Kristen Sawyer (she/her)

Founder-Inner Compass Learning; Program Manager-GLOW

From my youth moving from IL to KS to AZ, I’ve always known that part of this world is learning how to make a home within ourselves. After graduating from The Gregory School in Tucson, AZ, I moved to the southeast to attend UNC-Chapel Hill. I graduated in 2012 with a degree in Global Studies, focusing on cultural anthropology, before finding education as the arrow in my inner compass.

I joined Teach for America and moved to Phoenix, AZ where I taught 6th grade English Language Arts for several years while earning my Masters in Ed at ASU, until the broad world beckoned. I moved to Costa Rica and then Ecuador where I wrote, taught and guided teachers for 2+ years.

From 2015-2020, I left the “traditional” classroom and worked with National Geographic Student Expeditions, the School of International Training (SIT), and Naropa University leading high school & college-aged students on experiential summer & semester programs focusing on identity, health systems, and anthropology.

During this time, I also taught creative writing with ARC, a nonprofit that combines literacy and outdoor education to provide no-cost summer experiences to teens in Yosemite, CA. I also became a student of nonviolent communication and internal family systems (IFS) which influence much of my work. In 2020, I moved back to my hometown, Tucson, and continued working in outdoor education back home with Ironwood Tree Experience, where I was the Youth Development Manager for 3.5 years. I also became excited about birth work, completing doula training and starting childbirth educator training, as a new mom. Leading women’s and mother’s circles is just as healing for me as it is for all who participate.

Inner Compass Learning started in 2021 a gathering place of all of my professional and personal pursuits- workshops, programs, camps, coaching, and our amazing sister program, GLOW. It’s a place where teens, girls/femmes, moms and women can reconnect with our own inner compass as we navigate this journey together.

Kaya Teyechea (they/them)

Curriculum Specialist- GLOW

Growing up in Tucson and spending the summers with my family in Nogales, I’ve spent the majority of my life here and have a deep appreciation for our community. When I was in high school, I had wished there was a program that gave students the space to guide the direction of learning and support that we received, particularly regarding lessons around teen development.

Fast forward to now, having the opportunity to contribute to a space that empowers kids to discuss, collaborate, and communicate the kind of support they want and need from us as facilitators and as a program is nothing short of a dream come true. I recently graduated with my Bachelor’s in Mexican American Studies and in Gender and Women’s Studies, with an emphasis in Chicana and Latina Studies.

As the Curriculum Specialist, I bring my research skills, and knowledge that I’ve gathered, to GLOW, to build a responsive curriculum that meets the students’ needs and interests, ultimately with the hopes of supporting their group autonomy.

Jazmine Lopez (she/her)

Grad/Co-Facilitator- GLOW

I am a Co-Facilitator for GLOW (Girls Loving Ourselves and the World). I’m coming up on my 2nd year and I am excited for many more. Knowing how hard it is to make the transition from middle school to high school, I’m proud to be a support system for my femmes. Testimonials from our students have shown our femmes feel more seen and understood by their classmates but also themselves!This is the reason I am grateful for the opportunity to work with and guide our femmes.

Jazmine also works part-time as a teacher aid at her alma-mater, and partner for GLOW, Imago Dei Middle School.