Daniela Salazar Monárrez

by Joy Meikle
Wilton Meeting

New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM) has hired a new full-time Children, Youth and Young Adult Community Director. Her name is Daniela Salazar Monarréz and she began the job in late January. I had the recent pleasure of interviewing her for a spotlight in Illuminations, the children & families newsletter that I write and curate for NYYM (which you can subscribe to here!). In speaking with her over the course of two afternoons, it became clear that Daniela responds to and thinks about life with the intentionality and curiosity of someone who cares deeply about the consideration of Truth. As she puts it, her philosophy is to “experience life on purpose.”

Daniela received a Bachelors in Linguistics from the University of Chicago and an MFA from Queens College. She is trained as an American Sign Language (ASL) linguist and has worked in sign language labs across the country. She also used to volunteer at ASL SLAM, a space in NYC for Deaf performing artists to share poetry and storytelling in ASL. (Daniela, herself, is a poet). She says she enjoyed studying linguistics because it allows for interdisciplinary exploration. Daniela strikes me as a passionate thinker, and, according to her, she thinks a lot about how she thinks. “Being autistic is a huge part of my life,” she told me. “For me, it’s been a very practical question, thinking about autism as a neurotype.” She says one practical outcome of her autism is a limited capacity to withstand lies, which is one of the reasons she appreciates children, those great truth-seekers and truth-tellers. 

Born in Mexico, Daniela moved around a lot when she was young. She identifies as Mexican, as American, and as neither. She was raised Catholic, more specifically Mexican Catholic, and still feels a strong connection to her Mexican Catholic roots. She often says, “I cannot separate my Mexican culture from its Catholic flavor. I am Catholic in all of the parts that I am Mexican, which tends to be a lot.” Now, Quakerism is her foundation, although she keeps searching in other places and traditions, too. She says she was called to Quakerism before she even knew its name, and ultimately it was Quakerism that chose her. In other words, she was “shoved, not convinced.” Her first way of getting actively involved with meeting was to make friends quickly with all of the kids. This natural affinity with young people has guided much of her career; she’s worked as an elementary school teacher as well as a college professor. 

Daniela knows how to make intentional community. She loves telling and hearing stories, and is fascinated by the process of culture-making, to the extent that she says she carries a ‘concern for culture.’ She told me, “I’m always searching for the values and basic foundation of a place, of a culture.” This concern for culture carries over into her work with children, youth, and young adults. She’s curious about youth culture and seeks to affirm the role that young people play in the creation and maintenance of culture. As Children, Youth, and Young Adult Community Director, she wants “young people to be seen as the partners they are in culture-making, because they’re so often removed from agency everywhere.” Culture is not static—it shifts, and moves, and changes. What would it look like for children, youth, and young adults in Quaker spaces to be valued as part of this dynamic process? To have their opinions taken seriously? To be included in Meeting for Business? 

One of Daniela’s poems, entitled ‘this is a poem for those who have asked,’ is an expansive analysis about the ways in which white supremacy and other systems of oppression are operating in the Society of Friends. On how NYYM can be “more inviting to young people, non-white people, and queer people,” Daniela writes, “They keep peeking their heads in to see if you’re ready for them yet. They know their place and their power and they will not be preached to first.” They will not be preached to— a call for true conversation bound by truth rather than authority, without condescension, judgment or pettiness. Daniela’s new role in the Yearly Meeting will include a facilitation of these conversations to connect Friends across lines of difference and spheres of influence. She’s excited to meet people in the community and make many new Friends. You can reach her at her NYYM email, [email protected].