Amore Alvarenga (They/Them/Theirs) believes in the power that all people especially queer, trans, gender non-binary, Black, brown, Indigenous, people of color hold to break cycles of toxicity and create thriving environments. They have supported individuals and communities in developing safe and creative spaces to enhance resources, build relationships, connect to the Earth, and transmute trauma. This has included conducting community participatory action research through LMU PARC and South LA Community Coalition, facilitating creative healing spaces at the Guadalupe Homeless Project, organizing with the Center for Service and Action, and supporting the resilience focused reentry of womxn at Century Regional Detention Facility all located on the Tongva lands of Los Angeles. Additionally, they developed and facilitated empowerment based, healing focused programs for youth mandated to non-secure placements in the Lenape lands of New York City. They served as the Juvenile* Justice Coordinator at the NYC Family Court Division where they advocated for community-based, restorative responses for youth involved in the legal intervention system. As a 2019 Youth Justice Leadership Institute fellow, Amore designed and facilitated the NYC Family Court Division’s Pride Initiative, a trauma-and resiliency-informed systems change approach to support and affirm LGBTQ+ youth and communities. They bring this passion and experience to the Restorative Justice Project at Impact Justice where they support communities in dismantling cycles of structurally driven violence by creating relationships-focused, strengths-based responses to harm.
Amore earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology with a double minor in Womxn and Gender Studies, and Chicanx studies from Loyola Marymount University. La lengua materna de Amore es español. They are a graduate of the Center for Juvenile Justice’s Reform Supporting the Well-being of System-Impacted LGBTQ Youth Capstone Program. They are most passionate about somatic and nature based healing practices. Ultimately Amore’s greatest teachers have been their deep connection to the Earth, their ancestors, and their abundantly loving community.
*Amore believes that language drives culture and shapes paradigms. “Juvenile” is a criminalizing term that carries a racist history that has been used to dehumanize young people, especially young people of color. This term is used in the bio to accurately reflect the language of the position Amore held within a system, but in order to uplift healing and possibility it is important to use language that centers the inherent value of every person, especially those impacted by the criminal and youth legal intervention systems.