H. Larry Raigetal is from Lamotrek atoll in Yap state. He is a Pairourou (Pwo) traditional navigator of Weiyeng school and from the lineage of Haboilol in Polowat. His teachers include Petrus Pakamai, Serphin Ochaitir, Baskas Mark and Edward Rainam. Raigetal teaches at the University of Guam as an assistant professor for MARC.
Hello, my name is John HorseChief. I am from the Osage, Pawnee, Blackfeet, Potawatomi and Irish people. I live in Oklahoma and work at the Osage Nation Museum.I am a father and a grandfather. I am the Program Assistant at the museum, my main focus is digital archives and the digitization of cultural material. I am also a beadworker, moccasin maker, and a lodge builder within my community on the Osage reservation. I enjoy doing both technological work and traditional crafts. Preserving and sharing my plains culture and specifically my Osage culture gives me a sense of well being. Before working at the Osage Nation Museum I was employed with the Wahzhazhe (Osage) Cultural Center. During my time there I was part of a team that developed the Wahzhazhe Digital Preservation Project. The project aims to digitize and archive all media related to Osage language, culture and history. We currently have over 10 terabytes of data in our project. This exposure to media has made me aware of Indigenous and Osage people’s representation and the importance of telling our own stories through the media. Whenever you google Image search “”Osage people”” you mostly see black and white photos. I want our search to show us as we are today; vibrant and alive. Indigenous people have had a long struggle with other people telling their stories. I would like to learn to be a better storyteller and museum worker. Thank you for your consideration.
Johnny Sablan is a proud son of Agat, Guam and singer of Guam’s greeting song, “Hafa Adai, Todo Mauleg How Are You”. He released the first Chamorro recording album in 1968, named Dalai Nene, and subsequently released 15 original Chamorro music albums. With the goal of keeping culture alive through music, he opened a recording studio and helped local artists throughout the Marianas record their music.
He spent decades perpetuating Chamorro culture, and served in various cultural roles in the Government of Guam, notably leading the department that opened the Guam Museum in 2016. Johnny Sablan looks to continue to keep the Chamorro culture alive, and nurture the next generation of Chamorro artists.
Jonathan Rai Sablan is a filmmaker from the island of Guam. His passion lies in capturing authentic Chamorro cultural stories and preserving them through film, with hope that it can be shared with future generations. Having worked in the film industry, he learned that Guam has just as much talent and great stories to tell the world. He is excited to continue his filmmaking journey through cultural documentaries that inspire and connect us all.
Jordan Tate, born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a multi-talented individual with a passion for both basketball and art. Growing up as a hooper and an artist, he discovered his love for creative expression early on. Recognizing the potential of merging his artistic talent with a professional career, Jordan pursued a degree in graphic design at Colorado State University.
After graduating, Jordan embarked on a career journey that led him to the vibrant world of media. He found a home at iHeart Media in Northern Colorado, where he honed his skills and made significant contributions. It was during this time that he met his future wife, prompting a move back to his hometown of Albuquerque.
In Albuquerque, Jordan seized the opportunity to establish his own creative agency, aptly named Creative Duke. Here, he channels his artistic prowess into helping businesses and individuals bring their visions to life through innovative design and branding solutions. Jordan Tate’s story is a testament to the power of passion, skill, and the pursuit of one’s creative dreams.
Jordia Benjamin is a community engagement specialist, art educator and curator with a passion for creating compelling programs, cultivating and curating creative environments for artists and communities to thrive using art as the mechanism for change. With over a decade in the art sector, and a background in museum education, she embodies a commitment to equity, inclusion, empowerment and advocacy for communities of color. Benjamin has worked for national and international museums; overseeing their education departments ie. the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas as the Education Officer and again oversaw Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine public and community engagement programs along with being on the ground floor of the launch of the Lunder Institute for American Art.
In her role as Deputy Director at Indigo Arts Alliance, Jordia co-leads with the Executive Director/Co-Founder the organization’s day-to-day operations along with ensuring that the quality and impact of Indigo Arts Alliance’s activities and programs directly support its’ mission. A highly effective collaborator, manager, relationship builder, and communicator, she guides and refines the artist residency program, developing related programming that connects our local, national and international communities. She currently serves as a board member to the Museum Education Roundtable and MassAction Anti-Racism Think Tank committee. Jordia is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated.
