Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Daisy Martinez-DiCarlo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Daisy, thanks for joining us today. Day to day the world can seem like a tough place, but there’s also so much kindness in the world and we think talking about that kindness helps spread it and make the world a nicer, kinder place. Can you share a story of a time when someone did something really kind for you?
I presented a workshop on trauma-informed social justice practices during a psychodrama conference. It was the last conference of the week. My co-presenter did not attend due to illness. Earlier in the day, I had to work through a macro aggression in an earlier workshop in which I participated and co-led. I was at my lowest level of energy and was having a hard time accessing my spontaneity and creativity. My justice and healing team was with me and helped me to set up the room. Dr. Leticia Nieto walked into my conference room and gave me a bottle of cold water and a hug. I was told that my directing was impeccable and grounded. When I returned home, I found out that one of the workshop participants had donated a $10,000 grant to my not-profit, Theatre for Social Justice Inc. I was blown away with fierce humility and compassion for humankind and allotted the grant for a BIPOC retreat to support the folks who had been harmed earlier due to a maco aggression.
Daisy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Theatre for Social Justice Inc. is a non-profit based in Sarasota, FL which aims to confront oppression in our society by having members of the community devise and perform plays that lead to a deeper understanding of and even liberation from social injustice. My breaking point for wanting to offer sociodramas (a form of psychodrama in which the drama is the community’s story shown in action through enactment, dramatization and role playing) in Florida was when the NAACP listed Florida as an unsafe place for people of color, immigrants and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. “I knew that people from oppressed social groups were holding their breaths living in Florida and that they needed an outlet for their pain and having trained in psychodrama and sociodrama for over 20 years, I knew that Theatre for Social Justice could provide the psychodrama methodology and process to bring human pain into focus so that we could understand it better and start to explore its effect on us, even to break its hold on us.”
I am most proud of all of the groups we have served in such a short time. We co-facilitated a drag art and psychodrama workshop in which people from all gender identities benefited by unmasking their authenticity. We co-facilitated a workshop for vets to support their post traumatic growth. We facilitated psychodrama groups for women in recovery to create new resilient roles. We’ve provided psychodrama training to promote social justice and the application of trauma-informed principles at the Trial Lawyer’s College, at the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama, for Black Therapists Rock, at La Asocacion Puerto Riquena de Consejeria Profesional and we are scheduled to present at the 27th Pedagogy, Theater of the Oppressed at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL and at the International Sociodrama Conference in Budapest Hungary on using sociodrama to advance, support and protect human rights.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Yes. Two (2) major books have significantly impacted my management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy.
Dr. Scott Giacomucci’s book, “Trauma-Informed Principles in Group Therapy, Psychodrama, and Organizations” has shaped my philosophy around creating safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment, voice and choice and an acknowledgment and appreciation of culture, gender and historical issues in humanity in a way that has strengthened me as a person and as a leader. I see all of humanity as having been impacted by trauma in some way and this impacts the compassionate and courage way in which I lead others in groups and in organizations.
Dr. Leticia Nieto’s book, “Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment” has also significantly impacted my management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy in that I am able to acknowledge and use both ways in which I have been targeted and ways in which I am privileged to promote social justice for others in the world.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
My advice is that “managing a team and maintaining high morale” is a process that begins with viewing myself and sharing power with my team (instead of power over) and treating my team as equal partners. Rather than using power to manage, I use love, courage and accountability that begins with me. I think I am a better person because of my team and I pay them equally as I learn as much from them as they learn from me.
Contact Info:
