We root ourselves in radical care
in a world that conditions us to celebrate and value individualistic thinking when what we desperately need is collective care.
We are committed to constant growth and reflection to ensure our work, values, and purpose are in alignment with a healthy and sustainable ecological system that supports restoring us back into right relations with the world.
Right Relations is an Indigenous concept honoring the mutual reciprocity between all living beings. We believe as we do this work in systems rooted in capitalism, oppression, and the exploitation of marginalized communities, we acknowledge that our work cannot simply be self serving nor profiting off the backs of people who have been harmed but we must work to set us and our clients towards some level of healing and reconciliation of the ailments of our society.
As consultants, we ask ourselves and clients striving to do equity work:
“What are we willing to risk for justice and change?”
“Who is carrying what, workwise and personally, on our team?”
“How do we redistribute the work in fair ways that both meet the needs of our goals and at our core feel good to each one of us?”
“How do we choose to move through conflicts towards transformation without inflicting further harm on others and ourselves as best as we can?”
We invoke the Chakana, an Andean cross, as our guiding compass.
In Quechua, the word chakay (root of the word Chakana) means “to cross” or “bridge.” We approach our partnerships and work with the commitment to crossing, bridging, and growing towards efforts, actions, and solutions that realign the world into right relations with our environment, our people, and our lands.
In the Chakana, there are three sacred animal spirits: the Cóndor, the Puma, and the Serpent. In our work at Nguyễn Esparza Community Impact Strategies, these are the ways in which the wisdom of the three sacred spirit animals show up:
Our People
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Samay is a queer Andean descendant, proud brujandera originally from Quito, Ecuador, and rooted in the values they learned from growing up in a colonized country where their community has had to constantly defend their sovereignty and their right to honor their land. Growing up they learned from organizers who have fought against the brutality, dehumanization and social and economic devastation caused by oil extraction in the Amazon. As well as from the elders and fellow guerreres who continue to demand autonomy over women's bodies and rights of the LGBTQIA community in Latin America. They migrated to Nipmuc Land (Massachusetts) as a teenager and continued their commitment to liberation movements as an organizer, a policy advocate, a community weaver, artist, and healer. Samay has over 13 years of experience working in grassroots movements, government, schools, nonprofit, philanthropy, public health, and higher education. Samay is also a Doula and a Spanish medical and community interpreter.
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Guided by their chosen and blood ancestors, Samay believes that the purpose of their existence is to protect our lives and lands for the generations to come while breaking cycles, facing trauma and harm, and fiercely relying on community, and moving in the world with ease and joy.
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Program Development & Evaluation
Board Development
Executive Coaching
Leadership Development
Organizational Management
Strategic Planning & Visioning
Anti-Racism and Decolonizing Facilitation and Trainings
Convening and Thought-partnership
Trauma Informed Care
Managing and Leading an Effective Team
Data Strategy, and Needs Assessments
Talent Recruitment
Hiring and Management
Values-based Leadership
Team Culture & Wellness
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Nancy is an Ecuadorian immigrant, a mother, a wife, and a lover of the ocean. She is a public health practitioner and educator with 27 years of experience. She has focused her career on developing and sustaining community-academic-governmental partnerships to address health disparities. She has extensive experience in the establishment and promotion of patient-centered health care services, with a commitment to health equity and language justice. Most recently, she focuses on providing support to non-profit organizations to access and sustain multi-year funding. Nancy is a certified health care interpreter, licensed community interpreter trainer, and mindfulness instructor.
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Committed to human beings’ birthright to happiness and wholesome lives. Nancy leads with the aspiration to ensure all people have access to health care, education, economic freedom, communicative autonomy, and wellness.
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Medical and Community Interpretation
Curriculum Development and Program Evaluation
Translation and Editing
Coach & Speaker Policy Design
Strategic Planning
Financial Planning & Budget Development
Philanthropy
Nonprofit Management
Partnership exploration
Project Manager specializing in strategy implementation & creating effective operational processes
Convening and Thought-leadership
Cross-sector Collaborations
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Etel is a community organizer, political leader, and mother. After fleeing her native Albania from political violence as a teenager and later immigrating to the United States, she dedicated the next decades to mentoring youth, organizing for climate justice with mothers, and advocating for just housing and homelessness policies in public housing and homeless shelters. As the first Albanian-born immigrant elected to Worcester City Council, she advocated for road safety, affordable housing, homelessness prevention and tenant protection policies. She fought to hold landlords accountable when 200 of her constituents became homeless after a fire and building collapse displaced them for months and pushed the City to develop its first Emergency Fund for displaced tenants. With over twenty years of community organizing, community building, advocacy, electoral experience and work in the nonprofit sector, she brings a wealth of knowledge to any projects.
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Inspired by a deep love of community and others, and her two boys, Etel leads with her heart and a deep loyalty to the values of giving, community liberation, and justice.
