Founder

About Syda

Syda Segovia Taylor is the founder and executive director of Organic Oneness, a grassroots organization dedicated to eliminating racism and creating healthy communities in Chicago.

With over 25 years of experience connecting Black and Latiné youth and families to racial and environmental justice, healing and wellness, and the oneness of humanity, Syda has emerged as an influential voice in public discourse. Taylor serves as a national partner for the Be the Healing Movement with world-renowned educator and author Dr. Joy DeGruy and shares their community building experiences from racial trauma on the speaking platform of Bahá'íTeachings.org. Peace and Unity have been the focus of many podcast interviews, the TEDx stage, CNN's "This is Life" with Lisa Ling promoting interracial marriages, and Rainn Wilson's podcast sharing a Bahá’i perspective on marriage and service.

Her leadership experience spans prominent Chicago institutions, including Project Exploration, After School Matters, Chicago Public Schools, and the Chicago Park District. While serving as an education program officer at Local Initiative Support Corporation, she received the U.S. Department of Education's Together for Tomorrow award during the Obama administration. Blending her experience as a dancer and youth practitioner, Syda designs innovative community programs that harness the transformative power of the arts for people of all ages.

Taylor's academic foundation includes an M.A. in Community Development & Social Justice from Loyola University, and she specialized in human movement and community health with a B.S. in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received a Youth Development Practitioner Certification from the Chicago Area Project and an Advocacy Training Certificate from the Chicago Foundation for Women. She has enhanced her expertise through national fellowships with the Culture of Health Leadership Institute for Racial Healing and Interfaith America Emerging Leaders.

As a member of the Bahá'í Faith, Taylor brings a global perspective to her work and considers herself a world citizen. From a six-year journey (2008-2014) of fighting breast cancer, Syda developed a deep connection to earth-based wellness. This led to "Fortress of Wellness" trainings offered through Organic Oneness to help social activists and caregivers prevent burnout while pursuing their collective purpose of advancing racial and environmental justice, healing and wellness, and the oneness of humanity.

"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! "