In this past month, Luis, Joel and I have been passionately aligning our missions and goals in order to give back to communities and lands in México. As our intentions began to take root in the form of Quetzalli, we met Jason Burdge, a nonprofit consultant & founder of Psilocybin Assisted Therapy Association.
Jason and I spent the past couple of weeks diving into the mission of Quetzalli and identifying our challenges and needs. Joel and I knew that we could benefit from a few day training with Jason, and so Joel´s business, Tandava Retreats, generously agreed to fly Jason to México and host him for a 3-day strategic planning intensive with the board of directors!
I am writing to celebrate all we learned with Jason last week!
After 3 days, we walked away with a mission of:
To empower communities engaged in sacred, indigenous practices to preserve and share their knowledge and wisdom.
Why is this important?
Indigenous sacred practices are being diluted, exploited, and lost.
This wisdom helps humanity better understand ourselves and to reconnect to the natural world.
These practices inspire humanity towards a more synergistic relationship with the earth, ourselves and each other.
How will we do this?
Helping communities preserve/conserve sacred medicines.
Empowering communities that are the natural caretakers of sacred medicines to create sustainable and scalable infrastructure.
Offering tools, cooperation, knowledge, and skills to help communities move from survival mode to thriving.
Outcomes of the Vision
Biodiversity will be preserved and enhanced.
Biodiversity that directly supports Sacred Practices
Deliverable - income stream
Indigenous people will have equity in the businesses around their own sacred practices and stay authentic.
Equity-financial. Have the means to make this sustainable. Goes beyond Fair Trade to actual ownership. Community leaders become major player at the table to help create solutions.
Programs are sustainable (answered by Research & Development)
After our few days with Jason, we have decided to dedicate the next 3 months to research and development. We will be visiting communities in:
Sonora - supporting communities acting as guardians of Bufo Alvarius
San Luis Potosi & Nayarit - work with Huitchol and Ha Ta Tukari to support Peyote cultivation and education.
Oaxaca Mountains - connect with projects supporting therapy with mushrooms
Oaxaca - connect with indigenous working with endangered species of Agave.
Morelos - support project with Corn, Copal, and other local medicines.
Our team is undergoing the very important process of building our organizational base.
Big thanks to NinjaNumber and Care2Call for a complementary phone number!