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Community Organizing
Program Development
Policy Development and Analysis
Community Engagement
Board Development
Justice Equity Diversity & Inclusion Implementation
Community Outreach
Political Organizing
Issue Campaign Organizing
State Legislative Analysis
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Maydeé is an Afro-Latina woman from Puerto Rico and proud LGBTQ+ member. Maydeé is grounded in her passion for social justice, equity, cultural awareness and deep commitment to a more just world. During these past 40 years, Maydeé has been on the ground doing direct service work, helping people with chronic illness access health care, supporting families to transition into safe affordable housing, and leading emergency services for seniors, refugees, and vulnerable people. She is an expert in creating and expanding programs towards creating true sustainability while bringing communities together and expanding collaborations.
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Maydeé grew up in a single-family home. Her mother and grandmother taught her to be honest, that she is not better than anyone and if someone is in need or being treated unfairly, we can and we must do something about this. Treating others as you would want to be treated is foundational and rooted in why she does this work.
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Program Development and Evaluation
Community Organizing
Community Engagement
Anti- Racism education
Justice Diversity Equity and Inclusion Implementation
Civic Engagement Organizing
Leadership Development
Cross-sector Collaborations
Nonprofit Management
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Tarik is a facilitator, organizer, artist, and earth worker whose work is rooted in creating spaces for collective joy and imagination. They are deeply passionate about youth-led organizing at the intersections of climate, racial, and disability justice— building on the lineages of their elders in movement work and the ancestors that guide them to visioning more sustainable futures. Tarik’s life spirals around co-weaving, dreaming, and building youth-centered spaces, informed by their 10+ years of experience as a youth worker, arts educator, and community organizer.
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They believe that making space for storytelling, healing, and embodiment in our movement spaces has the power to leverage social change and connect us more deeply to ourselves and each other. They believe that young people hold the power to change everything—not just the future, but the present. They are an ancestor-in-training who hopes to pour into their lineage and future generations all of the care, resourcing, and devotion that has been poured into them.
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Nonprofit Management
Program Design, Development, & Evaluation
Strategic Planning & Visioning
Leadership Coaching & Team Retreats
Conflict & Accountability
Youth-Centered Development / Positive Youth Development
Training & Facilitation in: Creating Youth-Centered Spaces, Embodied Organizing, Rest as a Liberatory Practice
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Alvaro is a community and urban planner with over 4 years of experience in topics related to community development. He is a bilingual and biracial geographer who seeks to amplify people’s voices through his work. Alvaro has experience within public and non-profit sectors, his framework is to be attentive and innovative while listening to the communities he serves. Some of the areas of expertise are GIS analysis and cartography, data assessment and management and assistance in land use and Zoning Development.
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Alvaro enjoys learning about communities, their history, heritage and passions and he tries to make those he serve feel heard. He likes putting in maps and graphs communities’ stories, because he believes images can go a long way and fill those blanks words don’t.
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GIS Analysis
Cartography
Data Assessment
Data Management
Land Use and Zoning Development
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Shannon is a designer who believes every brand has a story to tell—and she’s here to help bring it to life. With a collaborative approach and a passion for storytelling through design, Shannon works closely with clients to create branding, web design, and content that authentically reflects their vision. Her experience includes designing for political campaigns, non-profits, small businesses, and purpose-driven organizations, helping them thrive through thoughtful design and branding strategies that connect with their audiences and inspire action.
Her work is deeply influenced by the peace and freedom of thought she experiences in nature along with her Irish heritage. The magic and depth of Irish folklore inspire her and serve as a reminder of storytelling’s power to connect people, share histories, and inspire change.
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Shannon designs because she believes in the power of storytelling to bring people together, creating meaningful connections, and inspiring positive change. By combining thoughtful design with a deep understanding of community and transformation, she help her clients share their stories in ways that resonate, empower, and make a lasting impact.
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Brand & Identity Exploration
Creative/Content Strategy Development
Branding/Style Guide Design
Website Design
Marketing Design including Social Media Graphics, Newsletters and Advertisement
Political Campaign Design
Content Design
Report, Proposal and Presentation Layout
Data Visualization
Accessible Design Standards
Work With Us
At our core, we’re committed to building a future rooted in radical care and resilient communities who lead with their agency and wisdom. We are a collective of multilingual and multi-disciplinary, passionate advocates and visionaries who have been doing this work for decades together and separately. We know this work takes courage, relationship building, vulnerability, long term investment and it can be messy, painful, complex and feel never ending. We also know it is possible to feel fulfilled, loved, and held while doing it. Together, we’ll create a space that cultivates and nurtures everyone’s needs, sustainable growth, and a shared purpose that goes beyond profit toward collective liberation. We work with groups and organizations regardless of size and operate on a sliding scale to meet the needs of our partners.