Food & Environmental Justice Educator
Antonia is a Chilean-American clinical herbalist, gardener, educator, community organizer, and artist born and raised in New York City. Growing up in a first generation immigrant household, her family’s passion for herbs and medicinal plants found her bridging the gap between rural and urban spaces, while discovering the intersection of land stewardship, education, and social justice. Antonia’s ten years of academic study included: Environmental and Urban Studies (Bard College); Clinical Herbalism (Arborvitae School of Traditional Herbal Medicine); field work with herbalists and elders throughout Mexico, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Thailand. Pérez facilitates workshops and produces events as the co-founder of the NY based collective, Brujas, and Herban Cura – with a focus toward reconnecting diverse communities (indigenous, black, queer and trans) to the earth by tracing the socio-political, ecological history of plants and people. In addition to facilitating workshops in spaces such as Reed, Stanford, New School, and MoMA PS1, Antonia is a respected gardener who has helped in the initiation and development of food prosperity for disempowered communities, namely Salam Community Garden, Sweet Freedom farm, Bard farm, and Soul Fire farm.