‘In Focus’ – An Interview with Fiore Bran-Gorvetzian
Fiore Bran-Gorvetzian (she/her), of Nahuatl, Lenca, and Hispanic descent, is a Central American bilingual educator, storyteller, and trauma-informed yoga practitioner based in unceded Tiwa land (New Mexico, USA).
For the past decade, she has worked with non-profits, educational institutions, and the United Nations to facilitate programs and research on immigrant and refugee issues in Latin America and the US borderlands. Fiore’s research focuses on public narratives on migration, community-based activism, and integration policies for forced immigrants. In 2022, she co-founded Kula Yoga ABQ, a collective that offers trauma-informed and accessible yoga to immigrants and refugees in New Mexico. Fiore is also an International Education Advisor working with foreign students and scholars at the University of New Mexico.
Fiore Bran-Gorvetzian | Bilingual Educator, Storyteller, and Trauma-Informed Yoga Practitioner
“I think we already know we want another future, and that future is possible through our collective action. Even if things become more challenging in the coming years, we are not backing down.”
Tell us about yourself and your work.
I grew up in a Nicaraguan-Salvadoran family with a story of forced migration, one that my parents chose not to share, possibly to avoid painful memories. Our neighbourhood, on the outskirts of Managua, was a settlement created after the war to reintegrate veterans and displaced people from rural areas and other Central American countries. It was a mix of cultures, but also poverty, exclusion, and criminalization. Despite my family’s silence, I became passionate about history, especially telling the stories of my people. In college, I studied Philosophy and Communications to learn how to share these stories with others.
This interest led me to the Nicaragua-Honduras-El Salvador border, where I worked with deported migrant women, facilitating mutual aid and storytelling groups. Their stories revealed the deep effects of colonialism, racism, war, xenophobia, and misogyny on Central American history. Despite these hardships, they found ways to smile and create spaces of hope and resilience. Inspired by them, I began researching the human rights situation of immigrants on the Nicaraguan border, which led to my involvement in student and women’s rights movements in Managua.
In April 2018, the Nicaraguan government violently repressed students protesting environmental justice. As students across the country rose in solidarity, other social movements joined in. I organized support for the movement but soon became a target of government agents, who had already detained and disappeared young activists. By the end of the year, I was one of the few able to leave the country and my loved ones– without the change to say goodbye.
I journeyed to Mexico and found an organization that works with Central American migrant caravans seeking humanitarian aid during the first Trump administration. Eventually, I entered the US as an international student, starting a new life amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In Albuquerque, a sanctuary city. I connected with immigrant rights organizations while in graduate school. My volunteer work with them led me to work in education, focusing on BIPOC and immigrant students in non-traditional and higher education settings.
“I deeply believe that ‘rest is resistance’ and that our people must rest to be able to create lasting change for our and the planet’s liberation.”
Over the past few years, I’ve been rebuilding my life and career, and have been able to create a community of support with other immigrant women. Since 2023, I have been working as a Senior Advisor in International Education, guiding international students in immigration and labor compliance and overseeing cultural engagement programs at the University of New Mexico.
I am also a yoga facilitator. I’ve practiced yoga and meditation for 10 years, which has been an anchor and source of peace during turbulent times. While working at the border, I deepened my practice and became an instructor. In 2022, I co-founded Kula Yoga ABQ with my friend Alejandra Cruz, an immigrant activist from Mexico. Kula, meaning “community of the heart,” is a collective of immigrant yoga instructors offering decolonial, trauma-informed yoga and meditation to other immigrants and refugees in collaboration with local nonprofits and schools. Our free or donation-based classes aim to create inclusive spaces where people can reclaim their right to rest and heal. I deeply believe that “rest is resistance” and that our people must rest to be able to create lasting change for our and the planet’s liberation.
What are some of the challenges or barriers you have faced, and continue to face in your industry as a racialized woman of colour?
As an immigrant woman of colour, I’ve struggled with having my work recognized in contexts where I am a minority. Coming to the US as an adult, it was difficult to validate my education or have my work experience acknowledged in employment discussions. Immigrant women of color often face inequities in labor rights and are labeled "problematic" when speaking truth to power. In one of my previous jobs, American supervisors routinely asked immigrant workers to work unpaid extra hours, and those who refused were shamed and targeted. Fear of job loss or immigration issues forced many to comply.
Also, immigrant and BIPOC women’s professional experiences are often dismissed due to non-traditional employment paths or foreign-based experiences. For those of us who are Creatives, we also risk having our work stolen without recognition. I remember how in graduate school, a senior white male researcher plagiarized my essay, publishing it under his name in a professional journal, inaccessible to me unless I paid a subscription. Needless to say, such inequities can be disheartening for women of colour trying to break through in a new industry or country, not to mention significant financial losses as well.
Access to higher education has created barriers between me and my family. As a first-generation college graduate and the first in my family to speak English and move to a new country, I’ve experienced tensions and a sense of isolation for having different opinions or taking a different path in life. I feel foreign, but at the same time not foreign enough to fully fit into American culture. Despite these challenges, my parents and siblings remain supportive, giving me the strength to overcome barriers and use my voice to stand by my choices.
