I was on the board when Brothers on the Rise was formed back in the mid 2000s, I think around 2010. Even though I’m no longer directly connected, I continue to hold deep respect for this organization and the impact of its work. They have been doing powerful, grounded, relationship-centered work with boys and young men of color for over a decade—centering identity, belonging, accountability, leadership, and healing. Long before these ideas were mainstream, they understood that young people rise when they are seen, challenged, supported, and held in community. The alignment with the mission of Hope Reimagined is strong:✨ whole-person development✨ culturally responsive care✨ community as medicine✨ pathways toward dignity, purpose, and agency This is legacy work. The kind that doesn’t always make headlines, but quietly and consistently changes lives—and communities—for the long haul. Honoring the roots today. 🌿 Please share in the chat what you are honoring today!

Today I want to shine a light on Summer Stars—a truly transformative experience for young people. Summer Stars creates brave, creative spaces where youth are invited to tell the truth, explore identity, build confidence, and use art as a pathway for healing, expression, and leadership. What makes this spotlight especially close to my heart is that my sister, Lisa Pimentel, has worked with Summer Stars for the past several years. I’ve witnessed, again and again, how intentional mentorship, artistry, and care can change trajectories—how being seen and supported in your voice can ripple far beyond a single program or summer. This is the kind of work we love to uplift here in Rooted: youth-centered, arts-forward, grounded in relationship and care, deeply aligned with healing, justice, and possibility If you’re looking for inspiration, hope, or models of what’s possible when we invest in young people and their creativity, Summer Stars is doing it beautifully. 💛 Please share the programs, projects or people that inspire you!!

This is powerful, real intervention work. Outlandish gets queer kids outdoors as a core part of their mental health programming—movement, nature, belonging, and joy woven together in ways that actually land in young nervous systems. @Joyce Lee Thanks for lifting this up! Nature isn’t an add-on; it’s a container for safety, identity affirmation, regulation, and connection. Being seen while being outside, breathing fresh air, moving bodies, and building community—this is prevention, healing, and resilience all at once. Programs like this remind us what it looks like when care is embodied, inclusive, and rooted in the real lives of young people.

I have created a new category, a space to uplift people, programs, and communities doing meaningful healing and care work. While Skool community can be a part of this, the idea behind Rooted Spotlights highlights practices grounded in relationship, embodiment, justice, creativity, and connection to the living world outside of Skool. This is where we honor what’s working, learn from one another, and stay nourished by collective wisdom and possibility. The first highlight is Soulfire Farm. This is a powerful organization doing incredibly important work in the world.

Right now, a group of monks are walking—step by step—from Texas to Washington, DC. No cars, no spectacle.Just bodies in motion, breath by breath, prayer by prayer. In a time when our nervous systems are under constant assault, this walk feels like a quiet, radical act. A reminder that change doesn’t always come through force or volume, but through presence, commitment, and endurance. Walking is one of our most regulating human rhythms. It’s bilateral. It’s grounding. It’s ancient. And these monks are offering that rhythm as a living prayer—for peace, for humanity, for our collective capacity to keep going without hardening. We wanted to spotlight this because it aligns so deeply with what we practice here in this community: - Slowing down - Staying embodied - Choosing connection over collapse - Letting the body lead when the world feels overwhelming I am particular inspired by the people that join them along the way and how it has grown over the months. What helps you stay rooted when the world feels loud and relentless? Drop a reflection below.