My name is Chels and my pronouns are they / them and xe / xem. It’s a pleasure to meet you.
I am an Afro-Latinx, Autistic, pansexual, polyamorous, and non-binary writer, sexuality educator and intimacy coordinator focused on curating justice-centered, emboldening spaces guided the intersectional, disability justice and transformative justice frameworks, developed by the black women and the black trans scholars who have come before me. I reside in Los Angeles, CA on the native land of the Kizh, the Tongva and the Chumash.
I practice trauma responsive, inclusive sex, kink and identity education, mental health advocacy, intimacy direction for theater and intimacy coordination for film and television, with emphasis on scenes of BDSM and Kink, LGBTQ+ populations, Non-monogamy and scenes of non-consent.
Education & Training
degrees & certifications
MFA in Film & TV Production – 2024
CURRENTLY ENROLLED – Attending Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA. Concentration: Directing for Fiction.
Certified Holistic Sexuality Educator (CHSE)
Certification in Holistic Sexuality Education from the Institute of Sexuality Education and Enlightenment (ISEE).
Certified by Ante Up! Professional Development
Certification in the history, implementation, and troubleshooting of various justice frameworks as they relate to the sexuality field from Ante Up Professional Development.
Adult First Aid / CPR / AED
Certified by the American Red Cross. Valid until 06/2023.
Covid – 19 Compliance Officer
Certified by Health Education Services for Music Video, Commercial, Television and Film Production Sets.
BA in Media Arts Production
Bachelor’s of Arts from Emerson College in Boston, MA. Concentration: Writing and Producing for Television with a minor in Human Sexuality.
AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator (CSE)
Certified by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) as a Sexuality Educator.
Mental Health First Aid
Certified by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), a national program to teach the skills to respond to the signs of mental illness and substance use.
Psychological First Aid
Certified by Johns Hopkins University in Psychological First Aid (PFA), a program designed to provide mental health aid to people in an emergency by employing the RAPID model: reflective listening, assessment of needs, prioritization, intervention, and disposition.
additional training & SELF STUDY
Sexual Harassment Prevention
Training completed by the State of Illinois in sexual harassment and abuse prevention.
Transformative Justice & Community Safety
Self study completed guided by Spring Up!, the Barnard Center for Research on Women and the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective.
AASECT Early Career Professional Member
Under supervision and pursuing certification by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists.
Bystander Intervention
Training completed in Bystander Intervention, Conflict De-escalation, Workplace Harassment Intervention and Implicit Bias by Right to Be (formerly Hollaback!), a nonprofit working globally to end harassment — in all its forms.
Winch Operator and Rigger
Automatic and manual rigging for circus arts and kink.
In the Media
What is your favorite sex scene? In this episode, I speak with Sex Educator Birna Gustafsson on her podcast about what really goes down behind the scenes. We discuss what intimacy coordination or coaching is (and isn’t!), what is missing from the industry, and even dissect our favorite steamy scenes.
Sex Educator Braelin A. and I talk performative allyship, white saviors in media and my personal struggles growing up as a BIPOC person in America, including growing up in religion, going to 4 different High Schools, and never knowing which of my identities is going to hold me back or propel me forward.
Articles:
“Unlearning Sexual Shame: How TV Fueled My Need for Toxic Love” – Salty, saltyworld.net
“My Take: How Erotophobia on Screen was a Catalyst for Me to Make Change”
– The Light Leaks, thelightleaks.com