1888: The How, The Why

Jacqueline Vogtman won the 2021 Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize for her book Girl Country. Her fiction has appeared in Hunger Mountain, Permafrost, The Literary Review, Smokelong Quarterly, Third Coast, and other journals. A graduate of the MFA program at Bowling Green State University, she is currently Associate Professor of English at Mercer County Community College. She has lived in New Jersey most of her life and resides in a small town surrounded by nature, which she explores with her husband, daughter, and dog. Girl Country is her first book.Girl CountryDzanc Books, 2023A World Without Books was created to help writers connect with readers during the pandemic. This Micro-Podcast provides authors a platform to share stories about writing, discuss current projects, and consider life without books. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you podcast.Past Forward is a curiosity company dedicated to educational accessibility. Our public podcast service, paired with millions of discounted books curated

Stephanie Takaragawa is a cultural anthropologist whose research examines cultural display. Her research broadly focuses on media, art, performance, exhibition, and theme parks and their relationship to racial representation. Much of her work specifically looks at the Japanese-American incarceration during WWII and how that is understood, represented and memorialized in the present. Her teaching areas include cultural anthropology and visual culture, Asian American studies and race and ethnic studies.Chapters is a multi-part series concerning the history and the lessons of civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices carried out against communities or populations—including civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices that are perpetrated on the basis of an individual’s race, national origin, immigration status, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.This project was made possible with support from Chapman University and The California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded

Brian Niiya is the content director for Densho, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of Japanese Americans who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II. His professional life has been dedicated to Japanese American public history, having held various positions with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, the Japanese American National Museum, and the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai’i that have involved managing collections, curating exhibitions, developing public programs, and producing videos, books, and websites. He has published many articles on Japanese American history in a variety of academic and mainstream publications and is the editor of the online Densho Encyclopedia.Chapters is a multi-part series concerning the history and the lessons of civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices carried out against communities or populations—including civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices that are perpetrated on the basis of an individual’s race, nationa

Taryn Palumbo serves as the Executive Director of Orange County Grantmakers, a regional association of philanthropic funders in Orange County. As Executive Director, Taryn provides strategic leadership, oversees and executes programming, communication, member services and community engagement, and supports the operations of the organization. Taryn joined OCG as a part-time Executive Administrator in January 2017 and was promoted to Executive Director in February 2018.Prior to joining OCG, Taryn held roles in public policy, government affairs, education, small business engagement and community relations. She has also served as a consultant with United Way Orange County, helping to launch UpSkill OC, a middle skills job initiative and with The Olin Group, supporting a variety of nonprofit clients.Before moving back home to Orange County, Taryn spent four years with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, first as their Manager of Public Policy and later as their Director of Strategic Partnerships. In this role s

Keith Swayne, along with his wife, Judy, co-founded the Keith and Judy Swayne Family Foundation. Prior to retirement from his business career, he served as CEO of Case Swayne Co. a major developer and processor of specialty sauces and seasonings for the food service and industrial markets and the successor company, International Food Solutions, a subsidiary of BestFoods/Unilever. Since retirement he has remained active in the community, and business, serving on a number of private company boards and non-profit boards, including, most recently, as Chair of the Orange County Community Foundation Board of Governors.Keith, in 1997, was a regional winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award and was recognized by the California Association of Human Rights Organizations for his work in the Human Rights field. He was named Philanthropist of the Year at National Philanthropy Day in 2019. He has received numerous other awards for his work in the non-profit field.He has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Univers

Natalie J. Graham, a native of Gainesville, Florida, earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Florida and Ph.D. in American Studies at Michigan State University as a University Distinguished Fellow. Since moving to Orange County in 2013, Natalie has coordinated art-centered community events, workshops, and readings for hundreds of participants. She is Production Director of KayJo Creatives (@KayJoCreatives), an artistic event planning company; Director of the Institute of Black Intellectual Innovation (@IBIICSUF) at Cal State Fullerton; and an award-winning author and performer who has toured nationally with her collection of poems, Begin with a Failed Body. In August 2021, she was appointed Poet Laureate of Orange County.Adjust Accordingly: Placing Equity into Practice is a series of discussions about personal experiences of inequity and how industries, organizations, and people are working to move equity forward.Each conversation will highlight the challenges, opportunities, and strategies

Lindsey Spindle serves as President of the Samueli Family Philanthropies and Chief Operating Officer of H&S Ventures which oversees all the Samueli Family’s for-profit and not-for-profit activities. The philanthropic entities operating under the oversight of H&S Ventures include the Samueli Foundation, the Anaheim Ducks Foundation, the San Diego Gulls Foundation, the Irvine Ice Foundation, and The Rinks Foundation.Spindle was President of The Jeff Skoll Group, where she connected and advised Mr. Skoll’s entrepreneurial portfolio of philanthropic and commercial organizations that include the impact entertainment company Participant, Capricorn Investment Group, and the Skoll Foundation. She was the first-ever Chief Communications and Brand Officer of Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit focused on ending childhood hunger in America through its groundbreaking No Kid Hungry campaign.Before focusing on domestic hunger eradication, Spindle spent nearly 20 years in health care communications, policy, and

