Reset and Retreat with Chosen Collective

The Chosen Collective & Grantmakers in the Arts Presents...

THE BIPOC WELLNESS SPACE

Some of our Ancestor’s wildest dreams included….a nap or an opportunity to reset.

We invite you to find a moment to pause and reset between meetings, finding ease and regulate your central nervous system. You will have the opportunity to receive bodywork work with local and national wellness practitioners rooted in community care. Whether you’re joining us to stretch, a massage, or coloring a book of Butches (you read that right), —we hope you will join us for a moment of calm, ease and joy.

Some of our Ancestor’s wildest dreams included….a nap or an opportunity to reset.

We invite you to find a moment to pause and reset between meetings, finding ease and regulate your central nervous system. You will have the opportunity to receive bodywork work with local and national wellness practitioners rooted in community care. Whether you’re joining us to stretch, a massage, or coloring a book of Butches (you read that right), —we hope you will join us for a moment of calm, ease and joy.

THE WELLNESS SPACE

Massage & Hilot

Grounding, Stretch & Breathwork

Kemetic Yoga & Sound Bath

Ancestral Dance Workshop

October 20th

Grantmakers in the Arts Conference

WHO IS HOLDING THE ROOM

BOOK A Body Work Service

BOOK A MASSAGE

Tuesday, October 20 • Massage and Hilot appointments are available throughout the wellness programming.

Rakiya Thompson, LMT

MASSAGE & BODYWORK

Certified massage therapist with more than three years of experience. Specializes in Swedish massage and therapeutic intuitive bodywork, combining soothing techniques with a personalized approach.

Book with Rakiya

Tanechia Berry-Allen, LMT

MASSAGE & BODYWORK

Licensed massage therapist with more than 17 years of experience and certifications in Medical Massage and Manual Lymphatic Drainage.

Additional services include relaxation, deep tissue, prenatal, geriatric, hot stone, integrated cupping, and chair massage.

Book with Tanechia

Sinaya Abellera Surla Aldridge

HILOT PRACTITIONER

Sinaya integrates Filipino healing traditions with education, storytelling, restorative practices, and community engagement. Her Hilot schedule includes 25-minute sessions.

Book with Sinaya

Holistic wellness healing workshop

Holistic Healing Workshops &

Care Offering

TUESDAY • 8:30 AM

Morning Grounding,

Stretch & Breathework

(BIPOC & LGBTQIA+ Space)

Gabrielle Jamison

A blend of Vinyasa and Restorative Yoga with breath-centered movement, restorative poses, deep breathing, and stillness to release tension and promote relaxation. No prior yoga experience is necessary. All bodies are welcome.

TUESDAY • 2:30 PM

Kemetic Yoga

& Sound Bath

Returning to the Wisdom of Rest

Libby Campo & Jacqueline E. Oselen

Drawing from the wisdom of ancient Kemet (Egypt), participants will be guided through gentle, accessible movements, conscious breathing, and mindfulness practices designed to regulate the nervous system, release tension, and restore energetic balance. The practice will transition into an immersive sound bath featuring healing frequencies and meditative soundscapes that encourage deep relaxation, reflection, and renewal.

Created with a healing justice lens, this session acknowledges the unique demands often placed on those working in service, advocacy, philanthropy, and the arts. Participants are invited to experience rest not as a luxury, but as a vital practice of resistance, sustainability, and collective liberation.

No prior yoga experience is necessary. All bodies, abilities, identities, and levels of experience are welcome.

MONDAY • 6:30 PM

Ancestral

Dance

Workshop

Dio Aldridge

Ancestral connection is carried through word and movement and can connect us to past, present, and future. This guided space is designed to nurture meaningful connections and conversations while helping participants leave replenished and grounded.

TUESDAY • 8:30 AM

Morning

Grounding,

Stretch & Breathework

Gabrielle Jamison

A blend of Vinyasa and Restorative Yoga with breath-centered movement, restorative poses, deep breathing, and stillness to release tension and promote relaxation.

No prior yoga experience is necessary.

TUESDAY • 2:30–3:00 PM

Kemetic Yoga

& Sound Bath

Returning to the Wisdom of Rest

Libby Campo & Jacqueline E. Oselen

A restorative experience drawing from Kemetic Yoga, conscious breathing, mindfulness, meditation, and immersive sound healing.

TUESDAY • 12:30 PM

Mid-Afternoon

Stretch & Reset

A space to pause and reset during the conference day. The source notes that a separate room may be needed if this is not held in the lunch area.

WHO IS HOLDING THE ROOM

Sinaya Abellera

Surla Aldridge

she / her /siya

SPACE HOLDER & HILOT PRACTITIONER

Filipino American educator, scholar, writer, creative, and manghihilot. For more than 15 years, she has worked across higher education, leadership development, and community engagement.

