Keiko (she/her) is Sansei, a third-generation mixed-race Japanese American who carries her ancestry as a sacred gift from her mother. She is equally proud of her children’s heritage as representatives of a family with deep roots in the Skagit Valley and within the community of artists and poets. A community organizer and advocate for racial justice, and a board member for PFLAG Skagit, she most recently worked for the Anacortes School District to support special education, community engagement focused on equity and ACEs, and gender-inclusive schools. Keiko believes in collective liberation, reframing as a tool for engagement, the healing power of laughter, the vital importance of imagination in building synapses for freedom, and the promise of sci-fi as a liberatory roadmap for equity-centered futures.