June 20, 2024
The Regional Network team is honored to welcome Séfora Chavarria aka Foxx, and Maiah Duckstein, who are joining Debbi and Brian as the new and improved South Florida Regional Contact (RC) team! These four are joined by Rob Leaman and Morgan Patten in Central Florida.
We are onboarding these two new RCs in the South Florida region as Debbi and Brian have served as RCs for more than ONE DOZEN YEARS (huge gratitude!), and are now succession planning for retirement within the year.
It’s our pleasure to introduce you to the new South Florida RCs! Meet them below!
You can reach the South Florida RC Team by emailing SouthFlorida@burningman.org. Please read more about the South Florida Burner community on the South Florida region’s webpage.
Meet S. FL’s New RCs!
Sefora Chavarria aka Foxx
Miami Springs, FL
Séfora better known as Foxx has been described by Skye (a 5 year old faerie expert) as a type of foxtail fern faerie originating from the land of lakes and volcanoes known to many as Nicaragua. She enjoys chasing rainbows and can often be found foraging fruits everywhere she goes. Foxx lives a life that’s enchanted by the possibility of magic and where anything we dream can become a part of reality. She discovered the magic of Black Rock City in 2016 and has been burning brightly since then. When she is not time traveling or rescuing unicorns she spends her time designing gardens of all kinds in Miami.
Maiah Duckstein
Pembroke Pines, FL
Hello! I’m Maiah Duckstein, deeply immersed in the burn community for nearly 12 years. Starting from a profound passion, I’ve held various leadership roles and currently serve as the board chair for Burnt Oranges, focusing on inclusivity and creativity. With over 20 years in social work and public health, I advocate for causes close to my heart, aiming to amplify voices and foster community growth.
February 6, 2024
Hi South Florida Burners!
This Regional Contact search has closed.
Stay tuned, the Burning Man Regional Network team, in collaboration with local leaders, hope to announce new Regional Contacts in June!
Cheers!
The Regional Network Team
January 23, 2024
Requesting YOUR Community Feedback on South Florida Regional Contact Candidates
Hi South Florida Burners!
YOUR FEEDBACK REQUESTED!
The Burning Man Regional Network team, in collaboration with local leaders, is searching for additional community leaders to build and nurture Burning Man community initiatives in Southern Florida. These Regional Contacts (“RCs”) will serve alongside the current South Florida RCs, Debbi Arseneaux & Brian Weiner.
These seven candidates have stepped up to volunteer as Regional Contacts and help keep the flame burning:
- Michael Harvey aka The Harv
- Maiah Duckstein
- Tatyana Voloshin
- Cristina Garcia aka Cuci Amador
- Sefora Chavarria aka Foxx
- Melissa Kesden aka Giggles aka Fun Bags aka Swinger Bait
- John Tishok aka Tish
Regional Contacts work to help strengthen and foster connections in local regions. As such, we request your feedback about each candidate under consideration. This assists us in making the best selection for your local community.
If you know any of these candidates, please complete this community feedback survey no later than midnight PST on Tuesday February 6th, 2024.
Your confidential feedback assists us in making the best selection for your local community. All feedback from this survey is provided to the RC selection team anonymously – all identifying information is removed – that said, please do not add identifying information to your narrative answers unless you intend for your identity to be known.
ACCESS THE SURVEY HERE:
https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/7688739/South-Florida-RC-Feedback-Survey
Please share this link far and wide, we appreciate all the feedback we can get! The survey allows you to easily skip candidates you don’t know.
You can learn more about the Regional Contact selection process by reading these:
If you have questions about this process or additional feedback, which cannot be captured in the survey, please don’t hesitate to email us via regional-network@burningman.org.
Thank you!
January 8, 2024
Deadline for self-nominations EXTENDED!
Our team is searching for community members to contribute their spark and step into the South Florida Regional Contact role.
Regional Contacts volunteer year-round to build and nurture Burning Man community initiatives on a local level. They facilitate communication and collaboration with and between local community members, various local community groups and the Burning Man Regional Network Team. Could this be YOU?
