ABOUT THE HOSTS
Danielle Thanh Trúc DươngDanielle is the youngest daughter of Vietnamese refugees. She was born and raised in conservative suburb of Orange County, CA (Tongva land) where she never felt true belonging. After moving to the Bay Area (Chochenyo Oholone land) for college, through mentorship and community work, she woke up to her privileges and cultural context and developed a political consciousness that deeply shaped her understanding of the world.
Three years ago, she embarked on a spiritual journey to reclaim lost parts of herself, uncovering insight into familial and intergenerational wounds and initiating a lifetime's process of healing. Her path completely uprooted all that she'd known, yet is bringing her closer and closer to home, her truest self. With the support and wisdom of her beloveds, mentors, teachers, and the medicine of mother earth, she is deeply committed to developing an awakened mind and a tender heart for the benefit of all living beings. Danielle has Master degrees in Public Health and Public Policy. She has diverse experiences in healthcare consulting, public policy, and government affairs. As an integral life coach, she blends curiosity, insight, and mindfulness tools to facilitate positive transformation within individuals, teams, organizations, and communities. She is a rope skipper, ball player, born again creator, lover of all things dark skies, nature's biggest fan, amateur photographer, and admirer of life's smallest details. Her place of refuge is in the mountains under the moon and stars. Explore more of Danielle's writing at her personal blog, Insight Arising.
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Ina Adele Phương Liên Ray (Adele)
Adele is the youngest of 2 full Vietnamese siblings and one mixed-race sibling. Her Vietnamese mother met her American father in El Paso, Texas in 1969 during the Vietnam War. Her mother was teaching Vietnamese to American servicemen. Adele was born and raised in northern Virginia in a suburb of DC.
Her Ong Ngoai (grandfather) was an avid Buddhist practitioner and he translated Buddhist texts from Vietnamese to French in his retirement years. Adele began practicing Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist meditation methods that helped her survive living in NYC for many years before getting married and moving to Oakland, CA (Chochenyo Ohlone land) in 2011. Adele found a beautiful and diverse meditation community at East Bay Meditation Center where she met her spiritual teacher, Carol Cano, who is the lead teacher of the Braided Wisdom Leadership Training Program that both Adele and Danielle are students in. |
Adele has received the blessings of Buddhist teachings and methods as well Indigenous wisdom and healing practices that have helped her work through and understand past feelings of anger, anxiety and depression. She is also interested in Jungian therapy and dream interpretation. Adele works as a video producer/director and has a MA in Media Studies & Film from the New School. She has 20 years of experience working in film/video production and 15+ years of experience teaching media production and theory courses at the college-level (New School, NYU, Parsons, & Berkeley City College). She is currently developing a personal film essay, “From Descendant to Ancestors” that is recollection of family stories in Vietnam, memories of Adele's youth in the U.S., and dreamlike confrontations with surreal formations of intergenerational trauma. Adele is a Senior Producer for MyHealthTeam, a start-up in SF that creates social networks for people living with chronic conditions. She also serves on the Board of the non-profit Re-Present Media as well as the Film and Animation Advisory Board at Chabot College. It is Adele’s hope to integrate her knowledge of film and media with her spiritual learnings to channel healing and spirit for the benefit of all beings. (https://www.adeleray.com/)