities of color. This is the path to honoring all our relations, and creating lifelong wellbeing.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, NCN is a national voice for racial and gender healing and equity. Through our culture-infused presentations, training, capacity building, technical assistance and collective impact-building we seek to change the systems that support inequity and oppression. Our technical experts and system leaders
help individuals and groups move from understanding and quantifying trauma to converting that knowledge into experience.
We bring together culturally-rooted and nationally recognized leaders and work with community leaders and decision makers to co-create strategic, sustainable systems.
We support our partners as they work to reduce substance abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, teen pregnancy, gang violence, heterosexism, racial inequity and other individual, family, community and social issues.
Major Events and Activities
In 2018, NCN implemented 162 major events, served over 15,480 people, collaborating with 39 organizations, across 12 states, and in 40 different communities
La Cultura Cura
A Transformational Learning and Healing Philosophy
Developed by Jerry Tello through over 30 years of supporting individuals, families, communities and organizations, it is the core philosophy of all the National Compadres Network’s programs and curricula. The philosophy is based on an indigenous worldview, acknowledging that all people have lifesupporting ancestral traditions, practices and values. La Cultura Cura (LCC) contends that maladaptive thinking, feeling and behaving stems from disconnection, precipitated by unresolved, often intergenerational trauma. The LCC healing process is reciprocal – the reconnection helps both the individual as well as family, community and society in which the person lives.
Impact
Our youth círculos provide a safe space where youth learn to trust themselves and others. In the face-face format, they feel encouraged to speak from the heart, connect with others, transforming into more responsible young adults.
Youth find their “voice” and “place” in the circle. They learn to respect themselves and others. With more confianza, they become leaders, opening the road for future generations
Círculo participants learn to “see” themselves differently, leading to change in how they behave – how they relate to each other.
Our ancestors greeted each other in unity - In Lak’ech
Financials
National Compadres Network Statement of Financial Position as of December, 2018
Assets
Current assets: $1, 872, 188
Equipment (net): $7,864
Total Assets
Liabilities and Net Assets
Current liabilities: $229,702
Net Assets
With restrictions: $1,067,326
Without restrictions: $583, 024
Total net assets: Total net assets
Total Liabilities and Net Assets: $1,880,052
Co-Creators
Collaborators
NCN’s success has been built upon the solid and long-lasting relationships with our partners. We believe our projects are not simply collaborations, but Co-Creations. Below is a list of the organizations with whom we have worked.
- Alliance for Girls
- American Indians in Texas and SA Fatherhood
- Annapolis Police Department
- California Wellness Conference
- Child Abuse Prevention Council of Santa Clara
- Coachella Valley Unified School District
- Cupertino Council on Cultural Excellence
- Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation
- Fathers and Families of Stockton
- First Five of California
- Global Youth Justice Inc.
- Gang Rescue and Support Project (GRASP)
- ICAN
- Izcalli
- King County Office of Equity and Social Justice
- Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services
- Motivating Individual Leadership for Public Advancement
- National Network on Youth and Child Focus
- Northern Southern Winds Cultural Foundation
- Novo Foundation
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
- Orange County Department of Education
- Planned Parenthood - Mar Monte
- Por Vida Academy
- Project Kinship of Santa Ana
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Santa Clara County Probation
- South Coast Task Force on Youth Safety
- Southern California Crossroads
- Stockton Unified School District
- STRONG Youth Inc.
- The California Endowment
- The Latino Commission
- Visalia Unified School District
- W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Spotlight:
Healing Generations Listening Tour
The Healing Generations Listening Tour developed the ideas, relationships and practices that led to the creation the Healing Generations Institute, dedicated and committed to the healing and empowerment of Boys and Men of Color.
All the Listening Tour stops--Bakersfield, Coachella, Del Norte, Long Beach, Richmond, Santa Ana, and Stockton, with participants from Los Angeles, Riverside, Fresno, Sacramento and Salinas -- were part of the Building Healthy Communities Initiative sponsored by The California Endowment.
We put considerable effort into bringing together people representing different ethnicities, ages, sexual orientations, and other variables that usually separate.
The Listening Tour sought to:
- Strengthen
relationships with organizational leaders and residents - Listen to
experiences of stress, trauma and healing, - Build support
for the developing initiative vision - Co-Create
Institute structure and processes
What we heard...
