Meet the XC Team
Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Zen priest, Rōshi | founder & senior fellow
Called “the most intriguing African-American Buddhist” by Library Journal, Rev. angel Kyodo williams was made for these times. She has been bridging the worlds of transformation and justice since her critically acclaimed book, Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace was hailed as “an act of love” by Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker, and “a classic” by Buddhist pioneer Jack Kornfield.
Her work, Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love & Liberation, is igniting communities to have conversations necessary to become more awake and aware of what hinders liberation of self and society. Rev. angel applies wisdom teachings, embodied practice, and is a leading voice for Transformative Social Change. Known for her willingness to sit with and speak uncomfortable truths with love. Rev. angel notes, “Love and Justice are not two. Without inner change, there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters”.
KG Martinez | they, them | chief of strategy
KG is well-seasoned in the cultivation of transformative team culture and human eco-systems. They have 10+ years in organizational development, strategic planning, organizing, coaching and supervision, and project management. Their commitment to generative emergence draws out the juiciness in individual people who are engaged in collective work. This is the magic they bring to Transformative Change. Founder of Nepantla Navigations LCC, KG is a Colorado based movement worker, artist, writer, weaver, alchemist, bruja, mama, singer, gender non-binary mixed race/mestizx (brown/white), and nepantlera.
DSL | they, them | development weaver
DSL, a Black queer non-binary mama of Haitian/Canadian descent, works at the intersection of wealth redistribution, embodied healing practices and community development. DSL is a founding member of Kibilio Community and Farm and served as Executive Director of the Brooklyn Zen Center from 2015 to 2019. DSL contributes strategic planning and engagement skills to gather the resources to scale Transformative Change (SXC). Learn more about DSL’s
Desiree Nicole Lester aka desi | dear one, she | fundraising manager
Desiree is a serial intraprenuer, trained wellness practitioner and vibe curator. She has dedicated 10,000 hours to community organizing, meditation and social media.
In 2019, desi landed her first meditation residency where she found Rev. angels book Radical Dharma. At RD Camp at Omega Desi learned to activate praxis in the community. Joining Liberated Life Network allowed Desiree to stay connected and find trusted virtual friends during lockdown. No Big Deal Sits and Road Map to Liberation programming helps desi bridge the gap between her personal and work life.
desi is a heart center leader and external processor. Desiree joins the XC team with the intention to amplify the visionary leadership at XC. You can learn a bit more about desi’s life and work in Portland, ME here.
Sydney | she, hers | administrative assistant
Sydney Searchwell-Simpson is a lover and student of the world. She fundamentally believes that liberation from systems of domination and oppression (within ourselves and around us) is a collective/collaborative endeavour; it requires the stories, expressions, imagination and participation of all who live in our shared world. Her heart and work is rooted in exploring holistic approaches to transforming individual, collective, historical and systematic traumas to create spaces of unity, reconnection, belonging and liberation. Though this work is ever-evolving, Sydney is currently focused on creating food forest community gardens that restore the health of the soil, encourage the return of biodiverse ecosystems and lay the foundation for humanity to be in reparative relationship with life in all its forms. It is her hope that our communities unite to take joyous and fierce responsibility for a liberated world and our ways of living and loving so that they may honour those of the past, those in the present, and those yet to come.
nykké ford- director | media-content, projects & special engagements
nykké ford, MAOP-LSCE, NPCRSS is a strategist, anthropologist, alchemist & equity paraprofessional. nykké enjoys anchoring work that embodies & cultivates Liberation for all beings. nykké is a MNDFL, Chopra, & eCPR certified instructor that espouses rest, innovation, imagination, joy & service. nykké’s service background seeds collaboration with communal, collective, & organizational leadership to design + nurture proximate people-centric collaborative unboxed experiences.
nykké is XC’s OG staff member, and has been building alongside Rev angel for many years. As the anchor of all things Radical Dharma, and director of special projects, nykke has an eye towards XC’s vision and the praxis of our movement building work.
Hia Phua | they, them | ESJC program administrator
Hia is a Queer, Trans immigrant of Chinese and Thai ancestry, mixed cultural heritage and transnational experience, a yoga, somatic movement and meditation facilitator, and participant in the “No Big Deal SIT” collective. An explorer of healing and belonging as activism, Hia also brings forward their experiences as a program and project manager, embracer of emergent strategy, and organizational and operations consultant with startups, grassroots and international nonprofits, government agencies and multinational corporations.
