Rooted in Power- Embodied Youth Leadership

Support for foster and systems-impacted youth

East LA South LA Central LA San Gabriel Valley

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Colonial, carceral, and racialized systems have created conditions of cultural disconnection, disposability, and intergenerational trauma for Indigenous, Black, and Brown youth. These forces disembody youth from self and community, suppress leadership potential, and erode self-worth—leaving many vulnerable to school pushout, incarceration, and violence. Nationally, over 50% of foster and justice-involved youth have trauma-related disorders, and only 55% of BIPOC students say schools encourage them to lead (YouthTruth, 2021). Without spaces to heal and lead, youth may internalize systemic harm. We hear this in circles where youth ask, “What does it mean to be sacred?” and “How do I reclaim myself?” This is a crisis of spirit, identity, and belonging. Now is the time to invest in culturally-rooted, embodied leadership programs that restore confidence, pride, and power—equipping youth to transform the very systems that have failed them.

This grant will support Dance Warriors x Xinachtli, a culturally-rooted leadership and healing program for Indigenous, Black, and Brown youth impacted by the deep harms of colonial, carceral, and racialized systems. Over 8 months, youth will engage in weekly rites of passage circles using KLBRI’s Xinachtli framework—centering ancestral teachings, healing ceremony, and collective leadership development—paired with liberatory movement practices from Michelle Morales’ Dance Warriors curriculum, which weaves psychology, dance, and personal development to restore body connection, cultural pride, and leadership capacity.
Participants will co-design their journey through listening sessions, engage in weekly circles integrating movement, storytelling, and cultural reflection, receive mentorship from elders and facilitators, and lead a community-based social action project. The program culminates in a public performance and rites of passage ceremony that embodies their leadership and healing.
By directly addressing the disembodiment, leadership suppression, and cultural disconnection caused by colonial and racialized systems, Dance Warriors x Xinachtli offers a uniquely integrated pathway for youth to reclaim embodied joy, agency, and collective power.

Dance Warriors x Xinachtli will support Indigenous, Black, and Brown youth in Los Angeles County to reclaim body connection, cultural identity, and leadership capacity—directly addressing the disembodiment and leadership suppression caused by colonial, carceral, and racialized systems. Youth will lead social action projects with the intended short term impact of, stronger community ties, connectedness, and embodied healing through public rites of passage. Long term, this work will foster intergenerational healing, cultural resilience, and youth-led leadership across neighborhoods. Our organizations will also be transformed—deepening our own practices of collective care and leadership. This spirit-centered model offers a scalable blueprint for healing leadership that can expand to more communities, schools, and networks—helping shape a county where youth, families, and communities thrive in joy, justice, and liberation.