Who I am and what I do

I am a bilingual, Colombian educator, facilitator and consultant. I design social learning environments that foster authentic, courageous communication and engagement on climate change as well as other social justice and environmental issues. I partner with non-profits, faith communities, and educational and grassroots organizations across the Front Range to deliver custom-designed community engagement packages in English and Spanish.

More about my approach

I am a hands-on, mindful and passionate presenter and facilitator with 20 years’ experience in education (formerly, as a full time philosophy professor, I worked in an area of cognitive science known as “embodied cognition”). From an embodied cognition standpoint, we think with our bodies. In other words, it is through our everyday bodily, social activities – the things we do on a regular basis with other people in our immediate social environment – that our beliefs and values are formed. It’s also how they are changed. This means that if you seek to shift people’s values and foster real behavior change, you need them to first connect with each other in new, rewarding, authentic ways. In my work, I draw on a wide spectrum of hands-on practices, including movement, meditation, audio-visual resources, and small-group work, to create transformative learning environments that catalyze hope, inspiration and new levels of commitment.

I am a 2014 NAAEE Community Climate Change Fellow through the EPA-sponsored EECapacity program and the 2017 recipient of the Outstanding Educator Award from the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education.

Maria Talero, Ph.D.

Founder