Michelle Antonina Burdex, a Tulsa, Oklahoma native, boasts a dynamic 25-year tenure as the Program Coordinator at the Greenwood Cultural Center (GCC). Renowned for her stewardship, she’s pioneered acclaimed initiatives such as the Young Entrepreneurs’ Summer Program, GCC’s Performing Arts Program, and the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools Summer and After School Program.

A storyteller and tour guide, Michelle has guided thousands of students, educators, and tourists through the vivid tapestry of Greenwood’s history. Notably, she led a tour for U.S. President Joe Biden during GCC’s 100-year remembrance of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in 2021.

Her gift lies in educating about both the tragic legacy of the massacre and the resilience of Black Wall Street, weaving together narratives that resonate deeply.
Recognized for her leadership, she joined the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Leadership Arts Program and Leadership Tulsa’s Thrive Tulsa Leadership Program in 2020. Presently, as a Bloomberg Tech Fellow, she’s engaged in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Digital Accelerator Program, showcasing her commitment to innovative progress in cultural education and advocacy.

Michelle Amador, a lifelong singer and songwriter, has been acclaimed as “a new breed of musician” (Mercury News) by figures ranging from jazz bassist Buster Williams to legendary electronic producers like Osunlade. Most recently, she has recorded and released singles created with producer Eli Crews (Kathleen Hanna, Yoko Ono, tUnE-yArDs). Known for her “silken-voiced” (San Francisco Chronicle) original music, Amador draws inspiration from artists such as Solange Knowles, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, Björk, and more.

From 2022 to 2024, Amador was a member of the Western States Center musician cohort for Inclusive Democracy and an organizing co-founder of the Cultural Solidarity Fund. She is also a California Established Artist Fellow. Beyond her artistic endeavors, Amador serves as Chief Growth Officer for the Equity Accelerator, a board member for California for the Arts, and a member of the Equity and Inclusion Leadership Alliance of North Carolina.

Michelle Huynh is an intercultural theater artist, performance studies scholar and arts administrator born and raised in Hawaiʻi. Her work is rooted in creating spaces where diverse stories and communities intersect and in using performance as a tool for cultural empowerment and social engagement.

She holds a doctorate in theater and drama from the University of California, San Diego, and a master’s in fine arts in Asian theater performance from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Huynh has taught widely across the United States and abroad, including at universities in California, Hawaiʻi, New England, Singapore and Vietnam. She is a faculty member at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Outreach College in the Arts, Community & Engagement Department.

Her practice spans Hawaiʻi, California and the Asia-Pacific Rim, where she engages in cultural organizing and collaborates with local and international artists across performance, research and community engagement on university campuses and in public venues. Her multimodal works have been presented at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, East-West Center, Asian New Play Festival and Journey Theatre Company.

Discipline: Visual Arts

Michelle Pier is a Guam-born artist, creative entrepreneur, and mother of two with over 20 years of experience creating, exhibiting, and selling original paintings locally and internationally. Alongside her studio practice, she is dedicated to fostering creativity in the community through classes, workshops, and events that emphasize the creative arts, personal expression, and entrepreneurship. She is especially passionate about mentoring young artists, equipping them with practical tools and encouragement to pursue art as both a calling and a career. Above all, she shares her journey to inspire others to feel empowered to create and thrive.

Chair, Alliance of Chinese Culture & Arts USA

Passionate to connect people through Chinese culture and fusion musics; Actively involved in Chinese community’s development; started to bring Asian communities together from 2022 for showcasing Asian creative expression and cultural traditions through the power of arts.
• 2004 – Present, Worked at GE and then Honeywell as a senior professional leader;
• 2020 – Present, Committee member, Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC);
• 2018 – Present, Appointed as the Chair of Alliance of Chinese Culture & Arts USA (www.acca-us.org), a 501c3 non-profit organization fully operated by the volunteers. It is composed of the local chapters across regions in the spirit of collaboration;
• 2008 – 2019, Led a volunteer group to partner with Philharmonia Orchestra of CCM ( College Conservatory of Music in UC), defined programs and organized the annual Chinese New Year concert as an executive producer in 12 consecutive years, created fusion music programs, and named by Cincinnati Enquirer as one of the highly received concerts in the year;
• 2012-2019, Partnered with the social studies teacher of 6th grade in a local school to initiate the annual event “Connecting Kids to the World” in 8 consecutive years. The event was to create the dialog opportunities for the 6th grader to talk with the similar age of the kids in India and China face-to-face through video;
• In early 90s, came to the United States from China to pursue higher education and received MBA degree.

Mid-Columbia Community Concert Association

Midori Hirose, born in Hood River, Oregon, is a Japanese American interdisciplinary artist based in Portland. Through sculpture, sound, and social ritual, she explores material storytelling as a portal to memory, perception, and transformation.

Her practice bridges care labor and poetic research, turning complex histories and communal connections into dimensional, tactile forms. Hirose co-leads a mutual aid collective supporting protest safety and community resilience, informing her ongoing inquiries into collective care and embodied resistance.

Her work transforms shared spaces into sites of relational alchemy and slow, subversive repair. It has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including “Labor of Love” at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, “Of the Unicorn (and the Sundowner Kids)” with the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, and East/West Project in Berlin. Her installations invite intimacy, tension, and radical possibility.

Mineral County Performing Arts Council (MCPAC)

Discipline: Visual Arts

Dr. Miriam Padilla, Executive Director of Bomba Marilé, is a proud LGBTQ Puerto Rican woman, a registered Taino tribal member, a doctor, and a community organizer. Dr. Padilla is board certified in Endocrinology, Obesity Medicine, and Lifestyle Medicine. She currently is the Medical Director of the LiveWell Center at Utah Valley Hospital. When Miriam is not seeing patients, she is the Executive Director of Bomba Marilé which is a non profit organization that shares Afro-Puerto Rican bomba music and dance with the community in Utah. Dr. Padilla has received multiple awards for her community involvement including the “30 Women to Watch” award from Utah Business Magazine, the “Mujeres Destacadas” award from La Opinion Newspaper, and the Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from the United States Congress. Miriam is grateful for the WESTAF support and hopes to continue lifting up brown, black, and indigenous voices through her work as a cultural artist in the state of Utah.

Mission Valley Live

Discipline: Folklife/Traditional Arts

Mitchell Rudolph is a Māori cultural practitioner, haka educator, and first-grade teacher based in Utah. Raised on his marae in Aotearoa, Rudolph learned haka, waiata, karakia, and Māori performing arts through intergenerational teachings rooted in cultural responsibility, ancestral knowledge, and community care. His grandfather, a tribal leader, instilled values that continue to guide his work today.

Rudolph serves as a teacher at Mana Academy Charter School and works as a cultural mentor for Māori, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous youth and families across Utah. His creative practice centers on haka as a tool for healing, identity, belonging, and collective voice. He leads workshops, performances, school programs, and community gatherings that honor tikanga Māori while fostering connections across Indigenous and multicultural communities.

Much of Rudolph’s work focuses on supporting youth in the diaspora, helping them reconnect with their ancestors, build confidence, and see their cultures reflected with pride. Through teaching, curriculum development, and community collaboration, he carries haka forward with integrity, care, and purpose.