Founder

About Syda

Syda Segovia Taylor is the Founder and Executive Director of Organic Oneness, a grassroots social justice organization that brings people together to eliminate racism and create healthy communities in Chicago. With over 30 years of experience serving Chicago’s high-profile nonprofits and city agencies while serving Black and Brown communities, her portfolio includes over $30 million in program funding and community investments stewarded across public, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors. A nationally recognized leader in racial justice and healing, she blends her experience as a dancer, youth practitioner, and physical education/health teacher to design innovative community-building programs that harness the transformative power of the arts, education, and wellness.
Syda is currently one of only six national partners for Dr. Joy DeGruy’s groundbreaking “Be the Healing” movement, a member of Chicago’s Reparations Task Force supporting the city’s historic first Reparations Study, and serves on the Space to Grow Advisory Council, strengthening climate resiliency and health initiatives in schoolyard programs. She was nominated to sit on the Bronzeville State Designated Cultural District to preserve the history and culture of the Black Metropolis, and is a co-creator of the Chicago Race Riot 1919 initiatives that reveal this history through tours, public art, and youth programs.
Her distinguished career includes pivotal roles at Chicago Public Schools, After School Matters, and Local Initiative Support Corporation, where she managed the multi-million-dollar Elev8 initiative — work that earned her the U.S. Department of Education’s “Together for Tomorrow”award during the Obama administration. She served as a dedicated member of the Greater Bronzeville Community Action Council Executive Committee and completed a 15-year term gathering stakeholder input on school improvement for Chicago Public Schools. At Project Exploration, she played a pivotal role in the organization’s revitalization, leading programming growth from 15 to 1,500 participants in two years.
Syda holds an M.A. in Community Development & Social Justice from Loyola University Chicago and a B.S. in Kinesiology with a focus on community health from the University of Illinois Chicago. She has completed prestigious fellowships with the Culture of Health Leadership Institute for Racial Healing and Interfaith America Emerging Leaders. Her work has been featured on CNN’s “This is Life” with Lisa Ling, Rainn Wilson’s podcast, and various media outlets and stages, including a TEDx talk focused on attaining peace and unity.
As a member of the Bahá’í Faith and daughter of Honduran and Colombian parents, Syda brings a global perspective to her work and considers herself a world citizen. Drawing from her experience as a breast cancer survivor (2008–2014), she maintains a deep connection to earth-based wellness. She provides “Fortress of Wellness” trainings to help her network of social activists and caregivers prevent burnout while pursuing their collective purpose of advancing justice and unity.

"We are a part of one world and every race, age and gender are needed to advance society.
Emotions and logic are just as valid and equally important as arts and sciences.

There is a dire need and urgency for us to understand that we are one human family.
We are witnessing the danger of believing we are not interconnected.

I believe we need to be strategic, intentional, and let the data guide us but we also need to build
long-lasting relationships, reflect on what we've learned, and most importantly, have fun! "