About trauma, stress and it’s sources
Organizational leaders, Adult, and Youth Residents identified overt racism, discrimination, financial difficulties and the loss of loved ones to violence as the main sources of stress in their lives.
“People are just afraid of everything”, of bigotry, of losing family members and harassment by law enforcement. “They profile us right off the bat, stop us because we are suspect and fit the characteristics.”
“They come from parents and grandparents that were raised in boarding schools, disconnected from a sense of community, from their traditions and values and turned to drugs.”
There is hope – what helps
“I see an innate healing between the youth. There is a lot of connecting between young people I see a lot of kindness; I see a lot of community”.
“There are a number of programs in the area that provide opportunity and guidance so that there is an increasing number of youths that use creative expression such as music, art, poetry”.
A Healing Institute that...
Starts with “Strengths and assets rather than weakness and deficits.”
by “bridge building helping people of different racial/ethnic groups establish better relationships with each other.”
“puts an emphasis on developing and maintaining relationships.”
provides a “a sense of respaldo that someone has your back.”
where “elders are included in rebuilding the community, teaching core values for successful lives”.
Culturally Rooted Evaluation
We document our services and assess their effectiveness to affirm our accountability to the people we serve – those who participate in our trainings, presentations, and technical assistance activities, as well as those who fund and support us. We listen carefully to stakeholders, especially the inherent community wisdom too often ignored by traditional evaluation methods.
At the same time, we strive to stay current with research to ensure that NCN programs are effective, evidence-based, and consistent with the cultural values of those we serve. NCN research questions, methods, instruments, as well as the interpretation and application of information.
NATIONAL COMPADRES NETWORK
NATIONAL COMPADRES NETWORK
“Within the collective Dignity, Respect, Trust and Love of all people exists the wisdom, practices, and resources for healthy and Harmonious wellbeing.”
- Maestro Jerry Tello
Bienvenidos
Welcome to this glimpse into the National Compadres Network community, highlighting the powerful efforts of our staff and partners, and the outcomes for the many people and communities we serve.
In this year’s report, we emphasize compromiso, our fulfilment of the agreements that we make with the people that we serve. 2021 marked our return to “normal” after three years of social distancing due to the COVID-19 virus. The social isolation was a formidable challenge to the National Compadres Network (NCN) that has for years advocated for and promoted healing through face-to-face contact, sharing from the heart and ceremony. Our dedicated staff met the challenge, developing webinars and podcasts that strove to capture and convey the “spirit” that has always defined our work.
For many the distancing became isolation, deep sadness and grieving for lost relatives and dear friends. Our on-line circulos and trainings provided not only the skills, but the critical contact that inspired. Podcasts by NCN staff and other practitioners in our network helped guide others through these very critical times.
None of what we do would be possible without the strong relationships and always challenging but always rewarding work we do together. With the support of you and all our partners, we will continue to strengthen our ability to expand our reach and impact.
- Bendiciones
Leo Lopez | Board Chair
Mission & Purpose
Founded in 1988, the National Compadres Network (NCN) strives to re-root and strengthen individuals, families, and communities to honor, rebalance, and redevelop the authentic identity, values, traditions, and indigenous practices of Chicano, Latino, Native, Raza, and other communities of color. This is the path to honoring all our relations, and creating lifelong wellbeing.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, NCN is a national voice for racial and gender healing and equity. Through our culture-infused presentations, training, capacity building, technical assistance and collective impact-building we seek to change the systems that support inequity and oppression. Our technical experts and system leaders help individuals and groups move from understanding and quantifying trauma to converting that knowledge into experience.
We bring together culturally-rooted and nationally recognized leaders and work with community leaders and decision makers to co-create strategic, sustainable systems.
We support our partners as they work to reduce substance abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, teen pregnancy, gang violence, heterosexism, racial inequity and other individual, family, community and social issues.