Managing Director, Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts, Northwestern University
Prior to joining Northwestern University as the Managing Director for The Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts, Jorge Silva was the Managing Director for the renowned experimental collective, The Neo-Futurists, leading the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic utilizing revitalized infrastructure. Before The Neos, he was the Producing Coordinator for the Goodman Theatre serving as the producing liaison for community engagement projects and the curator for artistic programming
While based in Washington, DC, Silva was a performer and administrator for the Smithsonian Institution’s Discovery Theater and a founding teaching artist for their DCPS in-school arts education program, ‘Tools of Discovery.’ Much of Silva’s work, however, is identified with The Neo-Futurists beginning as a 2016 recipient of the Artists of Color Scholarship; he is also an artistic affiliate with Teatro Travieso (Wooster, OH).
Outside of theatre, Silva has worked with the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund and The Posse Foundation: Chicago in their respective student mentoring programs. He was also a Lecturer and graduate projects advisor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Writing Program. Notably, Silva was a featured speaker at Latinos Progresando’s flagship community event, MEX talks, and remains a member of the event’s Host Committee.
Josh Taira is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Missoula, Montana. His work is inspired by both classic and contemporary manga and anime. Themes in his art often include his experiences as a first-generation Asian American growing up in a rural part of the United States, Japanese folklore, and modern trends in American and Japanese media.
Taira currently serves as the art director at the Roxy Theater in Missoula and takes on occasional freelance illustration and design projects.
Joyce Torres (Guåhan) is a Chamorro and Filipino actor, director, playwright and filmmaker whose work explores art as a pathway to healing, activism and belonging. As artistic director and board member of Breaking Wave Theatre Company, she develops original work rooted in community, identity and justice.
Her credits include directing “Comfort,” based on Filipina “comfort woman” Maria Rosa Henson, which premiered in Los Angeles and Guam, and co-creating “Unspoken: A Mental Health Anthology,” a workshop series using performance to open dialogue around mental health and substance abuse. Recently, she directed “We Will Not Go Silent,” an award-winning performance exploring Guam’s climate crisis through ancestral knowledge and poetry.
Torres holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a concentration in theater and a minor in political science from the University of Guam, and trained at the Stella Adler Art of Acting Studio in Los Angeles.
JU-EH is a Las Vegas based visionary, community leader, and operatic vocalist. As a conceptual curator, JU-EH has initiated projects that defy genre, period, or easy categorization. JU-EH self-produced the musical drama The Living Dying Opera based on the story of their life addressing a racist experience as an Asian queer male in the opera industry; They also brought worldwide attention to the episodic audio opera Asian Casta Diva on the social media platform Clubhouse responding to the #StopAsianHate Movement.
JU-EH has collaborated with numerous non profit organizations to raise awareness of safe and caring environments for people of color artists and employees.
The brand new business the Milk Tea Opera House was recently launched as a pioneering concept combining performing arts and beverages as a placemaking act for the daily life of Nevadans. JU-EH would like to cultivate a creative space to meet where people are at, and to invite people who do not have professional training to interpret how art makings do not have prerequisites. MTOH aims to engage local residents in finding their own creative voice, and expand the connection of our voice to be the place to meet who we truly are as the new definition of the opera house for the next 100 years.
Col. JC McPherson, Kentucky Colonel Goodwill Ambassador, has a background in writing, electricity, and general troubleshooting. During his time at the Carnegie Center, he has worn many hats. Currently he is an agent for the Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative, Creative Writing Instructor, Rental Staff, and Staff Support. He is the author of On My Mind (blacoetry press), Jupiter’s Child (Winged City Chapbooks), and Hey Batta Batta (Lefthanded JuJu). In his spare time, he likes to cook, explore nature, garden, and listen to music.
I am a self-taught artist drawing on early childhood memories of my grandparents and their Mexican culture and
heritage, my work becomes a whimsical and positive interpretation of various periods of my
own life. I am especially inspired by my own experiences working in animal husbandry and
ranching. Many times in Mexican folklore animals were often used to teach right from wrong
or to explain the current political events. This was one way to keep the rural population
informed since many of them were illiterate. Animals often assume human characteristics in
my work and I strive to create an open-ended narrative that allows my viewers to create
their own story. In some of my current work I am writing and illustrating children’s books.
