Shacole’s waking up process begin when she was 18 years old in her first African American studies class. Her classes in African American studies revealed to her that there is a lot more going on in the world than what she had learned in her high school text books. She became aware that race, gender, nationality were among many things that are false illusions in our society that create separation among humanity. Learning about the falsehood of many of her beliefs helped her begin the process of gaining self-love. Her studies in race and gender led to her asking further questions about the reality of beingness and life purpose putting in motion a series of synchronicities that led to her waking up to the Knowing that there is SOOOO MUCH MORE~~~

When moving to Irvine from her community oriented way of life in San Diego she encountered a very different world than the one that defined the community where she grew up.

She noticed an overarching sentiment of alienation and lack of community, so she decided to find a way to bring her community based paradigm into her new Irvine home. In the pursuit to change her environment, she came to realize her true passion lies in working with others to create spaces where community can be realized.

She integrated her community-based paradigm into the world around her by starting an open mic out of her home for the Irvine community. People of all ages and backgrounds came to share their gifts. Often as many as forty people or more would share her small living room. The open mic’s quickly transformed her living room into a healing center. Many lives were enriched and even changed by these events; people left feeling mentally and spiritually healed. She later started a Women’s Circle out of her home to create a similar healing space specifically for women. She learned that the healing effects of both spaces stemmed from people coming together in a space where they felt free to be themselves.

The success and discoveries she made during these events inspired her to integrate these experiences into her institutional work at the University of California, Irvine. While serving as President of the Cross Cultural Center’s Umbrella Council an organization comprised of five underrepresented student groups. She became a leader in initiating the creation of a center for student outreach and retention, which successfully opened in 2011. She saw a limitation in resources that supported UCI’s under represented students in the area of retention, so she decided to participate in developing the center as well as its wellness programs. She coordinated and hosted many workshops such as Yoga and Meditation classes to build on the sense of community by engaging students in their own healing and self-realization. Her desire to pursue a life working in Community organizing has been fueled by her life experiences and values. She believes that when life is challenging, community keeps the human spirit alive. In order to better understand community spaces and their relationship to healing and inspiration she has devoted this year to conducting research examining the spiritual practices and community engagement of entrepreneurs in the Leimert Park community. She has identified Leimert Park as a great example of integration of culture, spirituality and community. Through this study she aims to discover the factors that contribute to active and productive community engagement. This year she is also researching the various dimensions and beliefs in self-healing among undergraduates students at the Universtiy of California Irvine.

The area of event planning in Portal To Ascension has drawn her because she desires to make a direct contribution to social change by working in area where she can participate in creating space for healing and self-realization.

Her life passion is to take part in helping transform neighborhoods into communities by creating programs that bring people together to share their inner wealth, gifts and talents, with one another. She believes that the acknowledgement of this form of community wealth will have a direct impact on lowering the amount of abuse, violence, crime and separation among humanity.