La Cultura Cura
A Transformation Learning and Healing Philosophy
Developed by Jerry Tello through over 30 years of supporting individuals, families, communities and organizations, it is the core philosophy of all the National Compadres Network’s programs and curricula. The philosophy is based on an indigenous worldview, acknowledging that all people have life-supporting ancestral traditions, practices and values. La Cultura Cura (LCC) contends that maladaptive thinking, feeling and behaving stems from disconnection, precipitated by unresolved, often intergenerational trauma. The LCC healing process reconnects people to their authentic sense of self as well as people in their families and communities. Through LCC strategies and interventions, people learn to live in dignity, with respect for self and others, more confident and secure. Moreover, we believe that healing is reciprocal – the reconnection helps both the individual as well as family, community and society in which the person lives.
Top Take-aways for La Cultura Cura Overview Sessions
As part of our work, we ask people to share with us, in their own words, what they experi-enced, felt and learned. The feedback for the La Cultura Cura overview is that people,
• Become more aware of the Importance of being open and accepting of others
• Feel more connected, empathy, compassion for others
• Leave with a better understanding of trauma, the healing process
Major Events and Activities
In 2021, NCN interacted with 3,582 people, in 264 major events.
- Training Circle Keepers in Transformational Learning
- Racial Healing & Equity
- La Cultura Cura
- Joven Noble
- Fatherhood
- Girasol
Conducted 146 círculos
- Girasol and Joven Noble curricula
- Talking circulos for Healing Generations Institute members
- Community talking círculo
During the pandemic, NCN virtual círculos and kept people engaged and connected. More importantly, the gatherings provided participants a space to grieve their lost ones - to heal and see hope in tomorrow.
Podcasts
46 podcasts published in 2021,
1,500 downloads, reaching 6 continents, 63 countries and all 50 American States
Throughout the year,
NCN staff and net- work partners have reached out, shared insights and touched hearts – guiding people through the pandemic’s hardships and social isolation
| Top 10 Podcasts - 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1010 The Four, Rooted Teachings of Life | Maestro Jerry Tello | |
| 902 Healing Generations of Pain, Trauma and Inequity | Gref Hodge | |
| 842 Introducing: Healing Generations | Maestro Jerry Tello | |
| 627 Wisdom Teachings on the Journey to Healing, P.1 | Concha Saucedo | |
| 613 Community Based Healing | Grace Sesma | |
| 579 Overcoming the Shadow | Dr. Ricardo Carrillo | |
| 554 Your Ancestor’s Voice | Mee Moua | |
| 518 The Next Generation of Warriors | A. Jimenez, AB Ozuna, D. Sanchez | |
| 509 The Journey of a Wisdom Carrier | Ysidro Macias | |
| 504 The Body Keeps the Count | Kwelo Tutashinda, DC | |
Social Media
Through social media platforms, NCN reaches out on a daily basis, sharing wisdom, guidance and hope to all, Ánimo
Facebook Page
• 61,521 reaches
• 3,645 visits
• 403 new likes and follows
• 31,827 reaches
• 11,355 profile visits
Top Posts of 2021
Sacred Fatherhood
Jairo Bustos
June 18, 2021
La Cultura Cura
Jerry Tello
May 5, 2021
National farmworker
Awarness Week
March
You are a Blessing
Maestro Jerry Tello
Standing with our Asian
Friends
Virtual Healing and
Wellness Week
Impact – Healing-Informed Skills
Healing-informed Skills among Educators
Cirlce Keeper Training Take-Aways
Santa Clara Office of LGBTQ Affairs
| Servie Providers(17) | Adult Caretakers(17) | Youth Leaders(18) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theme | % | Theme | % | Theme | % |
| Understanding of healing process | 27.9 | Feel safe, connected to others | 47.6 | Connection, empathy for others | 16.7 |
| Specific tools for running a círculo, healing process | 18.6 | Appreciation, experience in a círculo | 19.0 | The importance of listening | 14.6 |
| Feeling connected to others | 18.8 | Specific skills, ability to run create space, run círculo | 19.0 | Specific “tools” for “holding space”, runnning a círculo | 12.5 |
" I came in to this training thinking I was going to just learn how to help the youth I work with; never did I expect that a training would help me with my own personal experience. I had a lot of self-re-flection on my drive home and want to continue to heal while helping our youth"
– San Bernardino School District Training 12.21
Building Solidarity
Racial Healing Practitioners Network (RHPN)
With funding from the Kellogg Foundation, NCN is bringing together healing practitioners from throughout the country and from different traditions – establishing kinship, sharing experiences – fostering com-mitment - toward supporting healing informed practices that build promote racial and gender equity
Wisdom Keepers that carry the inspiring - guiding words, the drum, rat-tles and songs of our ancestors
Fellowship Program reaching out to the generations that follow us
National Resource Center – Access to state-of-the art Healing – informed information for all
Racial Healing Practitioner Certification – in Collaboration with the Center for Community Philanthropy (CCP) and the Center for Culturally Respon-sive Engagement (CCRE) creating a curriculum for certify tomorrow’s leaders
“The Gathering was a wonderful experience because it challenged me intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. The conversations with my peer fellows provided great intellectual stimulation and rich discussion about different elements of our work. Our engagement with the Wisdom Keepers, and peer fellows, included a depth of spiritual practice and enlightenment that I hardly had a point of reference for. Yet, I still found it deeply instructional and gratifying. It was also valuable to have the WKKF team in the space with us. As the leader of an organization that directly benefits from the Foundation’s leadership team having a deeper understanding of the work, I was especially encouraged by their presence.”
