Who “We” Are
Vita and champion eclipse-watcher Carlos!
Vita Wells
Founder, The Culture of Repair Project
“We” is mostly me - technically I work solo on the project, but am advancing repair always in collaboration and solidarity with others — so frequently I say “we”.
Feels like We!
The briefest of bio sketch:
Born and raised in South Texas, hailing from a long line of fixers and doers
Multiple rounds of community work in Mexico, Ecuador and the Barrio of San Antonio
Corporate finance, logistics systems and investment management
Williams College BA (history), Yale Divinity School MAR (social ethics and theology), Yale School of Management MPPM (finance)
Arts: museum and industrial arts school governance, textiles, artist (www.vitawells.net)
Camino de Compostela — many thousands of km, many hundreds of flechas
Fixing and doing all the way through
The Culture of Repair Project was born from feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the damage we've done to the Earth, the ache made all the more acute by its seemingly inexorable acceleration. Immobilized by the scope of what's called for, I felt that if I could focus my efforts enough to see the impact of my work, I would actually do something.
I did do something, and quickly found that repair is a global movement.
So here I am, working side-by-side with people both down the street and around the world.
I want to bring congenial spirits into the project to expand its impact, potentially developing into an independent 501(c)(3).
If you’re interested, check out the Get Involved page.
Please contact me if you’d like to help out.
Some generous souls who help me think through repair and educational settings
Emily Pilloton
Using architecture and design as a vehicle for social justice, works alongside youth ages 9-18 to co-design and build public architecture projects that transform communities.
Her work seeks to change the authorship of our built environment and cultivate power in underestimated communities, specifically young girls, undocumented youth, and communities of color.
See this short video about Girls Garage.
Designer, builder, educator
Founder of Project H Design, its sister program, Girls Garage and earlier programs
Lecturer in the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley
Author of two books concerning design, individual empowerment and transformation
UC Berkeley BA, architecture
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, MFAs in Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects
Carmelita Reyes
Served as Senior Director in Operations in Oakland Unified School District
Founding Principal of Oakland International High School
Founding teacher Life Academy of Health and Bio-Science, the Fruitvale, Oakland
Princeton University BA (economics), Columbia University MA education)
Inveterate and intrepid traveler — Rwanda, Cambodia, Hinterlands of China, Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, Jordan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Laos, Kenya, Brazil, Vietnam ...
Kyle Cornforth
Served as Executive Director of Maker Ed, an organization committed to transforming education with project-based, culturally competent pedagogy.
Served as Managing Director of the Edible School Project, Berkeley, CA
Led policy reform for Berkeley Unified School District’s lunch program, advised on USDA policy for school food, and led professional development for teachers globally on how non-traditional education experiences are essential to truly prepare students for their lives on this planet.
Currently consults on strategy, organizational development, operations, and communications for multiple nonprofits.
Kyle has over two decades of nonprofit executive experience at the intersection of education, organizational development, social justice, and advocacy.