The Earth Holder Community of North America/Turtle Island is guided by a the Care Taking Council and a Coordinator. Together, they are advancing policies and addressing organizational needs to fulfill Earth Holders’ founding document. You can learn more about the Earth Holder Community Structure here.
Who We Are
____________________________ Magda De La Paz Cabrero is a dharma facilitator and member of the Care Taking Council of the Opening Heart Mindfulness Community in Washington, DC, where she coordinates socially engaged mindfulness projects focused on children’s well-being, social and environmental justice, and climate action. She is the author and illustrator of Vietnam, Where the Lotus Blooms: In the Steps of Thich Nhat Hanh, created after traveling to Vietnam with the Plum Village monastics to honor Thầy. The book was edited and endorsed by Sister Tuệ Nghiêm, one of the organizers of the pilgrimage. Magda also wrote and illustrated Walking on Earth with Thich Nhat Hanh, along with its revised Spanish edition, Mis Andares por la Tierra con mi Maestro Zen Thich Nhat Hanh, which addresses gender inclusivity in Spanish. Her work has also appeared in The Mindfulness Bell and on her sangha’s website. Her books and copies of her art can be accessed through her website: www.manuscriptsandmandalas.com Magda holds a Doctorate in Education from the University of Maryland, USA and is a former professor of world language pedagogy and Restorative Justice facilitator. She has long advocated for marginalized youth, presenting internationally and publishing her work through her blog, truejustice4youth.org, and other outlets.
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Maíra loves the scent of wet earth, lots of coffee, baking bread and walking barefoot.
Maíra Fernandes de Melo (she/it) is a journalist, scholar, poet and activist, and Order of Interbeing Aspirant, working on building bridges towards a free existence for all beings – and on burning the ones systemic oppression has built.
Born in the lands of Tupinambás, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she grew up surrounded by the waters of Atlantic Ocean and the mountains of Atlantic Forest. She also lived in Argentina, land of Guaraníes – the dense stream of Paraná River embracing her body. Living in the Global South, she has witnessed all sorts of social, racial and environmental injustice.
Maíra has Indigenous (Potiguara and Puri) and European (Portuguese and Spanish) human ancestors, and is a daughter of Oxóssi, orisha of the forests in Brazilian candomblé. She received the 5MT name Engaged Serenity of the Heart and dwells happily in hammocks and jabuticaba trees.
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Carolina León Rolón, Peaceful River of The Heart, (she/her), thread of a colorful ancestral tapestry from the Colombian Andes.
Ancestral land of the Tahamí people, known today as Rionegro in Colombia. Educator at heart and my professional career. As a Spanish linguistics and Literature teacher, I worked over 10 years in economically impoverished communities in Argentina. I recently returned to my natal town in Colombia, where I’m enjoying the process of building connections and constructing a local sangha from scratch.
As migratory birds teach me each year and season, we exist in and are integral part of the rivers of life and love that sustain life on Earth. Taking mindful care of this small territory where I am currently located for the well-being of all beings.
Caro enjoys poetry, painting and textile arts, she loves swimming and smiles with amazement at the cosmic elements present in her morning cup of hot chocolate.
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Kat Liu (she/her/ta) is the daughter of Chinese immigrants to the United States by way of Taiwan. She grew up with a cultural mix of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian and folk traditions from her family and exposure to Christianity from the larger, dominant society. Kat received the Five Mindfulness Trainings in 2016 during an Earth Holder retreat at Deer Park monastery, with the dharma name Joyful Engagement of the Heart.
In addition to practicing in the Plum Village tradition, she is a long time Unitarian Universalist (UU). While working for the Unitarian Universalist Association in their DC office, Kat’s areas of focus were immigration and environmental justice. She served briefly on the Board of UU Ministry for Earth, and was the chair of the Environmental Justice working group in her UU congregation.
After many years away, Kat is happy to return to her home city of San Francisco to help care for her aging father. She sits with True Home Sangha, a PV BIPOC-only sangha that meets via Zoom, and with Home Within Sangha, a PV sangha that meets in her UU church. Kat currently works as a Coordinator for ARISE Sangha (Awakening through Race, Intersectionality, and Social Equity), as well as being a writer, potter, and stained glass artist.
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Aaron Solomon, Brother Fulfillment, is a mindfulness and meditation teacher, counselor, trauma healer, and climate justice activist. For 14 years he lived as a Buddhist monastic in the Plum Village tradition as a student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. He is an ordained Dharma teacher and member of the Order of Interbeing, also founded by Thich Nhat Hanh. Aaron works one on one and with groups in the field of trauma healing and is trained in Somatic Experiencing. He also uses the teachings and practices of Nonviolent Communication. Aaron has been active in supporting young adult mindfulness communities, organizing and leading listening circles, and supporting a wide array of communities engaged in social transformation and healing, including climate justice activism and earth-holding. Aaron currently lives and works in New York City, and enjoys spending time in solitude, and also with friends, in the forests of New England, and also of his native home of California. Website: Integrated Mindfulness and Trauma Healing
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Janette Terrazas (she/her/ella) is a textile artist, yoga professor and buddhist practitioner hailing from the Ciudad Juarez, Mexico border. Through her artistry, Janette weaves a powerful tapestry of change, challenging narratives surrounding climate change, racial tensions, gender inequality, and political crises, transforming threads into catalysts for conversation and unraveling the complexities of our world through a narrative of resilience and hope. In the vibrant borderland spirit, her textiles become a medium for social change, inviting viewers to engage with pressing global issues through the lens of creativity and compassion. In 2014 she started to read Thay´s teachings and felt very connected with his loving and accessible zen way. Through reading Thay books and participating in the local sangha Tiep Hien she got more involved with the global sangha, then in 2021 when she was living in the UK participated in Smiling Heart Sangha of Southampton. Now she is currently bringing the practice of mindfulness to groups of migrant women in a shelter within the border in Ciudad Juárez, México.
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