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.

Shireen Alihaji is a First Gen, Ecuadorian-Iranian, Muslim and Disabled artist. Her intersections inspire her to create space through the intersection of art and technology. Given how we remember is pivotal to healing, her work uses memory as a central gaze to uncensor the imagination and mirror our infinite reflections. With over a decade supporting labor unions with media justice work, she has developed a social arts practice across all her projects.

Sho Rilla (Ronald Kalama) is a conscious Native hip-hop artist and filmmaker from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in Oregon. His work addresses addiction, suicide, generational trauma and systemic neglect while emphasizing growth, accountability and cultural resilience.

After losing his father to alcohol-related violence at a young age and facing instability throughout his upbringing, Sho Rilla turned to music as a source of discipline and direction. He began writing and performing at 16, using his art to process personal experience and speak to broader community realities with honesty and purpose.

Since then, he has built his career independently, opening for DJ Yella of N.W.A and Masta Killa of Wu-Tang Clan, and touring throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Silambam Phoenix

Silverton Creative District

Discipline: Interdisciplinary

Sonoma State University

Sophia Felder was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska and has been a permanent resident of Denver, Colorado since 2010. Sophia is currently working to preserve statewide historical sites and structures as a Historical Preservations Grant Contract Specialist with the State Historic Fund based out of History Colorado. Sophia’s love of global cultures, history, and identity led her to complete an undergraduates in Anthropology with a minors in Spanish from the Metropolitan State University of Denver and will be continuing her education by enrolling in Adams State Universities Masters program in Cultural Resource Management. Her own cultural heritage has taken her to Colombia, the West Indies, and New Orleans to find the interconnectedness of these groups within the Americas and the greater global communities.

Sounding Joy Music Therapy, Inc.

South Asia Cultural Association (SACA)

Southwest Roots Music, Inc.