– RCPN Fellow at Tamaya Gathering
Financials
Assets
Current assets: $3,757,277
Grants Reveivable, long-term: $499,374
Total Assets
Liabilities and Net Assets
Current liabilities: $575,203
Net Assets
With restrictions: $2,698,049
Without restrictions: $983,399
Total net assets: $3,681,448
Total Liabilities and Net Assets: $4,256,651
Culturally-Rooted Evaluation
Racial Healing Practitioners Network (RHPN)
In documenting, assessing and evaluating our work, we strive to be accountable and responsible to all stakeholders, our funders, NCN staff and the people we serve. In designing and implementing evaluation plans, mthods and instruments we do our best to follow the following principles,
- Understand success in methods and measures that are Meaningful to the participants.
- Honor the Holistic nature of experience, acknowledging rational and intuitive sources of evidence.
- Strive for Reciprocity between those who tell the story and the people who live it.
- Respect the values, healing practices, and ceremonies of all people.
- Support the Purpose of individuals, family, communities, and systems.
Look for our chapter;
La Cultura Cura and El Joven Noble: Culturally-Rooted Theory and Practice Formulations for Healing Wounded BMoC. By; Heriberto Escamilla Morales Ph.D. , Russel Bong Vergara, Jerry Tello, Héctor Sánchez Flores
In the book entitled;
Health Promotion with Adolescent Boys and Young Men of Colour: Global Strategies for Advancing Research, Policy, and Practice in Context Edited by James Smith, Daphne C. Watkins and Derek M. Griffith
Reports and Articles,
Culture-Based Healing for the Epidemic of Child Woundedness By Jerry Tello, Heriberto Escamilla, and R. Bong Vergara Edited by Ken White
Co-Creators Collaborators
NCN’s success has been built upon the solid and long-lasting relationships with our partners. We believe our projects are not simply collaborations, but Co-Creations. Below is a list of the organizations with whom we have worked.
- Alisal Union School District
- Blue Shield
- Brotherhood of Elders
- Coachella Valley USD
- Community Action Board
- ESUHSD Foothill High School
- Healing Generations Institute
- Healthy Communities
- Latino Community Foundation Healthy Communities Grant
- Latino Network of Portland
- Mentally Ill Offender Criminal Rehabilitation (MIOCR) - Extension
- Monterey Co BHB LCC and CyC Training
- Monterrey County BHS
- Montgomery County Department of HHS
- Montgomery County Public Schools
- NHLPTTC
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - Forward Promise
- Sacramento City Unified School District
- Salinas Building Healthy Communities
- Santa Clara County Intercultural Competency (ICC)
- Santa Clara County Mentally Ill Offender Criminal Rehabilitation (MIOCR)
- Santa Clara County Office of LGBTQ Affairs
- Santa Clara County Probation Department
- Santa Clara County Young Women’s Warrior Fellowship Project
- Sierra Health Foundation
- Story Teller’s Project
- The California Endowment (TCE) Healing Generations Institute (Grant No. 20201819)
- Tides Foundation
- University of Arkansas - Clinton Center for Community Philanthropy
- Kellogg Foundation
- Young Women’s Warrior Fellowship Project
NATIONAL COMPADRES NETWORK