Land Acknowledgement
Presenter Bio
Preston earned an M.A. in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness as well as a Ph.D. in Transformative Studies from CIIS. He also worked at CIIS as a Teaching Fellow. Preston joins us from the San Francisco Aids Foundation, where he was the Senior Director, Community Partnerships & Engagement. We are thrilled that he will be coming on board to establish the CBIP as a hub for Black and Indigenous thought, wisdoms, and ways of being.
Preston Vargas, PhD, CADC-CAS carries the blessings, wisdoms, and joys of his ancestors. He was born from the land of his grandmother's ancestral Wampanoag people. It is a place where his liberated Black ancestors found family and home with the local Indigenous communities. It is also the land where his mother's Cape Verdean immigrant ancestors cultivated cranberry bogs and blueberry bushes amidst deciduous forests. Though he lives on the Pacific coast, Preston honors his ancestors, the land-water spirits of Massachusetts who periodically draw him back home.
Preston's bio-heritage is African American, Cape Verdean, Wampanoag, Irish, West Indian, and much more. Yet he actively resists colonial structures of blood-quantum. Instead, he co-creates his bio-cultural identities through his relationships with his communities.
Preston Vargas has worked in community-based organizations (CBO) and underserved communities for twenty years. He began his CBO work as a residential counselor for adults with development disabilities. From there, he progressed as a case manager for folx who were neurodivergent. Preston became a CCAPP credentialed Certified Alcohol Drug Counselor and Certified Addiction Specialist. For over a decade, he counseled self-identified gay men who were unhoused and challenged with substance use, HIV/HVC, and neurodivergence. After operating a private practice, Preston transitioned from direct services to administration and policy to create institutional change. He rooted his efforts in Health Justice, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. During his time with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF), Preston created the Black Health department. As the Sr Director of Community Partnerships and Engagement at SFAF, Preston guided his teams through the program development, implementation, and organizational capacity building for Black Health, Aging Services, Housing & Benefits for people living with HIV, Latinx Health, and Service Navigation. In addition to funding, deliverables data reporting, and contract negotiation for the aforementioned departments, he created DEI services, such as a Peer Ambassador program to increase the accessibility services for Spanish Speaking and TGNCI folx as well as paid Clinical Assistant Internships designed for clients and community members interested in flourishing careers in community health.
Preston holds a Ph.D. in Transformative Studies and a M.A. in Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness from CIIS. He also completed a CIIS Integral Teaching Fellowship. He centers his academic passions in Black and Indigenous Praxis on how Black and Indigenous folx reclaim their ancestral wisdom traditions, in present-day context, to heal the community's soul would through oracular art and ceremonial collaborations with their ancestors, deities, and spirits of the Land. He enlivens his passions through his lived experiences as an Ifa practitioner, animistic healer, and Reclaiming tradition community ritualist. Preston is a storyteller and oracular artist. He enjoys exploring how humans navigate through the lenses of their own experiences, engage their creative talents, and re-present these stories for healing and transformation. He weaves the gifts of his ancestral traditions and scholarship with a commitment to anti-oppression, Pleasure Activism and his embodiment of Decolonial Love.
Presenter Photo
Land Acknowledgement
