Finch Matos-Atamian
Data & Communications Organizer
FAST FAVORITES
informing the movement in me
My whole life I’ve worked in health care; whether lifeguarding or nursing I have been deeply fulfilled by doing healing work. Within the past five years I’ve come to understand that physical healing is just one small piece of what healing work can be. I now work in a different kind of healing, one of spirit, community and injustice.
Through my role, I ensure that no one we talk to is forgotten or left behind. Gathering data and working within data management systems can remove the humanity from the work we do, and it is my job to make sure that never happens. I work hard to ensure that no one becomes just a number or a statistic. We are not capturing information; we are learning about and building relationships with people.
Book - The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien;
How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith
Song - Nina Cried Power by Hozier (feat. Mavis Staples)
Tell it like it is by Tracy Chapman
Artist - Vincent van Gogh
Activist Ancestor - Marsha P. Johnson
Time and again throughout my life, I have witnessed the power of individuals becoming a community. I’ve seen it in small, personal ways like a meal delivery train for someone at my church going through a difficult time. I’ve seen it happen nationally, hundreds of thousands of people across the country demanding justice for Black lives taken by police violence. No matter the scale it is a sacred and profound thing to be a part of such communities. Seeking to create a sustainable, state-wide community is ambitious and far from easy, but it is work I have experienced the importance and impact of, and am now proud to be a part.
IN THE FIELD
I spend most of my day behind a computer, so any opportunity to be around people, like door knocking with Oscar Guana Osorio from ECCO, is grounding for me and a powerful reminder of the people behind the data.