MAKING SOUL

I am a soul-inspired storyteller and guide who empowers others to (re)connect to their inner truth and live their purpose in their outer worlds.

“You are the shaper of your flesh as well as of your soul. According to the ancient nauhas, one was put on earth to create one’s “face” (body) and “heart” (soul). To them, the soul was a speaker of words and the body a doer of deeds.”

- Gloria Anzaldúa, Making Face, Making Soul/Haciendo Caras

PUBLICATIONS & CURRENT PROJECTS

PUBLIC SPEAKING & WORKSHOPS

HIGHER EDUCATION

OFFERINGS

MAKING SOUL COMMUNITY CIRCLE / CÍRCULO

* Next Círculo: Friday, April 11 *

charting our unique paths | (re)writing and owning stories | recovering histories reclaiming cultural practices + ancestral wisdom | stepping into our power

~ Spring Book Talks ~

With ¡Somos Tejanas! Editors & Co-contributors:

April 25 | Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Bookstore | San Antonio, Texas | 6 PM

April 30 | Northwest Vista College | San Antonio, Texas | 6 PM

May 18 | BookWoman | Austin, Texas | 4:30 PM

PUBLIC SPEAKING

Workshops, Talks, & Professional Development

for professionals, in higher ed, community groups, schools, and organizations.

“Unsilencing the Past: Inspiring Belonging Through History and Memory”

Workshop

*This workshop is based on my recent publication in Somos Tejanas! Chicana Identity and Culture in Texas (UT Press 2025). It can be tailored to educators and other various groups and settings.

Available for Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month 2025 Presentations & Workshops

Please contact me for more information on speaking engagements.

“Cultivating Belonging Through “inner work": Insights from Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands” Trinity University, November 2024 (left).

Thrive In and Beyond Higher Ed Offerings

A holistic approach to supporting communities within higher education through coaching, workshops, and consulting.

~ COACHING ~

Personalized, Holistic Coaching

Serving academics and others navigating higher education.

* Please reach out to discuss your goals and charting your path.

1:1 Support Sessions

“Leading in the Borderlands: Inclusivity in Practice” School Directors and Chairs workshop, Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas, August 2024

~ WORKSHOPS ~

  • The Holistic Academic: Thriving In and Beyond Higher Ed

  • Cultivating Belonging through ‘inner work’: Insights from Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands

  • Leading in the Borderlands: Inclusivity in Practice (geared towards those in leadership positions)

  • Mentoring Latinx Students in Higher Ed

  • Caring for Ourselves as Self-Preservation

  • Navigating Academia As Faculty and Staff of Color

*Customizable offerings available. Workshops can be tailored to serve undergraduate, graduate, staff, or faculty groups. Please reach out for further information.

Ethnographic & Cultural Consulting

  • Ethnographic and archival research and analyses.

  • Creating inclusive spaces and pedagogies in higher ed, K-12, and community settings through story.

  • Exhibit, television, and film consultation on Chicana/o/x and Tejana/o/x history, culture, and social justice causes.

  • Recent project: UTSA Democratizing Racial Justice Project/birthing justice initiative, a university-community partnership supported by the Mellon Foundation.

Headshot of Dr. Brenda Sendejo

I am a soul-inspired storyteller and guide who empowers others to (re)connect to their inner truth and live their purpose in their outer worlds.

- Dr. Brenda Sendejo, Storyteller, Facilitator, Author & Guide

Access to “unsilencing the past” by way of recovered histories, along with (re)writing and (re)claiming my own personal story changed the course of my life. I have witnessed the immense impact of such processes of storytelling on hundreds of students and numerous audiences over the years as an educator and facilitator. I am committed to helping you and your community to experience the transformative effects of (re)writing and (re)claiming your stories and hence, your power.

As I discuss in my forthcoming book on Chicana spiritual activism, learning the stories of women in the Chicana movement in Texas and the histories they uncovered transformed me. These encounters with the past and a new way of seeing the world and myself led me to earn a PhD in cultural anthropology and to my work as a storyteller, facilitator, and coach today.

As a published author, award-winning educator, former faculty member and department chair, mentor, and chair of a national professional organization, I continually return to the power of story. Stories can silence, damage, and deter—but they also empower, heal, and allow us a deeper connection to ourselves and others.

With 20 years of experience teaching, mentoring, and publishing on Chicana/Tejana feminism, history, and activism, and a background in museum education and exhibit development, I help Latinas, Chicanas, other women of color and their communities to uncover and amplify silenced histories, including their own. I integrate experience with intersectional feminist methodologies, inclusive pedagogies, and community-building work with underserved groups both in and beyond higher education. I bring a wealth of expertise and a commitment to liberation and social change to my work.

I am guided by the wisdom of my own teachers and continually reminded that aligning with and operating from our truth-including (re)writing our own stories-can inspire self-empowerment and healing and bring meaning to our lives and those of others. In the worlds of Gloria Anzaldúa, “I change myself, I change the world.”

Please reach out to discuss how I can support you and your community!

brenda@brendasendejoconsulting.com 512.791.9808

brenda sendejo, phd

author | storyteller | speaker