MY WORK
We Are Straight Allies
LGBTQ+ Advocacy and Allyship
As co-founder of We Are Straight Allies, I helped build a statewide storytelling and advocacy movement that invited people across difference to stand publicly for dignity, belonging, and equal protection. By convening business leaders, faith communities, athletes, artists, and advocates, the campaign helped build momentum for the passage of Jacksonville’s Human Rights Ordinance in 2017, demonstrating the power of relationship building, courageous dialogue, and collective action.
White And Woke
Identity, Responsibility and Civic Courage
Inspired by Kwame Ture’s call for white people to take responsibility for confronting racism within their own communities, White and Woke explores what meaningful solidarity requires in practice. Through dialogue, storytelling, and civic engagement, the initiative invites participants to examine race, privilege, power and responsibility with honesty and courage.
That work later informed my role as one of three plaintiffs in the landmark challenge to Florida;s Stop WOKE Act.
Salt & Soul
Water, Memory and Reclamation
Across cultures and continents, water has long been a source of sustenance, ceremony, healing, and belonging. Inspired by citizen science diving and marine conservation work on four continents, Salt + Soul explores the ocean as both ecosystem and archive, holding stories of memory, migration, resilience, and connection.
The initiative honors the histories that have shaped our relationship with water, including the exclusion of Black communities from pools, beaches, and waterways, while creating space for reconnection, curiosity, joy, and reclamation. Through storytelling, cultural memory, ecological awareness, and guided experiences, participants are invited to deepen their relationship with the natural world, one another, and themselves.
Heritage Horizons
Journey of Cultural Awakening
My connection to Cuba began at five months old when my mother traveled there as part of a delegation studying the country’s educational, healthcare, and social systems.
Decades later, that early journey evolved into Heritage Horizons, immersive experiences that invite participants to move beyond observation and into relationship through conversation, cultural exchange, and shared experience. Designed for leaders, educators, and lifelong learners, these journeys deepen cultural understanding and cultivate greater curiosity, humility, and care.
Legacy Unbroken
America’s Unfinished Story
Since 2019, I have led immersive journeys through Selma and Montgomery, guiding leaders, educators, and changemakers into the heart of America’s unfinished story. Together, we explore the history, strategy, and human stories that shaped the Civil Rights Movement and continue to influence our democracy today.
My connection to this history runs deep. My father, Reverend James Luther Bevel, first called for the Selma to Montgomery March following the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson, helping catalyze the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I carry that legacy forward through my own work as a storyteller, educator, and advocate for justice.
Why is Washington [Still] Burning?
Solidarity and the Courage to Act
Created and co-produced by Chevara Orrin and Matt Colaciello, Why Is Washington [Still] Burning? explores a forgotten chapter of American history and its relevance today. In 1968, following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a coalition of white and Jewish activists, including my mother, anti-war and anti-apartheid organizer Sue Orrin, mobilized physicians, lawyers, clergy, and community members to confront racial injustice.
Drawing on newly uncovered government records, personal archives, and oral histories, the project examines what solidarity requires, what moral courage demands, and what history asks of us now
In Search of Uncle Al
Two Histories. Same Soil.
A single sentence in an obituary sent me on an unexpected journey through archives, cemeteries, courthouses, cotton fields, and communities across the Mississippi Delta and beyond. What began as a search for a little-known relative evolved into an exploration of race, migration, land, identity, and the stories we inherit.
At the center of the search is Albine Jacob Linx, a Hungarian Jewish immigrant relative whose story became intertwined with the same Mississippi landscape where my Black family labored and lived. As a Black and Jewish woman, I found myself tracing two histories through the same soil and confronting the complex inheritance they left behind.
The Global Tapestry
Leadership, Belonging, and the Wisdom Between Us
Most leadership models begin with expertise. The Global Tapestry begins with curiosity.
Drawing on experiences across more than sixty countries and an ongoing immersion in Fiji through Peace Corps service, The Global Tapestry explores what communities around the world can teach us about leadership, belonging, reciprocity, and collective responsibility. Through keynotes, workshops, writing, film, and immersive learning experiences, the project invites leaders to see themselves as part of something larger: a living network of relationships, responsibilities, and shared humanity.
CAMPUSPEAK
Identity, Dialogue, and Belonging
As a CAMPUSPEAK speaker and facilitator, Chevara partners with colleges, universities, corporations, and organizations across the United States and around the world to explore the questions shaping our communities, identities, and shared future.
Drawing on personal narrative, global exploration, and decades of experience navigating complex cultural conversations, she creates spaces where curiosity is encouraged, assumptions are examined, and dialogue becomes a pathway to deeper understanding, connection, and belonging.
What they Said
Testimonial
“Chevara helped our teams navigate some of the most meaningful conversations about equity and leadership in our organization’s history. Her approach combines data, empathy, and strategic depth, reminding us that purpose-driven leadership begins with courageous self-reflection and shared accountability.”
Richard Shadyac Jr.
President & CEO, ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Chevara
Embrace the journey of self-discovery and transformation. Because this, your laughter and your light, is the revolution.
Copyright 2026 Chevara Orrin
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