This is a wonderful new challenge that pushes me to look at my work from a different
perspective.
Kait Glasswell began working as a public folklorist for the Oregon Folklife Network in 2023. She is responsible for developing and implementing programming that serves Oregon’s culture bearers, who dedicate their knowledge, skill and agency to transmit cultural practices across generations. This work joins her two previous career paths: community advocacy and arts education.
Glasswell was born in Pullman, Washington, and has a deep appreciation for rural communities of the West. She earned her bachelor’s in East Asian studies and Chinese language from St. Olaf College, where she had the opportunity to live in community with the Asian Rural Institute in Nashushiobara, Japan.
She believes in the inherent worth and dignity of all people and finds joy in creating with others. She currently lives with her wife, dog and two cats in Eugene, Oregon.
Kamakani Konia
Leaders of Color Fellowship
2021 - 2022
Honolulu, Hawaii
Project Manager, The Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts
My name is Kapali Bilyeu and I’m a kanaka maoli (aboriginal Hawaiian) born and raised on the island of Kaua’i, Hawai’i. From birth I was exposed to the creative process of music; my father is a founding member of a popular Hawai’i band called Kalapana and I had the privilege of meeting many talented artists, some of whom I still have a close relationship with today. The music industry in Hawai’i is very close-knit and has been an environment I always imagined myself being a part of when I’m an adult. My journey into traditional Hawaiian arts began in elementary school when I attended Kanuikapono Public Charter School, which specializes in place-based learning. My daily schedule was full of Hawaiian music, chanting protocols, Hawaiian history, cultural practices, and STEM programming done directly on the land, from the mountains to the sea. This experience inspired me to pursue and earn a BA in Hawaiian Studies and completion of the Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education Program, both offered through Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo.
Kathy Weber is the product of the American Dream and the Peace Corps.
She was born on a small family ranch in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana, the daughter of a hard-working forester and a first generation immigrant from the South Pacific Islands.
The neighboring rancher cut her umbilical cord. She grew up playing in dirt, curious about everything and inspired by the work ethic of her parents and ancestors from the Pasifika islands of Rotuma and Samoa. Thanks to encouragement from her family, Kathy became the first person in her family to earn a master’s degree studying broadcast journalism and political science. Today, Kathy draws upon more than 20 years of experience as an award-winning journalist, political strategist, campaign advisor and business consultant to add firepower to her clients’ capacity. She’s a trusted ally for small businesses, corporations, cooperatives, professional associations, non-profits, major events and organizations who value her ability to get the job done right.
Kathy is blessed to be raising her two children in Western Montana, exploring the rivers, lakes and mountains around the West. She passionate about the practice of hula and an active community member of the University of Montana Pacific Islanders Club.
As a passion project to honor her Rotuman heritage, Kathy is the co-founder of The Rotuma Project, the first virtual reality tour of a Pacific island disproportionately impacted by climate change. The Rotuma Project aims to document and honor Rotuman stories, language, cultural practices, geography and traditional knowledge while empowering indigenous voices. Learn more >>> www.therotumaproject.com
Kayla Desroches is an artist and journalist based in Billings, Montana. She writes about science, culture and Indigenous issues for local and nationwide outlets. Community is a common denominator across her work in writing, audio production and visual art.
Desroches grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Barnard College in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing. Convinced she would be a car-free New Yorker for life, she took a reporting job in Alaska to explore the world outside her bubble. She ended up with a driver’s license, a career in journalism and a love for the U.S. West.
Desroches is using her time as a fellow to develop a workshop based on her personal experience with art and grief.