As the Embodied Social Justice Certification (ESJC) program transitioned to XC this spring, Hia has stepped up and into holding this program with commitment, curiosity, and vision.
Chandler Phillips | she, hers | Storytelling & Collective Gathering Anchor
Raised with roots in the South and the West Indies, Chandler (she/her) comes from people and lands of warmth, magic, and tender strength. Chandler is deeply committed to co-creating spaces of healing, love and imagination. Her work reflects this, as the former Impact & Engagement Manager at Sundance Institute, Lewis Hine Documentary Fellow, and current graduate student at Columbia School of Social Work. Chandler is passionate about the convergence of storytelling, healing love, and social justice. This is the intersectional talent she brings to our team: artistry, narrative, and radical imagination. They are anchoring Collective Watch, Radical Dharma Support & Storytelling, and more to come!
Ceiz castelblanco | she, her, 6 | creative manager
ceiz manages design development, graphics production and visual presentation for XC programs, marketing and communications. When the pandemic hit the U.S. in early 2020, ceiz, like so many, found a place to breath and a collective to breathe with in the Liberated Life Network and the No Big Deal SIT. Soon after, ceiz began volunteering with XC and had the opportunity to serve on the team that brought the Great Radical Race Read to life.
ceiz is a performance artist and singer who relates with songs as transmissions. Her visual artwork involves drawings of what she calls “life-lines”– intricate lines that explore the interplay between micro & macro perspectives. ceiz also enjoys mountains & trees, big cities and loves to rock a dance floor.
Anthony | he, him | media manager
K. Anthony Williams is a professional video production specialist with over thirty years in the industry. K. Anthony’s also enjoyed a collegiate and semi-professional career playing his first love, American Football at the Quarterback position. Finally deciding to hang up his cleats at the age of 36, opting for health and longevity, K. Anthony now enjoys traveling, caretaking, boating, fishing and more relaxed activities. K. Anthony enjoys working with his sister, Rev. angel, with the goal of bringing the world sustainable and real transformative change that will help push the world into a more mindful and inclusive state of existence for all to enjoy.
Simona Linda Coayla-Duba | she, her | executive assistant
Simona Linda Coayla-Duba (she/her) resides on the land of the Quechua peoples or Urubama, Peru. She is a graduate of the Environmental Studies department at Naropa University and enjoys weaving webs of community resilience and uncovering pockets of joy wherever she can. In addition to being Chief of Staff to Rev angel Kyodo williams, Simona is the Community Coordinator for Earth Holder Community, Inc. an environmental justice initiative within the Plum Village community following Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. She is a trail-runner, rock-climber, tea-drinker and aspires to be a good ancestor.
Kelly J Pollard | she, they | operations support
Kelly is a way finder—bringing ease and flow into the spaces she supports. She is intentional and consistent yet always looking for ways that adaptation reveals solutions. With a background in reproductive justice and supporting community change, Kelly cares deeply about co-authoring frameworks that support individuals and their communities to thrive through stacking functions and finding synergies.
Kelly gardens, mamas, loves, and breathes with a strong commitment to finding pleasure in the work.
Sheila Lactao | administrative assistant
Sheila Lactao brings a varied wealth of knowledge to business owners and entrepreneurs who wish to grow and scale up. Always curious, Sheila relishes the challenge of learning new software or applications and as technology changes, she is one of the first to adopt and embrace new skills.
Sikander Mann | Web and Software developer
Sikander is a web developer. He spend their whole day, practically every day, experimenting with PHP, WordPress, and JavaScript. Sikander builds websites that delight and inform. He is always curious, and he enjoys work that challenges him to learn something new and stretch in a different direction. Sikander does his best to stay on top of changes in the state of the art so that he can meet challenges with tools well suited to the job at hand.
In addition to their in-house work, He wrote a variety of articles on development for publications. He enjoys what he does, and he always enjoys sharing tidbits with others.
Afshan Kiran | administrative assistant
Afshan is a graduate engineer and choses freelancing as a passion to explore the world through the internet and grow her skills. Each day she is gaining knowledge of different things working with XC. In everyday life, Afshan loves to be friendly, meet people and get a strong bond with them. She especially likes to spend time with her family. Afshan enjoys eating, outings, shopping, wearing traditional dresses, and learning cultural language.