Mayumi Tsutakawa is a freelance arts writer in Seattle. She has co-edited several multicultural literary anthologies, including The Forbidden Stitch: Asian American Women's Literary Anthology (Calyx Books) which received the Before Columbus Foundation’s American Book Award. She edited They Painted from their Hearts (Wing Luke Asian Museum) and also Edge Walking on the Western Rim, (Sasquatch Books).
Mayumi is a presenter with the Humanities Washington Speaker’s Bureau and focuses on immigrant stories and political challenges faced by Japanese Americans in Washington State.
Alisa Bernard is the contracted Survivor Advocacy Coordinator for the Organization for Prostitution Survivors (OPS) where she created a new model 12 class mentoring series for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). She is a candidate for the Masters of Public Administration degree from the University of Washington’s Evan’s School. Since exiting prostitution she has advised to, developed content for, and provided training to numerous organizations and agencies across the US and sits on King County’s Ending Exploitation Collaborative team. She uses her lived experiences of CSE, teen homelessness, domestic violence and childhood sexual abuse as a lens to look through and advise public and private agencies working against CSE.
Rosemary Ponnekanti is a freelancer for Crosscut. She lives in Tacoma, plays double bass and does aerial circus. Find her on Twitter at @roseponnekanti.
Walter Hatch is associate professor of government at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. When he is not teaching, he is often found in Seattle, where he was born and raised.