“Coming to the US as an adult, it was difficult to validate my education or have my work experience acknowledged in employment discussions. Immigrant women of colour often face inequities in labor rights and are labeled ‘problematic’ when speaking truth to power.”
Refugee women practicing yoga together in a Trauma-Informed yoga course organized by Kula Yoga ABQ & Global Refuge, in 2024. Photo credit: Global Refuge.
What are some tools, resources, strategies, and approaches you use to cope with these challenges?
Building a community with other women of colour and immigrant women has been vital to my well-being and sense of belonging after emigrating. It is challenging, because in this system, women of colour are particularly tired and overworked, and this can lead to further isolation. Despite that, I’ve found that sending a text, calling, or taking the time to intentionally have a space of relaxation with friends can help cultivate lasting and meaningful relationships with people with similar experiences or who are working for the same causes.
I also believe that embodiment and mindfulness are essential for sustainable activism. For me, my yoga and meditation practice has helped me cultivate discernment and a sense of peace to make decisions even amid chaos. Particularly, the practice of trauma-informed yoga has been an important tool in my healing journey and one that I am grateful to share with other immigrants. For example, at Kula Yoga ABQ, we currently have a program that facilitates yoga and mindfulness in the outdoors for refugee women. I’ve seen how through these practices, participants have developed introspection, agency, and communities of care.
“Building a community with other women of colour and immigrant women has been vital to my well-being and sense of belonging after emigrating.”
I am also an amateur birder. Spending time in nature and walking slowly to observe and listen to birds has helped me turn my hyper-vigilance and other symptoms of PTSD into a tool for creativity and well-being.
Finally, reading books related to topics that affect our people and planet has been essential to deepening my knowledge and strength to continue my fight for social justice. I am currently reading The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg and some of the most brilliant scientists of our time, and Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, a collection of deeply spiritual poems by Mvskoke author Joy Harjo. I recommend both to those striving to create a better world for future generations.
What advice would you give to younger women of colour in your industry?
Do not be afraid to look for help. Reach out to other people who look like you and are doing the work you want to do. Most people want to help and would be excited to learn about your journey and interests. I know it can be daunting to look for a friend or a mentor, but isolation can break you. Remember that you are worthy and valuable, even if you are restarting your life across the world, in a new language or a new industry. Make sure to be willing to practice service leadership skills through volunteering. In my experience as an advisor, I’ve seen how international students who offer to volunteer are the most successful in finding mentors who can later advocate for them when pursuing a professional career.
In addition, make sure to take care of yourself and your loved ones. No job is worth your health and well-being. If you do not feel valued and respected in a job, rest assured that something better is coming up if you work for it. Take time to care for your body, mind, and spirit. Sleep and eat enough. Grieve when you need to. Find a hobby you are passionate about. Dare to create. In this capitalist, colonial, patriarchal system, women have historically have not been granted the right to a dignified life with enough rest and recreation. Make sure to reclaim your right to rest and thrive. Being in survival mode is not sustainable if you are looking to create lasting change. Do it for your ancestors who did not have that opportunity, and for the children who are looking up to you as a role model. Remember, we are future elders who will mentor the new generation and model the change you want to see.
“Take time to care for your body, mind, and spirit. Sleep and eat enough. Grieve when you need to. Find a hobby you are passionate about. Dare to create. ”
"Matria libre y vivir", meaning “Free motherland and live" a phrase used by students in civil disobedience in Nicaragua, 2018. Artwork by Fiore, with photo by Jorge Mejia.
How do you see the future of workplaces for women of colour?
Even though there is some uncertainty about the future, I see how women of colour continue to dream, organize, and create powerful projects to support themselves and others in their communities. I think we already know we want a different future, and that future is possible through our collective action. Even if things become more challenging in the coming years, we are not backing down.
Of course, there are also good things happening on a local and global scale. Some considerable gains for women's rights, the power of labor unions in different industries, and the movement for rest as resistance are some of the things that give me hope these days. People seem to also be waking up to the effects of climate change, and I hope that with enough knowledge, we can leverage power to push back against unsustainable and exploitative political agendas.
María Lugones, an Argentinian decolonial feminist philosopher studied how women of colour, and particularly, domestic workers in the US were skilled in navigating multiple worlds and languages, and how this ability of “world-traveling” allowed them to also enact “micro-resistances” in their everyday lives against exploitative systems and practices. According to her, these “micro-resistances” flourish in the cracks, in the dark and liminal spaces where oppressive systems are dormant because they do not believe in the power of those who inhabit such spaces. But this is where we can resist, be playful, and create other worlds and futures. I dream of a world where women of colour can thrive in any industry, can be creative, and can rest and heal. And I think that even with all the barriers, we are already skilled “world-travelers”, putting into practice the “micro-resistances” and communities of care needed to create another future. As young women protesters said in the streets of Managua in 2018, we deserve a “free motherland” to “live and thrive”. I believe that despite all the challenges, we are slowly but firmly building that future.
Connect with Fiore Bran-Gorvetzian