
Marilou Chanrasmi, CARE Center Chief – Northern Tier
Marilou has been collaborating and partnering with Minnesota tribal communities since 2008. She has deep connections and relationships with proximate leaders at Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Nation and Little Earth of United Tribes. Collaborating with her Anishinaabe friends in Minnesota, she has been building an expanding circle of indigenous proximate leaders and trusted partners committed to animal and human well being. She is deeply committed to honoring the wisdom within the community, building authentic relationships, and elevating the voices of indigenous people and those from marginalized communities. She has served as a liaison, mentor and guide to trusted allies wanting to learn a new way of listening and being in their work with tribal communities.
Marilou is a somatics coach and an experienced facilitator of circles with a process that creates space that is participatory, experiential, healing, reflective, equitable and meets people where they are, and also challenges them to see with more than eyes and hear with more than ears.
Marilou is a founding member of Deep Listening for Social Change/DLSC. DLSC is a peaceful action that members of the Twin Cities BIPOC mindfulness community initiated in response to the murder of George Floyd. DLSC uses the practice of Deep Listening as an anti-racist tool for having difficult conversations, healing from the wounds of systemic and community-specific racism, and creating a greater sense of interconnection in order to facilitate sustained social change.
Marilou shares her home with her 3 dogs: Legacy and Ishkode (from Leech Lake Nation) and Migizi (from Mille Lacs Nation). Marilou continues to be guided by her spirit dog, Ahnung (a Red Lake Nation dog) who crossed over to the spirit world in 2013. She has a daily meditation, nature hiking, qigong, and centering practice.
Email:marilou@careawo.org