Meet the Collective

Kristen Cabildo, Founder

The Chrysalis Kali Collective started as an informal gathering in 2018 at my apartment with women I had met at a workshop on Philippine herbalism hosted by Angela Angel. We explored topics that united us: the search for “Filipino” identity and a feeling of shared collective inherited trauma from the colonization of the Philippines. But we also shared an inspiration that Kali could be a meaningful bridge to our ancestors, and an embodied practice for physical, mental, and spiritual health. I realized that this was the community that I had been missing “growing up” in the martial arts with very few female training partners and even less Filipina martial art role models. It’s true that what we seek is what we must create for ourselves and is often born from our deepest longings.

I draw upon my lived experience and bring this to the group. I’ve been training in martial arts for 20 years, and working as a personal trainer for the last decade. I have an undergraduate degree in Religion and Anthropology. I have a Masters degree in Social Work. I spent my 20’s and early 30’s traveling to places like the Philippines, Nepal, Uganda, Cambodia, Ecuador, Thailand, and Egypt “to find myself”. Until I exhausted the external search and started to search within. Now that journey is forever evolving and surprising me. If you feel called to this group, I look forward to hearing where your life’s adventure has brought you, and may what comes of our meeting spark inspiration, healing, and growth for all involved! You can learn more about me from my coaching website: www.kriscabildo.com. You can learn more about my martial art background at: www.umabrooklyn.com.

  • Julia Demillones Moore

    Julia is a Massachusetts based herbalist and pelvic steam practitioner. Using herbs+plant medicine, paradigm shifts, and the practice of pelvic steaming she supports people to overcome chronic period pain and be in sync with their cycles. Drawing from her experience as a mother of two, She provides steaming services for labor preparation & postpartum healing, as well as helping families plan for + navigate their postpartum time.

    Connect with her at www.moonbeamsteams.com

  • Princess Manuel, LMSW

    Princess (she/they) is a Shamanic Practitioner, Spiritual Life Coach, Herbalist and Founder of LUYA Healing and Herbs.  She facilitates community healing rituals and supports clients in reaching their healing visions in order to bring balance back to Mother Earth.  Through LUYA Healing and Herbs, Princess blends elements of nature to heal body, mind and spirit.  She is the descendant of traditional healers, farmers, community organizers and more!  As a survivor of PTSD, she supports BIPOC in healing through present-day and generational traumas through ancestral technology, plant medicine, psychoeducation and somatic practices.  She is currently stewarding several houseplants, two cats, a Lovebird and a nearby park.

    Connect with her at www.luyahealing.com

  • Caroline Garcia

    Caroline is a culturally promiscuous, interdisciplinary artist. She works across performance, video, and installation through a hybridized aesthetic of cross-cultural movement, embodied research, and new media. Her most recent body of work draws from Indigenous Filipino practices of headhunting and martial arts, all as a way of processing grief, specifically that of matriarchal loss, as an individual and in the postcolonial Filipinx diaspora.

    Connect with her at https://carolinegarcia.com.au

  • Katrina Cabanban

    Katrina is a Senior Vice President at Citi. In her current role as a Senior Regulatory Analysis Manager, she supports Citibank, the fourth largest financial institution in the United States, with its commitment to build economic empowerment for low- and moderate-income individuals and communities through its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) program. Katrina leverages her mission-driven social justice lens, graduate social work degree, and 15+ years of social impact experience across industries, as she manages corporate CRA regulatory exams and influences business strategy at Citi.

    In addition to CKC, Katrina's most recent community involvement includes serving as Board Secretary at the Gender Equality Law Center, as a Programming Committee member of the US National Committee for U.N. Women, Metro NY Chapter, and as a Participatory Review Committee member in the inaugural cycle for the NYC Fund for Girls and Young Women of Color.