Surena Johnson has been a community advocate since 2003 and is a mother of four. She has children who are adopted, disabled, LGBTQ, and born prematurely. As a result, her life has encompassed the gamut of struggle; she understands the changes needed in the systems in which we live. Surena has a history of advocating for change regarding challenges facing people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community, and navigating the medical and child protective services system. She works hard to ensure her children and others won’t have to live within these broken systems. She’s worked as a gang outreach worker, detention officer, and case manager for first-time youth offenders. She currently runs Orchid Bloom, a nonprofit organization she started that serves people with low resources by creating more avenues to help them maneuver through these broken systems while dismantling and restoring them. Surena is also a Reiki Master and Herbalist who believes that healing from within can bring healing throughout the world.