What Does Belonging Mean?

When you walk into a room you feel truly welcome and appreciated. 

You are included, encouraged and expected to participate 

You are able to use your voice without fear of judgement or intimidation. You are free to speak up, express your ideas, and brainstorm creatively. 

You are valued, represented and respected. 

All people, all ideas and all expressions are valued regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, ability, religion, politics and other identifiers. 

With disagreement there is acknowledgment and human centered approach to discussion.

We don’t all have to think or look alike and that is a good thing. Diversity of thought, diversity of people results in more creative problem solving, innovation and inclusion. 

If we can listen to music together, dance together, eat together, and play together then we all have common ground.

About Sandra

Sandra Sarrouf, M.A. is an educator, cultural worker, and traditional artist committed to creating environments of belonging. She offers 20 years of experience in community education, business administration, multicultural programming, and cultural production. Weaving together years of professional experience in the non-profit, public, and private sectors and drawing on her lived experiences as a Middle Eastern woman who immigrated to the US at a young age; she founded Cultural Creations Collaborative to assist others in building inclusion and cultural responsiveness into their practices that result in belonging.

A community educator and consensus builder, Sandra facilitates trainings for organizations and schools which expand perceptions and build capacity to engage across differences. Through participatory workshops, she opens the floor for all to participate in dialogue and exploration of difficult topics with grace and openness. She brings a multi layered perspective to the table to address the varied experiences that exist across communities.

A cultural worker Sandra serves as a bridge to diverse community groups while fostering a deeper understanding of varied cultural norms to develop inclusionary practices and improved efficacy. She develops youth and adult programs in cultural affairs to expand world views and deepen cross cultural connections.

A traditional arts advocate she works with individuals across cultures to share their cultural practices in meaningful ways dismantling stereotypes and empowering communities. She works at the intersection of traditional arts and social justice to empower, validate and bring voice across communities. She is principal collaborator on Our Roots Our Routes- gathering the living histories of our indigenous, immigrant and ethnic communities.

As a culturally specific dancer Sandra shares her middle eastern culture through classes and lectures that expand stereotypes of Arab women and broaden perceptions of Arab culture. She currently teaches through the Theatre and Dance Dept. at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as well as organizes workshops for the community.

Professional, approachable and relatable. Sandra has been a guest presenter/educator/speaker from universities and elementary schools, to businesses and community organizations. She delves into topics of culture, race, ethnicity, bias, diversity and cultural democracy in ways that are interactive, engaging, and embodied.

Sandra received her MA in Cultural Sustainability through Goucher College, her BA in Environmental Studies and Political Science as well as a minor Global Peace and Security through UC Santa Barbara. She currently teaches in the Theatre and Dance Dept. at Cal Poly teaching both lecture courses in cultural dance and activity courses in Middle Eastern North African dance. She is the former Third District Representative for the Los Osos Community Advisory Council, Chair of the Outreach Committee and Co-Chair of Unhoused Residents Subcommittee. She is also a member on the SLCUSD Equity Task Force, Public Safety SLO DEI subcommittee, and Social Justice Educator for Peace Academy of Sciences and Arts. Sandra is tri-lingual, bi-cultural and builds deep and expansive roots in the multiple communities she works in.

Meet Our Collaborators

Lata Murti PH.D.

After receiving her Ph.D. in American Studies & Ethnicity from the University of Southern California in 2010, Dr. Lata Murti has dedicated herself to education in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging—locally (on California’s Central Coast), nationally, and globally.

Since 2011, Dr. Murti has been a professor of sociology teaching both online and hybrid undergraduate classes to adult learners at University of Massachusetts Global (formerly Brandman University). All of the courses she has developed or taught have involved analyzing and discussing diversity, access, and equity. She was recently invited to teach courses for University of Massachusetts Global’s Diversity Competency Courses in the School of Extended Education.

Dr. Murti also writes, edits, and gives presentations, with her work having appeared in a variety of forums, including SPARK—the online magazine of the National Center for Institutional Diversity—McGraw Hill Publishing, The Santa Maria Times, as well as books from Universal Publishers and Complexity Publishing, Inc. Her recently completed research on the intersectional experiences of juvenile school educators will be published as a chapter in a forthcoming book from Springer Press titled Gender, Race, and Class in the Lives of Today’s Teachers-Educators at Intersections, which she co-edited with Dr. Glenda M. Flores.

Most recently, Dr. Murti has been deemed a community activist for her work with local organizations, such as the Santa Maria Branch of the American Association of University Women and the Santa Maria-Lompoc Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in addition to her online workshops on cultural humility hosted by organizations throughout California.

Indeed, Dr. Murti brings cultural humility to all of her professional and personal interactions, with the belief that there are no experts on inclusion—only practitioners—who center others’ lived experiences as being as, if not more, important than any published material for realizing cultural belonging. 

When Lata is not teaching, volunteering, or writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, which includes her husband of 20 years, her teen and tween kids, and her parents.

Rebecca Prather M.A., M.S.

Rebecca is an insightful, impactful, and imaginative leader. Her mission is to leverage the power of creativity to build inclusive spaces that are based on people authentically seeing, hearing, and valuing each other’s histories and contributions. Through engaging individual and collective imagination, she draws communities into practices of genuine, radical belonging.

Rebecca is an Educational Administrator, Equity Facilitator, Speech & Language Therapist, Arts Educator and Advocate, and Professional Development Leader. She has led equity workshops and consulting for access and inclusion for organizations and education for over 20 years.

Rebecca is a powerful public speaker, a profound workshop facilitator, and a playful educator of children and adults. She is remarkably skilled in surfacing the collective story through utilizing arts-based thinking that - when told, heard, and genuinely experienced - transforms organizational relationships. She designs environments that builds trust and co-creates spaces that centers culturally responsive practices. Through collective storytelling, art-making, and discussion, Rebecca pulls a golden thread through multiple perspectives and positions to reveal the numerous ways that courageous and compassionate communities are created through vulnerability, authenticity, and bravery.

Rebecca is a maven of metaphor. She is a passionate dancer, writer, creator, and mother. She writes poetry and creative memoir pieces before dawn, dances with her son under redwood trees, and gazes with luscious longing at the mystery and magnificence of the ocean.