fabian romero P.h.C. (Purepécha) is a student in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington. fabian’s academic interests include racial capitalism, settler colonialism, Black Feminist Studies, American Indian Studies, Indigenous feminism, gender and sexuality. Poetry and artistic collaboration are integral to their research that centers the performance of gender, sexuality and authenticity for queer, LGBTQ Indigenous and two-spirit people. As an interdisciplinary researcher, fabian’s academic work combines fiction writing, poetry and autoethnography to theorize queer, LGBTQ and two spirit Indigneous kinship and art collaboration as vital to imagining Indigenous futures.

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Goddess Tyescha (she.her/they.them/goddess) Dual MSE, Fordham University

Goddess Tyescha is a community influencer who strives towards justice, in order to empower people that have been historically disenfranchised by the current structures in society. She has more than 15 years of experience in local communities with youth and young adults. Originally raised in Harlem, a first-generation New York-Rican, Tyescha has worked in Harlem and the South Bronx on campaigns with local youth, focusing on Education Reform (School-to-Prison Pipeline and Social Justice GED), Environmental Justice (water quality and food access) and Immigration (the original Dream Act). Goddess is a graduate of Fordham University, with a dual Masters in Education (Social Studies 7-12 and Special Education K-12). Working at a LGBTQ+ Youth Agency in Colorado, Goddess creates a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth through building capacity with compassion and grace. She has also worked with the NAACP, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, The Black Women’s Alliance, and multiple organizations in New York combating homelessness. Currently, she is board president of The Empowerment Solidarity Network, a member of the NAACP, and is associated with many community and arts groups (Hotcomb Poet) here in Colorado Springs. She is a proud parent, partner, and friend.

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Sonia Medel is a researcher-educator-artivist completing a PhD in Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC) as a Public Scholar. For the past decade, Sonia's focus has been on promoting critical decolonial engagement with arts and culture, with a focus on policy-making and programming. She is a university instructor, dancer-choreographer and spoken-word writer; forms a long-time part of the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival coordinating team; and an active member of the City of Vancouver's Racial and Ethno-Cultural Equity Advisory Committee. A proud Spanglish speaker, Quechua learner, daughter of Peruvian and Chilean parents, and Indigenous-Afro-European descendant, Sonia is grateful to the Coast Salish Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples and lands on which she was born and is able to carry out her work.