Nepantlerxs

Borrowed from the philosophy of Gloria Anzaldúa, who used the term nepantlera to define people who live in a state of in-between-ness, we are nepantlerxs. Liminality is our strength.

Agustín Cruz

• Cinema & Television
• Chicanx Studies
• xicane futurity
• Third Place

Agustín is rēsearching a cinematic gaze that is rooted in Chicanx visual culturē and other(ized) cinematic movements in opposition to hegemonic spectatorship. Agustín's publications include a research paper informed by Gloria Anzaldúa's concept of Autohistoria-Teoría titled "Dispossessing the White Ga(y)ze: A Movida for Coloring the Queer Archive," "Codex Cōātlīcue: An Excavation of a Xicane Gaze," and "Dreaming of Billy Dreaming of Gabriel: Rēvisioning New Queer Cinema." Presently, he is conducting field work involving the creation of Wachale Cineteca, a cinematheque that cultivates a cinematic practice—through critical filmmaking and critical spectatorship—in search of alternative cinematic forms, other(ized) methods of looking (e.g., hooks’s “oppositional gaze”), archival rēvisioning, and epistemic rēfuge. Additionally, Wachale Cineteca seeks to establish a framework of distribution and exhibition that is not bound to traditional channels.

Yaya Cortez

• Community
• Ethnic Studies
• Financial Literacy
• Real Estate

Yanira’s career began over a decade ago in real estate, and then the real estate market took a downturn. Many families lost their homes, including hers—she wanted to understand why. Yanira returned to school earning a Bachelor's Degree from the University of California, Berkeley in Ethnic Studies. This allowed her to understand the historical lineage of today's barriers to homeownership and demystified systemic racism within the concept of real estate. She interrogated the concept of realty from a decolonial perspective to begin to dismantle the barriers that are stacked in front of people of color. With a background in real estate, business consulting, and leadership development, she is able to leverage these skills to connect communities with their land. Yanira is an Urban Economic Analyst at City of Oakland where she lends her talents to neighborhood commercial revitalization plans, economic development programs, and provides support services to community groups.

Donnie Ortega Madden

• People
• Health & Wellness
• Art
• Cannabis

Your use of the hug emoji will increase after spending time with Donnie. He has been helping people find joy throughout his varied career. He is equal parts creativity and strategy. Donnie received an AA in Health and Physical Education/Fitness at Mendocino College and served in student government for students dealing with PTSD and receiving benefits. He received a BA in Business and Theology from Oral Roberts University. He has served as: Field Operations Manager at The Decurion Corporation (the parent company of Pacific Theatres and Arclight Cinemas) which was one of three companies studied for the book, An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization; VP of People, Plants, and Culture at Emerald Cup Supply Co.; Art Director; Photographer; Illustrator; Personal Trainer; and most recently, founder of Mendo Muscle, a supplement shop and fitness community hub which is a registered transgender safe space in Ukiah, California.

Natalie Escobedo

• Photography
• Music Documentary
• Nature

Natalie is a photographer from Chicago. She blends her passion for music, nature, dogs, and photography in beautiful ways. She often packs up her doggies and husband and hits the open road to capture images for her series titled Right Brain West. She has photographed musicians and bands like Hermanos Gutierrez, Beach House, Incubus, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, Social Distortion, Taking Back Sunday, Aaron Embry, and Weezer. Nat documents the Chicago drag scene in a series called All Hail the Queen; she captures the beautiful awkwardness of humans in Beings; and the rituals between Mother Earth and earthly beings in Everywhere.

Reina Alvarez

• Voice Acting
• Public Relations
• Animation
• Film Festival Operations

Reina possesses so many talents; she can literally do anything. She studied Advertising and Theater Arts at San Jose State University, she has lent her talents to the industries of hospitality, public relations, sales & marketing, and accounting. She has a deep connection to animation, Disney in particular has been a guiding light, and she’s a talented voice actor. She is currently recording guerrilla audiobook versions of Chicana feminist texts that are not available as audiobooks and texts that deserve a Chicana’s voice.

Damian Possidente

• Sustainable Architecture
• Urban Design
• Community-focused Design

Damian is a talented architect who is interested urban redevelopment projects with a focus on sustainable communities and incorporating new technologies into the affordable marketplace. He studied Architecture at Carnegie Mellon, founded Starch. in New York, and has lent his talents to firms such as Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects and Ehrlich Yanai Rich Chaney Architects. Damian serves as Principal and Adjunct Board Member at Mithun. Additionally, he is a board member at L.A. River ARTS; member and pod leader at Urban Land Institute; member of Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing; and member of the American Institute of Architects.