Opening Ceremony
Welcoming onto the Land
Sonskq Cheryll Holley
As Sonksq of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band, Cheryll Toney Holley advances economic and social justice through food sovereignty, cultural education, language reclamation, arts support, and land back efforts. Holley co-founded and serves on the board of the Nipmuc Indian Development Corporation, formerly directed the Hassanamisco Indian Museum, and served on the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs. She sits on the MA Environmental Justice Council and is a member of the Worcester Black History Project. A professional researcher, writer, and speaker, she holds a BA and Honorary Doctorate from UMass Amherst and is a Mass Humanities Governor’s Award recipient. of the Commonwealth’s Environmental Justice Council advocating for equal voice and fair treatment of all peoples with respect to the environment. A member of the Worcester Black History Project, Holley is also a professional researcher, writer, and speaker specializing in African American and Indigenous peoples of New England, a passion she shares by compiling genealogies and written family histories for descendants of New England’s communities of color. Holley has a BA in History and an Honorary Doctorate in Public Service from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is the recipient of multiple awards including the Mass Humanities Governor’s Award. A veteran and a mom of four and grandmother of eight, she currently lives in Worcester where generations of her family lived before her.
Holder of Ceremony
MawuLisa
MawuLisa flows through life as a southern born, community based trauma healing midwife, somatic bodyworker, song weaver, lover of nature & Spirit and lifelong student of the Healing Arts. Her practice is inspired by the healing & embodiment technologies of generative somatics, Strozzi Institute, Ayurveda, Earth-based Wisdom Traditions, the Divine Feminine and the healing gifts generously bestowed to her by her Ancestors. MawuLisa is devoted to healing the embodied impacts of capitalism, racialized trauma, gender oppression & sexual violence while cultivating centered presence and erotic vitality for herself and other liberation warriors and politicized healers. She is a lead teacher, bodyworker and embodiment trainer with BOLD (Black Organizing for Leadership & Dignity), a former lead teacher and senior mentor inside the generative somatics community, and currently finds passion & pleasure in her ongoing study & practice of Indigenous based healing systems, mentoring & developing other somatic practitioners, stewarding land, singing in choirs, facilitating grief rituals, decolonizing Love, and bringing heaven to earth as a Diviner & Priestess in the spiritual tradition of Ifa.
Opening Address Speaker
Lana Mustafa
Lana Mustafa is a Palestinian-American farmer, beekeeper, and Executive Director of Montclair Community Farms, a nonprofit urban farm dedicated to food access, environmental education, and community resilience. She is also the founder of Roots of Resilience, an initiative that supports farmers in the West Bank through mutual aid, education, and advocacy.
A mother of three, Lana was born in New Jersey and spent her childhood and adolescence between the United States and Mukhmas, a farming village in the West Bank where her family has lived for generations. Growing up immersed in both cultures gave her a deep appreciation for the connections between land, community, and identity.
With a lifelong love of nature and strong roots in Palestinian farmland, Lana is passionate about food sovereignty, sustainable agriculture, and preserving agricultural traditions. Through her work, she strives to strengthen local food systems, expand access to fresh and healthy food, and inspire future generations to cultivate a meaningful relationship with the natural world.
Whether tending bees, growing food, leading community initiatives, or advocating for farmers, Lana's work is grounded in the belief that resilient communities begin with a deep connection to the land and to one another.
