Groundswell Board Member Introduction: Chelsea Almario
My name is Chelsea Almario. I’m a first-generation Filipino American, a queer woman, a wife, a dog mom, and soon-to-be mom-mom. I’m also a top-producing realtor and community maker in San Diego. But before any of those titles, I was a young girl in Chula Vista who felt an unexplainable pull to the ocean.
The first time I stood up on a surfboard was at a friend’s 9th birthday party at La Jolla Shores. My parents weren’t there — they strongly disapproved of surfing. As immigrants, they saw it as unsafe, impractical, and simply not for us. But I felt something in the water that day. A spark. A sense of freedom I didn’t yet understand, but couldn’t forget.
Fast forward to 2017. I was fresh out of college, having walked away from the structured world of collegiate sports and straight into an identity crisis. I felt untethered. That deep sadness I’d carried since I was young finally had a name — ADHD & Endometriosis — but naming it didn’t make the overwhelm disappear. It was all… a lot. Not knowing how to deal with both definitely sprung me into different depressive states throughout the years.
That’s when I found Groundswell.
I saw a post about a new 8-week surf therapy program in Ocean Beach. It sounded like the perfect combination: a chance to volunteer, and maybe get some free therapy too haha. My fav My Fav Ghandi quote is “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” So it was a no brainer to join!
That first cohort changed everything. I found myself surrounded by women who had lived — who carried their own stories of resilience, pain, growth, and joy. I was helping to hold space with the participants in their journey of learning how to surf, yes, but it was so much more than that. We were coming home to ourselves. I didn’t realize it then, but I was experiencing a kind of therapy I had never known before — one rooted in movement, connection, and the sacred rhythm of the ocean.
Groundswell gave me a path back to myself through showing up for others. The next year, I returned as a surf safety facilitator. I wanted to give back in any way I could. To help others feel brave, safe, and held — the same way I had felt.
Then life shifted. My Real Estate business took off, then COVID hit. In-person connection became harder. But I still wanted to be involved. So in 2020, I joined the board. It was my way of staying close to the work that had changed my life — of supporting Groundswell’s mission from behind the scenes, and doing whatever I could to ensure this magic kept going.
Being on the board has been one of the most grounding honors of my life. Whether I’m helping with strategy, fundraising, or simply showing up, I’m reminded again and again that healing doesn’t have to happen inside four walls. That community, nature, and movement can be powerful medicine. That Mother Ocean truly is my church.
Now, as I prepare to step into a new chapter of my life — becoming a mom — I’m even more grateful for the lessons Groundswell has given me. The slowing down. The trust in tides. The remembering that we are never alone in our healing.
This new era of Groundswell holds so much promise. We carry the wisdom of past waves and the potential of everything still to come. I believe deeply in the work we do. In returning people to the water, to each other, and to themselves.
Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned through Groundswell, it’s that when we show up — messy, honest, and open — healing finds us. And often, it looks a lot like saltwater, sisterhood, and the courage to paddle back out.