Trained through the Hilot Academy of Binabaylan, Sinaya integrates Filipino healing traditions with education, storytelling, restorative practices, and creative work.

Dio E. Aldridge

he / él

CO-FOUNDER & CEO, CHOSEN COLLECTIVE CONSULTING

Dio is a Blatiné trans man with deep Afro-Caribbean and Latiné roots, born in Limón, Costa Rica and raised in Southern California. A household led by a Baptist minister and a social worker shaped his commitment to community, care, and collective transformation.

He brings over a decade of equity work through education, storytelling, policy transformation, and community building, including a turn as Interim Tri-Director of the Salus Center at the height of the pandemic. Dio believes in difficult, transformative dialogue paired with action, care, and a good nap.

Meet the Community Care Team

Gabrielle Jamison

YOGA • MINDFULNESS

Yoga & Breathwork

Gabrielle Jamison

8:30–9:00 AM

Owner of GEM Jamison’s Wellness Studio

Gabrielle Jamison is a wellness educator, yoga instructor, and mindfulness practitioner committed to making evidence-informed wellness practices accessible to individuals and communities. She is the founder of GEM Jamison’s Wellness Studio, where she provides yoga, meditation, restorative practices, and mindfulness-based programming designed to reduce stress, support mobility, and strengthen overall wellbeing across diverse populations.

Her teaching experience includes adults, seniors, teens and multi-generational community programming through her studio and community-based settings. In addition to teaching, Gabrielle has led wellness presentations and guided mindfulness and movement practices for healthcare professionals, including radiology staff, as well as social workers, caregivers and teen girls.

Gabrielle’s background in healthcare informs her practical, trauma-aware approach to stress management, resilience, and whole-person wellbeing. Through community-centered classes, workshops, and educational programming, Gabrielle’s work focuses on helping participants build practical skills for resilience, stress reduction, and long-term wellbeing.

Libby Campo

YOGA • YOUR INNER YOGI

Yoga / Kemetic Yoga & Sound Bath

Libby & Jackie

2:30–3:00 PM

Introduced to Tantra yoga in 2007, Libby Campo came to the belief that everyone can benefit from the powers of yoga on and off their mats. Her personal practice evolved over the years such that now it has become a daily ritual of mindfulness and authenticity that permeates both her personal and professional lives. Upon graduating, she opened Your Inner Yogi in Downtown Memphis, the first black-owned Yoga Studio in the city to build community and be a resource for anyone interested in discovering the art of yoga.

Off her mat, Libby Campo has also devoted much of her professional life to helping others build self-confidence and awareness in the Human Services field, serving families and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The core facets of her experience and education in Organizational Leadership and Behavioral Sciences led her to work in a field that improves the mental health and personal well-being of others. Her enthusiasm for her work presented an opportunity for her to seek other ways to help improve the quality of their lives.

Yogi, a professional, life partner, and mother of three, Libby has learned that less is more and has observed the impacts of societal conditioning and pressures leading us to push ourselves beyond our limits. She believes that slowing down and connecting with our breath is essential and that we all have a place on our mats, no matter one’s age, fitness level, race, sexual orientation, or economic status.

Jacqueline E. Oselen

HOLISTIC WELLNESS

Yoga / Kemetic Yoga & Sound Bath

2:30–3:00 PM

Libby & Jackie

Founder of Jackie O! Holistic Wellness

This gifted practitioner has impacted thousands of lives as a sacred space holder and community healing cultivator. Her global wellness community, the Sapphire Sanctuary is a container in which women are held, affirmed and celebrated as abundant, worthy spiritual beings. As Founding Organizer of Memphis Black Healers Collective, she has become a trusted resource and advocate for efforts that seek to amplify the urgency of Black health and healing approaches that integrates trauma-informed, culturally responsive, holistic wellness practices and rituals into urban neighborhoods. She especially enjoys curating rest spaces in which Black and brown people can simply be free to breathe, feel, heal, and recover from the damaging impact of race-based stress and trauma.

Often referred to as “The Jackie O! Experience,” her coaching and space holding creates an environment in which individuals can tap in to the love, power and capacity to resource themselves from the inside. Her work reflects a commitment to enhancing quality of life where individuals and the collective are healthy, vibrant and whole

Angela Thomas, LMT

MASSAGE & BODYWORK

Owner, Oasis Massage Studio & Suites

I’m Angela Thomas, a Licensed Massage Therapist and the founder of Oasis Massage Studio & Suites. I earned my certification from The Massage Institute of Memphis. I am passionate about creating a space where every client feels seen, cared for, and truly relaxed. I specialize in Swedish, Deep Tissue, Sports, Prenatal, and Hot Towel/Stone Massages, as well as Couples Massages and special events.