Em Chan

Em Chan is an emerging interdisciplinary arts facilitator whose current interests explore contemporary art and artmaking against and beyond institutional boundaries. A recent graduate of the University of Washington in Art History and English Literature, Em has worked in and across a variety of different arts settings, including classrooms, special collections, theaters, film festivals, art fairs, and museums. He is currently a curatorial assistant at the Henry Art Gallery.

Ashanti Davis

Ashanti Davis is an Artist, Thinker, Social Justice Advocate, and Arts and Culture Entrepreneur who believes in the power of Art and Creativity to create meaningful change in the world. She has led interdisciplinary teams in the development of unique STE(A)M experiences and exhibitions and has co-instigated and chaired internal groups for Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Accessibility. Ms. Davis is currently the Program Director for Coyote Central in Seattle, WA, and Community Experiences Designer for Pueblo LLC. Ashanti is an Alumni Fellow of the ASTC Leadership and Diversity Fellowship program, a Board Member for Regenerative Nexus, received a BA in Creative Arts and Communications from Richmond American International University in London, and an MA in Museum Studies and Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Johns Hopkins University in 2021. Catalyzing meaningful change through lenses of science, justice, curiosity, and creativity for all communities is her guiding star.

Dellyssa Edinboro

Dellyssa values community and civic engagement and has worked with collectives such as the Center for Afrofuturist Studies and the Iowa Youth Writing Project. She was also a cohort member of the City University of New York (CUNY) Service Corps and Rotaract Club of Georgetown Central. In 2023, she was awarded the Eastside Civic Leadership Award. She is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Cultural and Ethnic Studies department at Bellevue College and has served as Culturally Responsive Practices Lead for their Faculty Commons. 

Duncan Gibbs

Duncan Gibbs (he/him) is an artist. He was a member of the inaugural 2018 KSS Advisors panel and is grateful and excited to return. He served as Art Coordinator for Seattle’s annual Gender Odyssey conference from 2011 to 2016, and has shown paintings and other works in local group exhibitions. Born and raised in Ohio in 1959, making him technically a “Boomer,” Duncan is a member of the Trans community. He moved to San Francisco in 1988, where he was active with Queer Nation, CUAV (Community United Against Violence) and GLAAD, before making Seattle his home since 2004. Duncan earned a B.A. in Communications & Media Arts from Antioch University in Yellow Springs, OH, and an M.A. in Educational Technology from San Francisco State University. He works on the Digital Experience Team at Puget Sound Energy.

Kerri Hill

Marie Kidhe

Marie T. Kidhe is a dynamic community engagement leader and award-winning project manager. With over 20 years of experience, she specializes in event development, strategic outreach, and fostering collaboration across diverse sectors. Her leadership has driven successful projects for organizations like Métier Brewing Company, RVC, Communion Restaurant & Bar, and the Seattle Black Panther 50th Anniversary. Marie’s expertise in building meaningful partnerships has been instrumental during her time at the Northwest African American Museum and Friends of Waterfront Park. As a second-generation Ugandan-American and native Seattleite, she leverages her extensive network to create inclusive, impactful community initiatives, ensuring all voices are valued.

Matthew Offenbacher

I am a queer white Jewish Seattle artist. I grew-up near Portland, Oregon and have been living and working in Seattle for twenty years. My work has been called “freakishly egoless”, vulnerable and funny.  I’ve worked both in front of and behind the scenes in Seattle to collectivize artists’ power and criticize institutional norms. I began as a painter, and most of my projects relate to painting, even as they take forms like installation, organizing, publishing, and dance. I like to seek out constructive, positive positions at often difficult intersections of individuals, communities and institutions. I believe everyone has incredible creative abilities that, given a chance, can lead us towards radical new possibilities for a more just world.

Alicia Mullikin

ALICIA MULLIKIN is an Indigenous Chicana dance artist and educator. She is the visionary behind El Sueño, an organization that propels powerful expressions of Mexican Indigenous Identity to the forefront. In 2023, Alicia’s dedication to advocacy earned her recognition as one of only fifteen national artists honored as an Arts Advocacy Leadership Fellow by the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures. Through her artistry and activism, Alicia strives to empower and nurture future ancestors.

Scott Oshima

Scott Oshima (they/them) is a Seattle-based artist and activist whose work unearths the personal and political history in our city streets. Their photography, films, and performances have been exhibited at MOCA Los Angeles, the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, LA Contemporary Archive, Local Sightings Film Festival, and LA Asian Pacific Film Festival. Three books of their photography, art, and writing have been published by No Style Press. Scott works at 4Culture and is the former director of the Sustainable Little Tokyo creative placekeeping initiative. They can often be found singing Mariah Carey and laughing a lot and loudly. Say hello: www.o-shi-ma.com | IG: oshimadoesart.

Sadaf Sadri

Sadaf Sadri is an Iranian new media artist and curator based in Seattle. The focal point of their work revolves around the concept of interruption. Their interest in disruption lies in the void that emerges in the wake of the discontinuation of the established power systems. This void, they believe, offers a space to imagine alternative narratives that might otherwise remain unexplored. To translate their imaginations to a more palpable communicative form, they employ e-textile, Video and AI. Sadaf is currently a PhD student at the DXARTS department at the University of Washington.

Shaudi Vahdat

Shaudi Bianca Vahdat is a musician, composer and theatre artist specializing in story-driven songwriting. Her influences include musical theatre, jazz, classical, and both American and Iranian folk music. Shaudi holds a Masters in Music in Contemporary Performance from Berklee College of Music and a B.A. in Drama Performance from the University of Washington Seattle. Shaudi has performed and/or composed for organizations like Washington Ensemble Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, The Bushwick Book Club, Seattle Arts & Lectures, and Opera House Arts in Stonington, Maine. In 2012, Shaudi produced and released her first EP, Some Songs, and in 2017 her follow up EP Left, a stylistically mixed studio album. She is a Fall 2024 Artist-in-Residence at Inscape Arts, and will present an original song cycle in Spring 2025 at Seattle Center as part of the Artists at the Center program. Find Shaudi’s work on Apple Music, Spotify, and at shaudibiancavahdat.com.

Joe Williams

Joe Williams, M.M. is a celebrated arts leader and active performing artist from Tacoma, WA. They have contributed policy recommendations to Tacoma Arts Commission and Music Teachers National Association among others. In 2019, Williams founded Music from Home at Lakewold Gardens, a live global music series centering women and BIPOC performing artists which has earned support from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2022, they received the Paul Charosh Independent Scholar Fellowship from the Society for American Music. Their inaugural album, Life’s Sweet Shadows, featuring Seattle-based soprano Ellaina Lewis will be released by Navona Records this fall. An accomplished composer, Williams is currently collaborating with 2022/23 Seattle Youth Poet Laureate poet Sah Pham and Seattle-based spoken word artist Nakeya Isabel on works commissioned by the Tacoma Youth Symphony and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts respectively. To learn about Williams’ international performance career, visit soundliberator.net.