Chelvanaya Gabriel is a Queer Black trans non-binary disabled being whose art-and-community work is about the queer-afrofuturist disability justice dreaming that will liberate us all. It is about the queering of artistic practice, centering both grief and joy, love and anger. Their work is an evolving expression of their own becoming as an invitation to others to step into their own expansiveness. They are the founder of Creative Resilience Lab, an arts and wellness space centering local queer/trans/intersex/BIPOC creatives in Holyoke, as well as Creative Resilience Dialogues (featured in the Boston Globe), an arts-based dialogic framework for talking about difficult topics and building relational skills. They currently work at Hampshire College and graduated from Mount Holyoke College, Class of ‘97, with a degree in Chemistry & Asian Studies. Their artwork has been exhibited across the Pioneer Valley, including several public art projects on display in Holyoke and Northampton. On November 20th, they will be co-facilitating an in-person workshop with Doctora Xingona/Dr. Diana Alvarez from 2-4pm at Creative Resilience Lab.

My name is Malakai Joseph Chuckas, and I am a graduate of the Mount Holyoke College class of 2020. I am a community organizer, educator, activist and scholar. My focus is in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within Higher Education; however my passions lie deeply in social advocacy, specifically for the LGBTQ and TGNCNB community. My background is in Diversity Consulting however I currently work in the Building Trades; working to diversify the trades and provide TGNCNB, Women and People of Color with access to stable employment and living wages.

My name is Misha Oraa Ali. I am currently pursuing a PhD in Cognitive Science at Brown University, alongside a Master’s in Design Engineering at the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown. Prior to this, I worked as a research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. I graduated from Mount Holyoke in 2017 with a degree in Neuroscience and Behavior, and did a special minor in Graphic Narrative and Visual Storytelling. Now, I do research about data visualization, and I like to make things. I spent a lot of time at the MHC MakerSpace (before it became known as the Fimbel Lab!) and, now, at the Brown Design Workshop. I curated the “What is Pride?” zine at MHC as a junior, and am now involved with a group centered around supporting LGBTQ+ individuals and communities in STEM.

Zohar Berman '20 is a Diasporist, Yiddishist, community organizer, and social justice educator currently serving as the Social Justice & Cultural Organizer for the Boston Workers Circle, a progressive, multicultural, intergenerational Jewish community that combines Jewish cultural practices with social justice organizing to create a better world for all. During their time at Mount Holyoke, their academic pursuits focused on the linguistics of social movements, and they worked as a MoZone Peer Educator. They served four years on the board of MHC’s Jewish Student Union during which they organized to secure accommodations and resources for Jews and other marginalized religio-cultural communities on campus. Previous post-graduation work includes food justice organizing for the Farm Alliance of Baltimore and Food Rescue Baltimore, and training Judeo-Arabic transcription models for the Princeton Geniza Lab.