Kayla Fuentes was born in Comayaguela, Honduras but currently resides in Meridian, Mississippi. She is a mezzo-soprano, vocal pedagogue, and quirky theatre teacher from Starkville, Mississippi, where her passion for music and singing found its roots. She joined the Meridian Symphony Orchestra as the Director of Education and Community Engagement as she returns for her “reprise” role in Mississippi from a nine-year stint in NYC. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from Mississippi College (2014) under the guidance of Meridian native, Dr. Kristen Johnson-Gunn. She then went on to graduate from Manhattan School of Music with a Master of Music: Classical Vocal Performance (2016), under the tutelage of Mignon Dunn. While in New York, Kayla found herself called to inspire, motivate, and entertain. Upon graduation, she invested her musical talent and passion back into the community while working for Opera America’s outreach program as their Education Assistant. She taught voice and piano privately and at Larchmont Music Academy for 5 years working with students of all ages. She thrived as an acting coach, and voice instructor for Manhattan School of Music summer program for 6 years and had the honor of performing on many great stages in NYC. She has joyfully spent the majority of her 9 years in New York combining performance, educational outreach, and diversity to re-energize the allure of the musical arts. Kayla looks forward to continuing her passion for education, performing, and music at MSA. She wishes to excite young minds, pique the interest of the musical weary, and maintain a current and diverse future audience of music appreciators for years to come.
Kelly Jung is the Assistant Director for Haverford College’s John B. Hurford ’60 Center for the Arts and Humanities. Her work focuses on building inclusive communities in higher education settings by advocating for the arts and supporting students. As a first generation Korean immigrant, creating a sense of belonging is at the core of her work. In her current role, she is focused on bridging the gap between the institution, community partners, alumni network and students by launching new programs such as the Philadelphia artist-in-residency, Arts and Culture Mentorship, VCAM club-in-residence program and more. Previously, Kelly worked as a middle school English teacher, and still continues her passion in teaching by volunteering at organizations such as the Welcoming Center and the Asian Arts Initiative.
Kendell Newman Sadiik is a writer, educator and community organizer based in Fairbanks, Alaska. She earned her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she is now the associate director of transformative teaching at the Center for Teaching and Learning. In this role, she helps seed innovation and inclusive practices across the university’s systems, partnerships and learning opportunities.
A co-founder and collaborator in the Learning Inside Out Network, or LION, Sadiik has spent the past decade expanding education and art-making opportunities for justice-impacted Alaskans. As a member of LION, she has helped publish work by incarcerated writers, facilitated courses inside carceral facilities and is currently co-designing “Lil’ Windows,” a video game that simulates an experience of incarceration in which thriving is built through literacy and social connection.
Sadiik’s essays and short stories have appeared in Grist, Iron Horse Literary Review and Jabberwock Review, among other publications. The driving question of her creative work is: What else is possible?
Kerri-Noelle, works as an independent Teaching Artist in Huntsville and Birmingham metro public schools and as the Director of Programming for the Alabama Dance Council. She holds notable recognitions, including a 2022 Arts Educator Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the title of 2019-2020 Academy for Academics and Arts Middle School Teacher of the Year.
In 2021, she founded the Evalyn Washington Humphrey Foundation for Arts and Education, showcasing her dedication to advancing arts in education. During the 2022-2023 academic year, Kerri-Noelle collaborated with local arts organizations to launch a transformative dance outreach program that reached nearly 2,000 underserved K-3 students during regular school hours. This initiative demonstrated her ability to address educational disparities and aligned with the foundation’s mission.
Kerri-Noelle’s research, “Dancing the Diaspora…,” listed on esteemed platforms such as Dancemagazine.com and DanceTeacher.com, was the catalyst for the annual Dance Africa festival in Huntsville, AL. Serving as the festival’s visionary and founder, Kerri-Noelle passionately champions inclusivity and cultural representation. This free community dance festival doubles as an educational platform, elucidating the profound connection between West African dance and African American dance forms for students. Her academic achievements include a BS in Mathematics from Howard University, an MBA from Barry University, and an MA in Dance Education from UNCO Greeley, which seamlessly integrates her diverse education into the arts and culture sector. Possessing an Alabama Professional Educator Certificate in Dance (P-12), she skillfully combines her academic background with her role as a dedicated educator in the dance community.
Born and raised in Iowa, she completed a BFA in painting at the University of Iowa before earning an MFA in painting from Hunter College.
Her artwork is included in the collections of The Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, The Amistad Center for Art and Culture, The University of Iowa Women’s Center, The En Foco Photography Collection, and The Museum of Modern Art-Franklin Furnace Artist Book Collection
In addition to her studio practice Kesha serves on the board of Tessera Art Collective, a non-profit organization that supports and elevates the work and practices of BIPOC women artists working in abstraction.
Kesha is also co-founder of Black Girl Basel – the only event during Miami Art Week intentionally created for Black women artists, creatives, entrepreneurs, activists, and cultural change-makers.
