ARTIST

Berkay Onurer Akkaya is a musician, songwriter, and video artist from Turkey, currently based in the Bay Area. He writes and performs original songs in both Turkish and English, blending them with Middle Eastern melodies to create a unique sound that bridges cultures. Alongside his music, Berkay works in video production, crafting cinematic stories for diverse projects. His work is rooted in a passion for storytelling, emotion, and connection. Through his performances, Berkay aims to inspire audiences, evoke empathy, and spark meaningful reflection across cultural and linguistic boundaries.

ARTIST

Laila Espinoza grew up in the border town of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Her experiences of loss and displacement created the necessity to look elsewhere for something that made sense. That “elsewhere” is what Laila calls the internal landscape, a place where we can transform life’s obstacles into personal growth. Laila’s creative practice includes painting, photography, costume making, performance and altars. She holds a BFA in Community Arts from the California College of the Arts and a Master of Arts in Performance Studies from UC Berkeley where she is currently a PhD Candidate in the Theater, Dance and Performance Studies.

ARTIST

Pallavi is the founder and artist behind Hamesha Project. Hamesha Project’s mission is to uplift South Asian craft and illustrate how textiles tie us altogether. All through our craft kits and experiences. Meanwhile Pallavi’s textile art practice blends South Asian ancestral techniques, natural dye, and foraging. Leaning on ancestral techniques of her family, incorporating her queer identity, and deriving color from the Bay Area land she lives on has allowed her to create an artistic body of work that holistically represents her queer South Asian American identity.

ARTIST

MIGRATION STUDIES CONSULTANT

Dr. Monisha Bajaj is Professor and Chair of International and Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco. She has authored eight books and numerous articles on issues of peace, human rights, migration, and education, and is the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Human Rights Education. Dr. Bajaj has developed curriculum and teacher training materials for organizations such as UNICEF and UNESCO, and her first children’s book, “A Year of Kites,” will be published in 2026. She is also the recipient of the Ella Baker/Septima Clark Human Rights Award (2015) from Division B of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Learn more about her work at: www.monishabajaj.net.

CURRICULUM DEVELOPER

Jennifer Nguyen (she/her) is a second-generation Vietnamese American, born and raised in the Bay Area on Ohlone land. With over a decade of experience teaching elementary school in New York City, Jennifer is deeply committed to connecting students with local community history. She is passionate about Asian American history and community building. Currently, she serves as a program coordinator for AANAPISI and AANHPI SAP grants, where she collaborates with her team to integrate Asian American studies into course curricula and create opportunities for students to engage with local histories. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys reading comics, spending time in nature, and collecting Smiskis. 

CURRICULUM DEVELOPER

PROJECT MANAGER & CURRICULUM DEVELOPER

Katie Quan (she/her) is a third-generation Chinese American comic artist, community advocate, and educator from San Francisco. Her work, addressing identity, mental health, and family, has been exhibited with Kearny Street Workshop, A PLACE OF HER OWN, and the Asian American Women Artists Association. She was selected as a Youth Speaks and California Arts Council’s Individual Artist Fellow and AAPI Creative Catalyst Fellow. She founded REALSOUL, a curriculum-based arts organization, striving to make intersectional local histories accessible and relevant to K-8. In her free time, you can find her sleeping, bouldering, or swatting gnats from her indoor plants.

Held at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center (April 2024)

Partnered with the Hamesha Project and the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, educators discovered the radical history of South Asian embroidery and explored various ways of bringing these techniques into their own classrooms.

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