Seeds & Berries
Strategic consulting for programs, systems, and coalitions navigating complexity and care.
Led by licensed social worker Alia Berry—technical partner, trainer, and systems-level practitioner.
Seeds & Berries exists to support organizations, systems, and coalitions doing high-trust, high-stakes work with communities.
We specialize in training the trainers, guiding reentry and youth justice initiatives, and helping institutions integrate care-rooted strategy without compromising clarity or rigor.
Founded by Alia Berry, LSW, this practice is built on more than 20 years of experience working at the intersections of community health, justice reform, and public education.
From Newark school districts to national policy tables, we provide infrastructure and guidance that centers both people and outcomes.
Meet Alia Berry
I’m a licensed social worker, educator, grief specialist, and systems strategist.
For two decades, I’ve worked alongside teams across reentry, education, violence prevention, and housing—building programs, leading training, and helping systems shift from within.
Seeds & Berries was built to offer technical support in moments that matter—when staff are overwhelmed, when coalitions need alignment, or when an initiative needs grounding before it launches.
I also lead the Village Revival Project, a grassroots initiative rooted in grief support, prison correspondence, and peer-based care for women navigating incarceration and loss.
I move between boardrooms, classrooms, and jail cells. The strategy changes, but the goal stays the same: to support people in doing the work better—and protecting what matters along the way.
Offerings
We offer structured, collaborative support for people working in and around systems.
Every offering is designed to support capacity building, wellness, and healing.
Training & Professional Development
Training that builds capacity—and stays with you.
Our training work meets people in the middle of real life: schools impacted by violence, housing programs under pressure, reentry teams holding too much, and corporate wellness initiatives trying to evolve. Alia doesn't just train—she equips.
She’s trained peer leaders inside juvenile facilities, onboarded new violence interrupters, supported administrators implementing trauma-informed frameworks, and created citywide train-the-trainer models that are still running five years later. She's also led healing-centered professional development in corporations and philanthropy spaces where burnout and mission drift run deep.
Whether we’re preparing teams to lead restorative work, helping institutions respond to grief and loss, or guiding executives through wellness infrastructure that actually holds, this work is built to create ownership and clarity at every level.
Training can include:
System-embedded strategies for addressing youth violence, gang affiliation, and safety planning
Custom frameworks for culturally rooted peer leadership and accountability
Onboarding sequences for reentry staff, case managers, and educators
Scenario-based coaching for de-escalation, grief response, and team alignment
Trauma-informed practices grounded in real-time application, not theory
Available as intensive one-time sessions, multi-week series, or organizational partnerships.
Youth-led programming and power sharing
Onboarding and coaching frameworks for new hires
Culturally relevant practice and communication
Retention, wellness, and vicarious trauma
Internal policy alignment and equity-based strategy
Available for school districts, housing networks, grassroots orgs, and government teams.
Policy Advising & Coalition Strategy
Policy work that protects people and builds sustainability.
Alia provides strategic policy support that’s grounded in lived experience, language precision, and relationship trust.
She advises coalitions, nonprofits, advocacy networks, and public systems as they navigate messaging, alignment, and systems change—all without losing the people at the center.
Whether she’s ghostwriting position statements, coaching directly impacted leaders through a campaign, or helping a city agency align values with implementation, Alia works quietly, efficiently, and always with an eye on dignity.
She’s often invited in when the stakes are high, time is short, and political dynamics are layered.
We help clarify what you mean, strengthen how you say it, and build processes that move it forward.
Services Include:
Policy language development and review
Coalition advising and narrative alignment
Coaching for directly impacted leaders in systems work
Anonymous contributions and brand-based representation
Policy work is high-stakes. We bring calm, clarity, and real-time thinking.
Program Development & Capacity Building
Structure that honors your mission—and makes it sustainable.
Program design is often treated as a checklist. We treat it like strategy. Alia works with leaders and practitioners to co-create programming that’s both values-driven and operationally sound.
This includes reentry initiatives, housing support systems, youth development models, and internal leadership frameworks.
We partner with organizations in motion—those in a moment of growth, overwhelm, or change—to:
Build programs from the ground up with community and context in mind
Rethink what's already in place to make it more sustainable, strategic, and staffable
Translate grassroots vision into funder-ready language and infrastructure
Clarify internal communication, leadership roles, and decision-making structures
From tiny community collectives to city-level systems, our goal is the same: make your vision work—without burning out the people behind it.
Support Includes:
Design and documentation of reentry and diversion programs
Internal communication and leadership alignment
Infrastructure planning for long-term sustainability
Evaluation frameworks that reflect dignity and data
When you don’t have time to figure it out alone, we come in and build beside you.
Circle-Based Healing & Facilitation
Intentional space for grief, transition, and repair.
We partner with schools, housing programs, reentry orgs, and government entities to:
Respond to acute loss or transition through grief circles
Support staff wellness and burnout prevention through facilitated group process
Build internal facilitation models with trained circle keepers
Hold reentry-based community accountability circles with dignity and intention
Circles create room for emotional clarity so the work can continue. They’re optional, but powerful—and often the piece people remember most.
Types of Circles:
Transition and loss processing (staff or community)
Ongoing circles in schools and housing programs
Circle keeper coaching and curriculum support
Spaces for justice-involved or system-facing populations
Sometimes systems need more than strategy. They need space. Alia leads circle-based facilitation that allows teams, communities, and institutions to hold what's hard—without losing direction.
These aren’t therapy sessions, and they aren’t just 'feel good' moments. They’re structured, grounded, and informed by years of work inside facilities, shelters, school districts, and coalitions.
Start the Conversation
If you’re working on something high-stakes, complex, or in need of realignment—reach out.
Whether you’re exploring a partnership, requesting a training, or just looking for clarity, we’ll get back to you promptly.
Direct Email: hello@seedsandberries.com
Location: Based in Newark, NJ – Serving clients nationwide
Instagram: @sidewalksocialworker
What Partners Say
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"We didn’t need another consultant—we needed a partner who could hold the complexity with us. Alia got it immediately."
— Program Director, Restorative Justice Org
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"Her training changed how we do onboarding. Practical, grounded, and built for our context."
— Director of Youth Programs, New York
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"You don’t realize how much you’ve been carrying until she facilitates space for your team. There’s real safety in her presence."
— Clinical Supervisor, Reentry Program