*Read More Below*
If you feel qualified to self-nominate to be a Burning Man Regional Contact, please complete these two items by Friday January 19th, 2024:
- Email regional-network@burningman.org: please add South Florida Regional Contact in the subject line and introduce yourself. Share more about your local involvement and your relevant leadership experience. *AND*
- Complete the Volunteer Questionnaire. Log into your Burner Profile and complete this survey. You MUST CHECK “Regional Contacts” as one of your 3 teams in order for us to receive this form. If you have already filled out a VolQ form, please check that you’ve indicated “Regional Contacts” as one of your areas of interest.
Key dates in our South Florida intake process, subject to change, are:
- January 19, 2024: Deadline to self-nominate with letter and submit volunteer questionnaire.
- January 23: Opportunity for community feedback on candidates opens via confidential survey.
- February 15-18: The Love Burn!
- February 2024: Candidates will be interviewed by the interview team.
- March 2024: Final decisions made and onboarding begins.
- April 2024: New RC announcements shared.
If you feel like you may be a good fit for the South Florida RC team, we warmly welcome you to step up and take part in our selection process. If you have specific questions, reach us at regional-network@burningman.org.
Please share this announcement to your socials and your communities throughout Southern Florida!
Sincerely,
Acacia Coast, Project Manager on the Regional Network Team
December 19, 2023
Hello South Florida Burners!
The Burning Man Project Regional Network Team has exciting news! We are launching the search for Regional Contacts in Southern Florida to empower and support cultural growth across your region.
Current South Florida Regional Contacts, Debbi Arseneaux & Brian Weiner steward the community, but because South Florida has such an active, engaged, and exciting region, we all agreed they need some well-deserved help!
Our team is now searching for community members to contribute their spark and step into this leadership role. Regional Contacts volunteer year-round to build and nurture Burning Man community initiatives on a local level. They facilitate communication and collaboration with and between local community members, various local community groups and the Burning Man Regional Network Team. Could this be YOU?
If you live in Southern Florida year-round and are interested in becoming a Burning Man Regional Contact, please read about the Regional Network, search process, and Regional Leadership Criteria.
Please do not apply until you’ve read all of these resource pages!
As a South Florida RC, we are looking for the following skills and attributes:
- Collaborates, works well with a range of personalities, and can build bridges between community members across the greater South Florida region, including welcoming new burners and re-engaging established members.
- Actively listens and responds to community needs and ideas.
- Expresses themself with strong written, verbal, and public speaking communication skills; understands the importance of communication as a community-building, engagement and strengthening tool.
- Holds strong tech & social media skills, including:
- Google Group email lists (it’s expected that RCs post and approve posts to the list in a consistent and timely manner)
- Website management skills (basic editing of the South Florida Region’s page)
- Welcomes feedback from the community and recognizes the need for a leader to plan for their own eventual succession.
- Maintains a mindset of flexibility about ownership rather than possession and is willing to help build a team through delegating and sharing responsibilities to develop the leaders of tomorrow.
- Embraces difficult conversations conflict resolution and community mediation skills.
- Has capacity to take on the full duties of the Regional Contact role.
If you feel qualified to self-nominate to be a Burning Man Regional Contact, please complete these two items by Wednesday January 10th, 2024:
- Email regional-network@burningman.org: please add South Florida Regional Contact in the subject line and introduce yourself. Share more about your local involvement and your relevant leadership experience. *AND*
- Complete the Volunteer Questionnaire. Log into your Burner Profile and complete this survey. You MUST CHECK “Regional Contacts” as one of your 3 teams in order for us to receive this form. If you have already filled out a VolQ form, please check that you’ve indicated “Regional Contacts” as one of your areas of interest.
After the window to self-nominate closes, we’ll send out a community feedback survey to gather community input on each candidate.
Key dates in our South Florida intake process, subject to change, are:
- January 10, 2024: Deadline to self-nominate with letter and submit volunteer questionnaire.
- January 15: Opportunity for community feedback on candidates opens via confidential survey.
- February 15-18: The Love Burn!
- February 2024: Candidates will be interviewed by the interview team.
- March 2024: Final decisions made and announcements shared.
If you feel like you may be a good fit for the South Florida RC team, we warmly welcome you to step up and take part in our selection process. If you have specific questions, reach us at regional-network@burningman.org.
Please consider amplifying this announcement to your socials and sharing with your communities throughout Southern Florida!
With Excitement,
The Regional Network Team
Photo Credit: Debbie Wolff
Art: Identity Awareness Family by Shane Pitzer
Year: 2017