I think that I am one of the luckiest people that I know! That probably sounds like that I am full of myself, but I often sit back and listen to people complain about how much they dislike their job. But not me and not today; I get to celebrate 20 years of service delivery, training, consulting, serving my community and practicing the skills that I get to utilize everyday in my career.

When I set out to be a sexual violence educator at 18 and then a harm reduction counselor at 19, I knew that I found the work that I would do for the rest of my life. Well, I actually believe that it chose me and that my Creator set me on this path to work with some of the most vulnerable populations in the greatest need. I was primed from a young age, shaped by my childhood and my family, I knew that I had something to offer and this has lead me to my own business today. I have focused the majority of my word in every level of communicable disease prevention, provided facilitation to a variety of populations, specialized in peer management, and provided capacity building for both health departments and community based organizations.

Two years ago, I launched #Squishytalk, my innovative sexual health work that I have developed. I am formalizing curriculum specific to vulnerable populations that may not receive comprehensive and pragmatic sexual health education and continuing to offer trainings. Keep an eye out on social media for my updates and posts: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Today I am launching my dream, my very own business. Mana First provides consultation services for individuals who are seeking change in their lives, agencies that need more foundational support and development, trainings and facilitation, and innovative sexual health education.

I am so grateful to my Kumu Hula who taught me the essence of my own Mana and the power that we each have to contribute to the greater world. This is the energy that I want to lead with in my services and cultivate in the individuals/agencies that I work with. Mana is an ancient word that is rooted in Polynesian culture. For Hawaiians, which is part of my heritage, we consider our mana as placing authority or power into something or to empower and authorize the work to move forward. I channel the mana (inner strength) that we all bring to our work and resource it to strengthen our work together.

Like the islands, we thrive in our optimal environments when we have the right support, skills, tools, and resources; therefore, I have mapped out my services to reflect an optimal environment (organizational development), the seeds and water (skills and tools), and dragonfly services (interpersonal development through coaching). By utilizing our Mana first we can build stronger individuals, programs, agencies, and communities.

The dragonfly is my logo because it is a representation of the character, strength and determination that individuals possess and is a fierce emblem of transformation, evolution and change that we may be seeking. Let the wings of illumination be a kaleidoscope of information to tap into our Mana, so we can work toward our fullest potential.

Cultivating the Environment: 

Organizational Development & Program Management

We have cultivated the land for thousands of years and in that same way we have to cultivate the environment in which we want to thrive in. Organizational Development offers practical models for building administrative systems within small agencies that are growing and needing more structure. One aspect to consider is the development of policies and procedures to provide a roadmap for management to hold staff accountable and a roadmap for the staff to be successful in knowing how to do their jobs. Cultivating leadership is vital to have an optimal environment as well and agencies can do that be having clear job descriptions, proper supervision, and regular trainings for their leaders to grow. There are a variety of topics that we can focus on to cultivate your agency, support the staff working there and build the overall capacity for all of your programs to thrive. Consider these other areas to cultivate: clarity of roles, developing systems, customer service, and communication.

Planting Seeds and Watering them: 

Trainings & Facilitation

I have been specializing in working with peer staff and developing their skills to retain professional placement for the past 20 years as a trainer and facilitator. I approach the planting of the seeds by setting up a training and the watering of those seeds comes from follow up trainings and support. Concurrent with research, I know that trainings are best conducted when they are provided and then have on-going follow up for skill development and practice are continued. In the premise of Adult Learning Theory, adults optimally learn when they are taught a skill (plant a seed), have the ability to practice that skill (watering the seeds) and then when they are able to teach another individual that same skill (planting new seeds), they have mastered that skill.  I am committed to building the skills of all of the individuals that I work with and want them to retain their skills to their best practicality.

Dragonfly Services: 

Coaching 

Dragonflies are known for transformation, much like this opportunity will illuminate the change that you are seeking to transform in your life. Through providing collaborative and supportive coaching I help assist individuals to become in alignment with theirs goals both personally and professionally.

Dragonfly coaching is a platform to illuminate the possibilities and options that individuals have through their own resourcefulness and resiliency to cultivate the outcomes and solutions that they are seeking.

The dragonfly is able to show itself in different colors depending on the angle and polarization of light falling on it. This magical ability is associated with the discovery of one’s own abilities by unmasking the real self and removing the doubts one casts on their own sense of identity. The dragonfly spirit surprisingly shows up to teach you something during a particular point in your life, much like our work together. Like the dragonfly, my coaching illuminates parts of ourselves that we may be in fear of, have hurt from, feelings of unworthiness around and highlights different colors of opportunity that we may have not seen before.

#Squishytalk: 

Sexual Health Education

My approach to sexual health is different from the traditional abstinence education; I offer a nonjudgmental, pragmatic approach in applying direct health education with facts, gender/orientation, disease outcomes and ways to prevent STDs/HIV, unwanted pregnancies, interpersonal violence and provide a menu of risk reduction options. Therefore, I have created an innovative approach to sexual health education that can reach individuals that may be in greater need of accessing this information.: #Squishytalk

#Squishytalk was innovated while working in San Francisco county jail. I needed a way to reach more individuals across a larger spectrum of age, race, religious beliefs and cultural beliefs about sexual health and risk.  Squishy was cultivated to talk about reproductive health and STD/HIV prevention and reduce the stigma in communicating about sexual health by using a catchy word to describe sexual orifices  (that feel squishy) or sexual engagement without having to say the word ‘sex’. I have found that many people are socialized to not discuss sex, but by not talking about it and learning the facts about sexual risk actually increases individuals risk.

#Squishytalk is a curriculum that is geared to those individuals that may be at greater risk for pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV, individuals that use substances, may have more then one partner, and how they can go about reducing their risk. This curriculum includes anatomy, reproductive health and sexual risk reduction, substance use and sexual risk, interpersonal violence and healthy relationships and many sub-topics are folded into theses areas.

I look forward to working with you or someone that you know that will benefit from my services. Check out my website at www.manafirst.com and let’s work to transform ourselves and our agencies together. #squishytalk

SquishyLady