Carlos Perea is an immigrant rights advocate and Director of the Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice, a collaboration of movement academics and organizers. His work has focused on building the political power of undocumented immigrant communities in Orange County through community organizing, coalition building, advocacy campaigns and policy change. Some of the efforts he has worked on to address immigration enforcement along community and system stakeholders include Santa Ana’s Sanctuary Ordinance and Universal Representation Program. Carlos is also a public policy and strategy development consultant, he has supported local initiatives including the OC Opportunity Initiative and OC Grantmakers. He currently serves on Santa Ana’s Measure X Citizen Oversight Committee, which reviews the annual revenue and expenditures of funds from the tax authorized by voters of the city.Adjust Accordingly: Placing Equity into Practice is a series of discussions about personal experiences of inequity and how i

Tracy La is the co-founder and Executive Director of VietRISE. Raised by Vietnamese refugees in a large working class family, Tracy brings in 9 years of experience as a campaign strategist, organizer, and policy advocate who has built campaigns alongside community members for freedom from ICE detention and for immigrant and housing justice policies that strengthen protections and self-advocacy tools for renters and people facing deportation. At VietRISE, Tracy directs the organization’s campaigns, programs, cultural strategy, and operations. Prior to VietRISE, Tracy was a youth organizer and led campaigns for immigrant justice and to build electoral power for youth of color. As a student at UCI, Tracy was the elected Associated Students president where she co-developed the largest student-run voter registration program in Orange County in 2016. In 2018, she co-founded VietRISE. Tracy holds two B.A.s in Social Policy & Public Service and Political Science from UCI. She serves on the Advisory Board of the H

Wajahat Ali is a Daily Beast columnist, co-host of the "Democracy-ish" podcast, public speaker, recovering attorney, and tired dad of three cute kids.His book Go Back To Where You Came From: And, Other Helpful Recommendations on Becoming American was published in January 2022 by Norton. He believes in sharing stories that are by us, for everyone: universal narratives told through a culturally specific lens to entertain, educate and bridge the global divides.His essays, interviews, and reporting have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and New York Review of Books. Ali has spoken at many organizations, from Google to Walmart-Jet to Princeton University to the United Nations to the Chandni Indian-Pakistani Restaurant in Newark, California, and his living room in front of his three kids.Adjust Accordingly: Placing Equity into Practice is a series of discussions about personal experiences of inequity and how industries, organizations, and people are working to move equ

Susan Albert Loewenberg is founder and Producing Director of L.A. Theatre Works, a non-profit media arts and theatre organization. Ms. Loewenberg has produced award-winning radio dramas, plays, and films in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and London.Under her supervision, LATW has created the largest library of plays on audio in the world, garnering numerous awards from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Writers Guild, The American Library Association, Publishers’ Weekly, and others. Ms. Loewenberg also serves as host and is the Executive Producer of LATW’s nationally distributed syndicated radio series, “L.A. Theatre Works,” broadcast on NPR stations nationwide.A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, she has served on innumerable boards and panels, including the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, The Fund for Independence in Journalism in Washington D.C., and was co-chair of the League of Producers and Theatres of Greater Los Angeles.Chapters is a multi-part series concerning t

Before developing a passion for middle grade and young adult fiction, Sonia Antaki had several careers—as a professional singer, a financial analyst, a Tony-nominated Broadway producer and an advocate for Arts and Native traditions. Red Dove, Run Through the Fire, Book Three of The Red Dove Trilogy, grew out of Sonia’s own experience of living between worlds, and the desire to bring them together. Of Swiss, British and Syro-Lebanese ancestry, she was born in Egypt and came to the U.S. as a child.Red Dove, Run Through the FireAtmosphere Press, 2022A World Without Books was created to help writers connect with readers during the pandemic. This Micro-Podcast provides authors a platform to share stories about writing, discuss current projects, and consider life without books. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you podcast.Past Forward is a curiosity company dedicated to educational accessibility. Our public podcast service, paired with millions of discounted books curated into topic-themed collections, provide

Blair Austin was born in Michigan. A former prison librarian, he is a graduate of the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan where he won Hopwood awards for Fiction and Essay. He lives in Massachusetts. Dioramas is his first novel.DioramasDzanc Books, 2023A World Without Books was created to help writers connect with readers during the pandemic. This Micro-Podcast provides authors a platform to share stories about writing, discuss current projects, and consider life without books. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you podcast.Past Forward is a curiosity company dedicated to educational accessibility. Our public podcast service, paired with millions of discounted books curated into topic-themed collections, provides guidance and tools to support lifelong learning.

