efraín gutiérrez
introduction
Querencia Libertad is a liberatory project asking:
What becomes possible when we come together across race and gender to step away from roles, expectations, and systems that keep us small—and practice freedom, together?
The name comes from the Spanish word querencia—a place where one feels most at home, safe, and strong—and libertad, meaning freedom. Together, they evoke a vision of collective liberation rooted in belonging, rest, and the courage to meet ourselves and each other more fully.
At its heart, this work is a soft landing. A chance to pause. To set down the roles, expectations, and performances we’ve been taught to carry. To ask: What am I ready to release? What do I long for instead? And who might I become if I didn’t have to do it all alone?
Querencia Libertad begins with the belief that freedom is possible now—and that healing becomes real when we cross lines of race and gender with care, honesty, and the willingness to be changed.
family collaboration
This work is made stronger by the presence and partnership of my sister, Liliana Gutiérrez—a woman I deeply admire.
As a mother, schoolteacher, and wife, she brings a powerful blend of everyday wisdom, embodied experience, and unconditional love to the project. Her presence reminds us that this work is not theoretical—it’s deeply lived, deeply felt, and grounded in strength.
the inaugural cohort
In this first phase, we invited ten people across race, gender, and life experience—queer, straight, cis, trans, men, women, and nonbinary folks—to explore what it might mean to loosen patriarchy’s grip in their own lives.
Each person received a small stipend to spend a weekend reflecting on:
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What does patriarchy look and feel like in my daily life?
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What am I ready to lay down or release?
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What do I need, right now, to feel free, soft, or whole?
Together, we read feminist texts. We reflected. We asked hard questions. And then, we gathered—on the land, in Bolinas, California—for a weekend of rest, storytelling, and connection.
We witnessed one another. We shared what we’d uncovered. And we began the slow, collective practice of imagining freedom—across difference, in community.
meet the 2025 pilot cohort
Amy Keegan Safranek
Facilitator, community builder, and death/grief accompaniment-in-training weaving poetry, art, and healing in Northeast LA.
David Schmeikal
Creative strategist and listener committed to helping people reclaim time, voice, and the space to express truth.
Gonzalo Alvarado
Indigenous healer and freedom-seeker centering love, ancestral wisdom, and collective liberation.
Jenn Freeman
Interdisciplinary artist (aka Po’Chop) illuminating Black queer life through dance, drag, and storytelling.
Jonathan Jayes-Green
Organizer, strategist and founder of Transcendent Futures, an imagination, design and action lab for social change.
Serena Bian
Zen chaplain-in-training and intergenerational bridgebuilder deepening peacebuilding and justice work through soul, silence, and story.
Wendy Sotelo
Nature lover and environmental advocate co-creating Corazón Tlalli to protect Madre Tierra with love and action.
Michaela Ayers
Interdisciplinary artist, storyteller, and facilitator exploring Black history, radical imagination, and belonging through creative social practice.
Rose Miyako Wilson
Queer Japanese American artist and advocate channeling joy, justice, and radical love through her art and organizing.
Hayling Price
Nonprofit leader and musician creating at the intersection of Black economic equity and creative futures.
what's next
Querencia Libertad is still unfolding. This pilot is the beginning of a longer journey toward healing, tenderness, and shared liberation.
We're dreaming into:
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Future retreats and creative gatherings
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Tools and reflections to support this work in community
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New ways of learning from one another, across gender, culture, and lived experience
ways to engage
Would you like to bring this inquiry into your community or support its growth? Let’s dream together.
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Support or fund this work to help seed future cohorts, retreats, and storytelling efforts
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Host or collaborate on a conversation, retreat, or creative gathering rooted in collective reflection and liberation
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Bring Querencia Libertad to your organization, classroom, or community as a practice of healing and unlearning