Anjee Helstrup-Alvarez is the Executive Director of MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana located in downtown San José, CA. She’s led transformative efforts at MACLA to build organizational capacity, secure a permanent facility, launch a youth digital media lab, and deepen engagement programs while ensuring artistic excellence and community relevance.

As a lifelong arts advocate she is a frequent advisor to the philanthropic field and cultural sector. Anjee’s areas of expertise include: creative placemaking, commissioning art work, program development, capacity building, economic and real estate development, fund development, and participatory evaluation.

In her 23 years with San Jose Taiko, Wisa has served as Performer, Artistic Staff, General Manager and in July 2011 Wisa succeeded a co-founder to lead the organization as Executive Director. Recognized as a leader within her field, Wisa has led presentations on taiko, succession planning, organizational culture and communications, nonprofit fundraising, and women’s empowerment at the North American Taiko Conference, World Taiko Gathering, Alliance of Artists Communities National Conference, the National Consortium of Creative Placemaking Pacific Summit, and the inaugural National Endowment for the Arts Folk & Traditional Arts Convening. She has served on peer review grant panels for the Knight Foundation Arts and NEA Folk & Traditional Arts programs. Wisa is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley and has completed executive management training with BoardSource, FMA, CompassPoint, the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

Chike Nwoffiah is an educator and award winning film and theater director with over 50 productions to his credit. He is the founding director of the Silicon Valley African Film Festival. Now in its 12th season, the film festival provides a platform for Africa’s seasoned and emerging filmmakers to share their stories with the world.

 He has served on several regional, national and international creative sector policy panels including the National Endowment for the Arts - Education Leaders Institute as presenter and coach. In 2013, he was appointed by the California Superintendent of Education to serve on the California Blueprint for Creative Schools Task Force.

Nwoffiah is a past president of Mountain View Television (KMVT Channel 15), former Arts Advisory Commissioner for the San Diego International Airport and adjunct African History professor at Menlo College in Atherton. He presently serves on the President’s Community Advisory Council of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and boards of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Families without Borders, Precious Kids Foundation and Pavilion Afriques at Cannes Film Festival. He was a contributing author to the critically acclaimed book "Black Cultural Traffic - Crossroads in Global Performance and Popular Culture" edited by Stanford University professors Harry Elam, Jr. and Kennel Jackson and the 2021 book "Cinemas Africanos contemporâneos - abordagens críticas" / “Contemporary African cinemas - critical approaches” by Brazilian film scholars Ana Camila Esteves & Jusciele Oliveira.

Maria Noel brings over a decade of organizing experience to the movement for a just economy. As Deputy Executive Director, she overseas Working Partnerships USA’s organizing, communications, and operations departments, building coalitions and community power to win groundbreaking change for working families.

She is the campaign director for Silicon Valley Rising, a coordinated regional effort that’s inspiring an inclusive tech-driven economy. So far, the SVR campaign has helped over 5,500 service workers in the tech industry organize for better wages and a voice at work.

As Working Partnerships USA’s organizing director from 2014 to 2017, Maria Noel was instrumental in developing organizing and campaign strategies that won a $15/hr minimum wage in eight Silicon Valley cities, the first-in-the-nation Opportunity to Work ballot initiative, and other policies that are improving the lives of working people and their families. She led the organization's non-partisan civic engagement programs that are building a strong grassroots base of low-income voters of color in Silicon Valley.

Previously, she worked with the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council , was district director for the previous California State Speaker Pro Tempore and joined that office after spending three years as a community organizer through Sacred Heart Community Service's policy and organizing department.

Maria Noel lives in south San Jose with her husband, son Tadeo and her dog Rocco. She is a board member of the National Partnership for Working Families.

Felix Quintana (b. 1991, Los Angeles, CA) is a multidisciplinary artist and educator. His solo exhibitions include SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA; Espacio 1839, Los Angeles, CA; and Residency Art, Inglewood, CA (forthcoming).

His work has been included in group exhibitions including LAXART, West Hollywood, CA; Vincent Price Art Museum, Monterey Park, CA; Los Angeles Municipal Gallery; Movimiento de Arte y Cultura de Latino America, San Jose, CA; Berkeley Art Center. Berkeley, CA; Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia, PA; and The Dot Project, London. He held residencies at MACLA, San Jose, CA; Facebook Open Arts, Sunnyvale, CA; and is currently artist in residence at Working Partnerships USA, San Jose, CA.

Quintana has been a teaching artist at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; ArtworxLA; Los Angeles, CA; Slanguage Studio, West Hollywood, CA; Self Help Graphics & Art, Boyle Heights, CA; Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA; and Silicon Valley Rising, San Jose, CA. He is currently a lecturer at UCLA with the Visual and Performing Arts Education program. Quintana lives and works in Los Angeles and San Jose, CA.

Redwood City Racial Equity Mural: https://www.redwoodcity.org/departments/parks-recreation-and-community-services/racial-equity-mural

Dr. Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga is a Faculty Coordinator for the Masters in Counseling MFT program at the USF's South Bay campus. Belinda has a doctorate in Education, and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with eighteen years experience working in community mental health, with a specialization in child trauma and Latino Mental Health. Belinda has extensive experience in county mental health where she worked in Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall mental health and San Mateo County Pre to Three High Risk Infant Mental health team. She also spent a significant time working at University of California Berkeley, Tang Social Services team where her focus was working with student families. She spent eight years as adjunct faculty at Santa Clara University. She co-founded and is part of the Latino Advisory Council in Half Moon Bay. Belinda has done extensive work on the coast working with farmworker families and their children, in her community practice her focus is on immigration trauma, u-visas, asylum and has worked with refugee children of San Mateo County. Her current research is focused on understanding the emotional, psychological and traumatic experiences that impact undocumented and mixed status Latino youth. Belinda’s work also focuses on understanding the cultural arts as a healing space for this community of children. Belinda is committed to social justice advocacy and multicultural practices in counseling that gives voice to underground communities and expand indigenous cultural practices in the field of counseling. She and her husband have three young daughters and live in the coastal community of Half Moon Bay.

Zenón Barrón is a respected professional researcher of Méxican and Latin American folklore, costume design and scenic design. His dance career began at the age of four as a member of the group Matlachines.  His formal training covered classical ballet, modern dance and Mexican folk dance. Prior to founding Ensambles, Zenón toured throughout the United States and Europe as a dance member of Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández. While living in Mexico, he helped form part of other dance companies such as Ballet Folklórico de la Universidad de Guadalajara, Ballet Folklórico de Jaime Bernal, and Ballet Folklórico Xochiquetzalli.

Zenón is also a graduate of the Instituto de Artes Escenicas in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. In 2009, he earned his Doctorate from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.  In 1992 he moved to San Francisco and has since become one of San Francisco’s most cherished and celebrated artistic directors in Mexican Folkloric Dance.