Hilary Giovale

Hilary Giovale is a mother, writer, and community organizer who holds a Master’s Degree in Good and Sustainable Communities. She has taught improvisational women’s dance and has served on the boards of philanthropic, human rights, and environmental organizations. A ninth-generation American settler, she is descended from Celtic, Germanic, Nordic, and Indigenous peoples of Ancient Europe. For most of her life, these origins were obscured by the delusion of whiteness, until a series of ancestral interventions began in her early 40s. After learning more about her ancestors, Hilary found herself emerging from a fog of amnesia, denial, and fragmentation. For the first time, she could see a painful reality: her family’s occupation of this land has harmed Indigenous and African peoples, cultures, and lifeways. With this realization, her life changed. Hilary lives into this question as an act of love for the ancestors, the waters, and future generations. She is an active speaker, teacher, and reparative philanthropist. Divesting from whiteness, she bridges divides with truth, healing, apology, and forgiveness. She follows Indigenous and Black leadership in support of human rights, environmental justice, and equitable futures.