Chika Unigwe is a celebrated and highly acclaimed Nigerian-born Igbo author, whose honors include winning the Nigeria Literature Prize, the Sylt Fellowship for African Writers, and many other distinctions. Chika is Creative Director of the Awele Creative Trust, and she was a judge for the Man Booker International Prize in 2016. In 2016-2017, she was Bonderman Professor of Creative Writing at Brown University, Providence RI, USA, and then went on to lecture in creative writing at Emory University, GA. In 2020-2021, she will be joining Georgia College and State University's MFA in Creative Writing as a core faculty member.Chika was born and raised in Enugu, Nigeria. She graduated from the University of Nigeria, KU Leuven (Belgium) and has a PhD from Leiden University, Holland. Author of The Middle Daughter, Unigwe’s previous work includes novels On Black Sisters Street and Night Dancer as well as the short story collection Better Never than Late. She was also a contributor to Of This Our Country: Acclaimed Nige

B. Travis Wright, MPS is a 2022 Colorado Preservation Inc. State Honor Award recipient for his advocacy of Rollins Pass, President of the Board of the Grand County Historical Association, Vice Chair of the Gilpin County Historic Preservation Commission, and has written multiple academic works and published books about Rollins Pass and the Moffat Tunnel.Travis is also co-founder of Preserve Rollins Pass. Preserve Rollins Pass strives to fulfill a Native American adage: “In every deliberation, consider the impact of decisions on the next seven generations.” As one of Colorado’s Most Endangered Places, prehistoric and historic preservation of Rollins Pass are paramount. Through partnerships with state and federal representatives, Native American tribes, special interest groups across the nation, archaeologists, historians, and university professors, Preserve Rollins Pass applies strategic pressures to protect the integrity of this national historic district.Travis lives in the mountains of Colorado with his wife

Miko Lee is an activist, storyteller and educator. She believes in the power of story to amplify voices. Miko is lead producer of APEX Express on KPFA Radio focused around AAPI activists and artists. She is Director of Programs for Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality and on the National Advisory Committee of Teaching Artists Guild. Miko’s career has been rooted in the nonprofit world, first as a theatre actor, director and writer and then as an artistic director and as an arts education leader.Miko was executive director of Youth in Arts for over a decade and prior to that was Director of Arts and Public Education at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. In addition to Teaching Artists Guild, Miko is an artsEquity BIPOC leader and serves on California’s Special Education + Arts Working Group and the Public Will Committee of CREATE CA. Miko’s extensive background in theatre includes working on shows at Berkeley, Seattle and South Coast Rep, Public Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and many others.Annie Le

Aiden Thomas is a trans, Latinx, New York Times Bestselling Author with an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. Originally from Oakland, California, they now make their home in Portland, OR. Aiden is notorious for not being able to guess the endings of books and movies, and organizes their bookshelves by color.Engaging the World: Leading the Conversation on Ethnic Studies is a series of discussions about race, ethnicity, indigeneity, and the strategies used in historical movements for social transformation, resistance, and liberation.Guest: Aiden ThomasHost: Jon-Barrett IngelsProduced by Past Forward in partnership with Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Chapman University.

Kwame Sound Daniels' feverishly written forthcoming book, the pause and the breath from Atmosphere Press, is a meditation on Black trans identity and ancestry in the form of broken and re-imagined sonnets. Xir current book out now is Light Spun with Perennial Press, a collection of sonnets and free verse exploring queer love and Black American spirituality.the pause and the breathAtmosphere Press, 2023A World Without Books was created to help writers connect with readers during the pandemic. This Micro-Podcast provides authors a platform to share stories about writing, discuss current projects, and consider life without books. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you podcast.Past Forward is a public podcast service and book initiative. As a nonprofit organization, our creative media is designed to amplify the voices of community leaders by providing a platform to share stories about civic engagement and cultural enrichment. For further learning, our Re-Mind initiative focuses on educational accessibility. We

Vishavjit Singh is a cartoonist, writer, performance artist (aka Sikh Captain America) and creator of Sikhtoons.com based in New York City. He is a public speaker expounding on diversity, inclusion, storytelling and power of art in schools, universities and companies across the nation. He currently works in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in FDNY.Engaging the World: Leading the Conversation on Ethnic Studies is a series of discussions about race, ethnicity, indigeneity, and the strategies used in historical movements for social transformation, resistance, and liberation.Guest: Vishavjit SinghHost: Jon-Barrett IngelsProduced by Past Forward in partnership with Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Chapman University.

Manpreet Kaur Kalra (she/her) is a social impact advisor, educator, speaker, podcast host, and activist working to decolonize ethical storytelling. She navigates the intersection of impact communication and sustainable global development. Her activism focuses on the interconnectivity of economic, social, and climate justice. Engaging the World: Leading the Conversation on Ethnic Studies is a series of discussions about race, ethnicity, indigeneity, and the strategies used in historical movements for social transformation, resistance, and liberation.Guest: Manpreet Kaur KalraHost: Jon-Barrett IngelsProduced by Past Forward in partnership with Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Chapman University.