Greater Bay Area Arts & Culture Advocacy Coalition

Student, UC Berkeley

Shiori Green is a student fellow for Just Cities and the Deeply Rooted Collaborative, currently pursuing a Master’s in City Planning at UC Berkeley. Shiori’s background in architecture combined with her passion for social justice is at the heart of all of her work. Currently Shiori is exploring the intersection of design and public policy through her investigation of cultural community development in Oakland. Using her skills in legal and policy analysis, combined with a desire to find ground truths, Shiori advocates for local governments to take an active role in ending systemic inequity and eliminating disparate harm in communities of color. Shiori’s experience in local government, New York City’s Department of City Planning as well as the City of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development, informs her belief that local governments have the capacity to bring meaningful change in neighborhoods. Oscillating between work at the local government and work with community advocacy groups, Shiori aims to understand the various systems of power that can be used to bring about change in neighborhoods. Shiori enjoys bringing facets of art and design into all of her work, and believes in the strength of art based advocacy as catalyst for community organizing. Born and raised in Hawaii, Shiori values the strength of tight knit communities, and the joy that comes from sharing individual cultural values with others. Through this fellowship Shiori hopes to further investigate the lack of cultural infrastructure funding seen in Oakland today, and explore meaningful policy changes that are grounded in anti-displacement and community voice.

Cultural Worker & Strategist, Caracol Collective

Natalia Neira Retamal is a cultural worker and strategist, co-creating a more just and joyful world with communities, artists, activists and allies seeking liberation. Natalia is based in Huichin, Ohlone Territory (Oakland, CA), with roots in the Andes and Wallmapu (Mapuche territory). She is the former Executive Director of La Peña Cultural Center where she grew the organization from 3 to 6 staff, established living wages, health insurance, increased vacation time and other important benefits to offer better work-life balance for employees. She was the former co-chair of Berkeley Cultural Trust’s (BCT) Equity & Inclusion Committee. Natalia is now currently focusing on community-driven projects where she will continue to advocate for equity and justice for the community.

Artist

(Amanalli Lu) was born in Mexico City. Vargas migrated to Los Angeles, California at the age of 11. She then moved to Santa Rosa where she works as a Professional Tattoo Artist. Inspired by Mexican and Native American Culture, she employed a naïve folk art style to explore questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, and race in American society. Art has transformed her life and has helped her heal her trauma. She hopes to use the same process to help young people. Vargas strongly believes art is one of the best activities for anyone to heal the body, mind and spirit.

Co-Founder, Artist Magnet Justice Alliance

Over the past decade, David Mack (he/him) has managed some of California’s most innovative performing arts organizations, including: Joe Goode Performance Group, Invertigo Dance Theatre, The Industry and Watts Village Theater Company. As a Strategic Consultant, Mack’s clients have included the cities of West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Culver City, as well as Center Theatre Group and LA Dance Project. Mack’s inaugural project as a Producer and Co-Founder was Chocolate City, an industry showcase connecting BIPOC writers and performers from institutions across Southern California to Hollywood agents, managers and casting directors. Since then, he has served on the Boards and committee leadership of several arts organizations, including the San Francisco Arts Alliance and Western Arts Alliance. Mack is currently the Managing Director of the African American Arts & Culture Complex, a member of the Greater Bay Area Arts & Cultural Advocacy Coalition and Co-Founder of Artist Magnet and Artist Magnet Justice Alliance, Oakland-based arts service organizations.

Founder & Executive Director, Arts.co.lab

Arturo Méndez-Reyes is a performing arts producer working in areas of development/fundraising, communication, event production/curation, community organizing, and cultural diplomacy in the Mission District of San Francisco, California, and Puebla, Mexico, for over 10 years. His work strives to curate and preserve spaces for political empowerment and community healing through cultural equity and intersectional representation. “La Cultura es una herramienta indispensable para la Dignidad de los Pueblos” He is the creator and current Executive Director of Arts.Co.Lab, ‘La Diáspora Festival’ and a curator of the ‘Mission Arts and Performance Project’, formerly working at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. He has produced shows for Harvard and Cornell University and the United Nations, as well as the Mexican Consulate in SF and the Secretary of Culture of Puebla, Mexico. He has participated in different Fellowships such as the Policy Fellowship with WESTAF (’24), the Advocacy Leadership Institute (’23), the Intercultural Leadership Institute (’22), and the Arts Leadership Institute (’21) by NALAC, Emergent Arts Professionals of SF and Seeding Reciprocity with the San Francisco Arts Commission (’20). His commitment to telling stories about immigrants and underrepresented groups is an endless source of inspiration in the search for justice and dignity for all. “Culture is an essential tool to grant dignity for all people”.

Executive Director, World Arts West

Dr. Anne Huang is the Executive Director of World Arts West, a 46 year old arts organization that supports cultural artists sustaining the world’s diverse dance traditions. In 2019 Dr. Huang was appointed the first person of color and cultural artist to lead World Arts West. Under Dr. Huang’s equity and inclusion focus, World Arts West has undergone a transformative equity journey. Huang is the former Executive Director of the Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC), one of the largest pan-Asian cultural centers in the U.S. During her tenure, she transformed OACC from an organization in financial crisis into a thriving cultural institution serving 50,000 people per year. She has supported many key cultural institutions in California and beyond, such as Parangal, Cuicacalli, Arenas Dance Company, Afro Urban Society, Diamano Coura West African Dance, and others. As a thought leader with deep knowledge of challenges and solutions for cultural artists in the 21st century, Huang has presented for Grantmakers in the Arts, National Association of Latino Arts & Culture, Arts Administrator of Color Network, Northern California Grantmakers, International Association of Blacks in Dance, and other convenings. She is a NALAC Advocacy Leadership Institute Fellow, an Organizing Fellow for the Greater Bay Area Arts and Cultural Advocacy Coalition, and a member of the Dance/USA Board of Trustees.