ABOUT MATTHEW

Dr. Matthew White is an educator, facilitator, author, organizer, and arts leader committed to building communities where people can belong, lead, and thrive. He serves as Executive Director of Chorale Bel Canto and leads education and leadership development with SEIU Local 1000. Across nonprofit leadership, labor education, community organizing, and creative practice, his work engages body, mind, spirit, and heart in service of individual and collective liberation.

With more than 15 years of experience in labor and social-justice movements, Matthew has advocated for safety and dignity alongside care workers, faith communities, survivors of domestic violence, and LGBTQ+ communities. His previous work includes serving as Executive Director of the UDW Resource Center, along with leadership roles with AFSCME, the Poor People’s Campaign, Whittier PRIDE, and the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence.

Matthew earned his Doctor of Ministry from Pacific School of Religion, where he developed a regenerative organizing framework for sustaining movements, advocates, and communities over time. That work informs his forthcoming book, The Roots Remain: How We Regenerate Movements and Each Other, to be published by Pilgrim Press. His approach to learning and leadership brings together storywork, trauma-aware practice, reflective dialogue, and spiritual imagination.

He is also the author of the children’s book The Owl Who Didn’t Who. Across teaching, organizing, writing, and arts leadership, Matthew centers courage, kindness, and “going gently” as practices through which people can remember their worth, deepen belonging, and create new possibilities together.