An Open Letter from Alejandra
May 4, 2026
One of my most dependable anchors is nature. My walks with Parker have grown more frequent now that spring is moving through the northern hemisphere. There is something about this season and the way the symphony of plants around me slowly unfurls out of dormancy, a mirror and reminder that patience, time, and space are the required conditions to begin again.
A collage of five photos. From left to right: 1. A window mural reading “Greetings from Lacey Washington” with flowers and a bird. 2. Alejandra Duque Cifuentes kneeling on a mountain, smiling while holding her dog Parker. 3. A photo of a peaceful forest stream surrounded by lush greenery and trees. 4. Alejandra and Parker on a mountain peak with a wide view of the landscape behind them. 5. Alejandra standing and holding Parker with a river landscape behind them. Photo credits: Alejandra Duque Cifuentes.
Re-Centering After Burnout
In the words of Robin Wall Kimmerer, from her essay, Returning The Gift, “The Earth asks us to change as everything changes and evolves, like the flesh-tearing Allosaurus who became a warbler singing from the treetops when the time for flesh-tearing was over. For if we don’t change, we will, like all that does not change, perish.” Three years ago, burnout made it feel as if the architecture of my life was on fire. Earth was calling and luckily I answered, off to the Pacific Northwest.
Since returning to the mountains, I have re-centered wonder, curiosity, and discovery in my friendships, my work, and the world around me. Since my departure from NYC, I've grown ADC Consulting, found a new community in Washington, and spent more time with my family and loved ones. This year in particular has brought meaningful milestones, from the Understanding Arts Service Organizations in a Changing Arts Ecosystem research to the Policy Literacy for the Creative Sector template, and I am deeply proud of what this team continues to build. The most significant change, however, has been within myself, as I have come to understand the conditions I need to honor in order to remain in service to a just future. Part of that understanding has been recognizing and coming into my disability, and learning what it asks of me and the matriarchal wisdom I’ve learned to lean on as I navigate it.
Embracing Time Off to Begin a New Cycle
This period of my life is calling me into building anew, but also into a deep remembrance and reconnection to the lineages that shape me. Every year on December 7th, I celebrate Día de Velitas, a Colombian holiday that kicks off the start to the holiday season. With time, and in true bi-cultural fashion, I have turned this holiday into a ritual of reflection where I set an intention for the year ahead. Two years ago my intention was to build community. A full rotation around the sun later, I can say I am now tending a garden of growing relational abundance and moving toward the intention I've set for this year which is to nurture deeper roots. To honor this shift from burnout to abundance and depth, I will be taking time away from my work at ADC Consulting to rest and acknowledge the new cycle of beginnings taking root.
A collage of three photos. From left to right: 1. Alejandra and a friend taking a selfie. 2. Alejandra sitting between friends, smiling. 3. Procession of the Species event in Olympia, WA. Photo credits: Alejandra Duque Cifuentes.
In just a few days, my dad and I will set out to complete a lifelong dream of his, walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain, a celebration of his 70th birthday and in many ways a reclaiming of freedom for our family. After a lifetime shaped by the forced displacement of this country's immigration policies, we get to define what freedom looks like on our own terms. I am following him into the mountains, as I always have. He is the hiker I take after and one of the people who first put the mountains in my heart.
Honoring Lineage and History
It will also be my first time in Europe, where I will also finally get to visit France, a place that has a special place in my heart because of my beloved Haitian French teacher, Madame Humphrey. Madame Humphrey, like the many Black women educators of my childhood, saved me at a time of my life when I felt incredibly lost. She taught me to hold with pride the accent of my mother tongue when I attempted to learn English and to one day tell her when I made it to Paris. Wherever you might be today, Madame Humphrey, may this message find you— I followed your footsteps to Paris. Thank you for showing me to honor myself.
Gratitude to My Team
While I am away for five weeks, the ADC Consulting team will continue the good work we’ve started this year and support all of our existing projects and clients. I feel incredibly grateful for this network of partners and professionals who build alongside me, making it possible for our clients' work to continue while I spend this special and meaningful time with my dad. If you haven’t had a chance to meet the team I get to do this work with, head to the ADC Consulting Website. Beyond our collective work, they are each building a new world in their own spheres. Angela, Augustine, Candace, Carrie, David, Jada, Leo, Maleni, Precious, Susana, and Vicki— thank you!
A collage of eleven headshot photos. From left to right: Angela Ciarochi, Augustine Jimenez, Candace Thompson-Zachery, Carrie Blake, David Holland, Jada Hampton, Leo Figueiredo, Maleni Palacios, Precious Diamond B., Susana Baker, and Vicki Capote.
To all of my clients and colleagues over the past three years, I could not have reached this place without your patience, trust, and support as I have navigated new ways of showing up as a collaborator and partner. The grace you have extended (especially when I didn’t get it right) has been an essential part of shifting how I work and the conditions in which I do so, allowing me to grow both personally and in the evolution of ADC Consulting toward a more symbiotic way of being. There is still much to learn and change, and I would not be where I am without you.
I’m excited to share more reflections and insights with you upon my arrival back from Europe— It is not lost on me that I am both enjoying the harvest of a carefully and at times painfully tended garden, whilst visiting the place of origin of my colonizers. More on that when I return. Until then, enjoy some pictures of me and my dad before we embark on our adventure!
A collage of three photos. From left to right: 1. Alejandra and her dad taking a selfie, smiling while taking a train. 2. Alejandra and her dad standing outside wearing sunglasses, with the Madrid landscape behind them. 3. Alejandra and her dad walking the streets of Madrid at night, taking another selfie. Photo credits: Alejandra Duque Cifuentes.
