WE ARE:

Nemi Yolotl/Hood Wisdom Institute! We are a non-profit founded as a platform for cultural preservation and to promote collaborations, advancing the traditional practices of restorative justice and community healing work. We use Indigenous and culturally diverse contemporary practices from across the continent. Our goal is to support healing and accountability through community building, collaborative projects, and restorative justice processes. The vision of Nemi Yolotl/Hood Wisdom Institute is peaceful coexistence in an inclusive, just, and equitable society where the first people of the continent and other marginalized populations are recognized for our autonomy, solidarity, and contributions to society through our cultural practices and sustainable development methodologies.

In September 2025, our founder/executive director, Tomas Ramirez was invited to present at the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Columbia. It was on that trip that Tomas worked with local educators and community members to create the plan to bring our cities together as a way to actively engage our next generation of international healing work.

We need your support:

We have a delegation of "Far East Side" (FES) street outreach mentors who have been invited to travel from Chicago, IL, USA to the city of Cali, Colombia for five days in March 2016. We are hoping to bring 11 of our street outreach mentors to Cali. Due to challenging economic times internationally, your support would help directly for airfare, lodging, meals, and transportation while in the city of Cali.

Why us and why now?

Our delegation has been invited to share our personal journeys that led us all to working in the streets of Chicago, reaching out, creating collaborations even among people who never thought they would be willing to sit together.

What do we do?

FES has successfully developed models for gang intervention, facilitating restorative justice circles, providing school crisis support, community food distribution, and youth mentoring in the streets and schools. This is why we have been invited to go to Cali, to sit side-by-side with colleagues, collectives, and organizations doing similar work in Colombia. Our delegation includes multigenerational mentors who work on the west side of Chicago. We want to share and learn from our community in Cali, collectively sharing experiences of peace-building work, advocacy in the judicial systems, restorative justice, and life skill development, all rooted in healthy cultural identities.

In Columbia - on-site activities: