iPride: Family Pride in Mixed Heritage
i
Pride! u Pride! we
Pride! our Pride!
VISION
We envision a cohesive multiethnic society
based on justice, inclusion, and respect for all human diversity. We
actively seek to build and foster broad coalitions that will result
in an environment that supports the right of every person to be recognized
as whole and complete.
MISSION
As the nation’s the oldest multiracial justice
organization, iPride's mission is to build, cultivate and affirm families
and communities across culture and color lines. iPride strives to create
a more inclusive and equitable society by educating ourselves, our children,
and our communities about the importance of honoring difference and
encouraging positive ethnic identity in all people. We are a social
justice movement aimed at eliminating educational and socio-cultural
disparities, particularly as experienced by Mixed Heritage and Transracially
Adopted children, individuals and families.
OBJECTIVES
- To support individuals of mixed heritage and transracial adoptees
in the development of identity and human potential.
- To create a language to discuss mixed heritage and transracial
adoptee identity and experiences.
- To foster regard and appreciation for the diversity of mixed heritage
and transracial adoptee community.
- To establish a safe space for exploring the complexity of mixed
heritage and transracial adoptee experiences.
- To develop awareness and consciousness of the issues facing mixed
heritage and transracial adoptee individuals and families.
- To encourage solidarity and unity across culture and colors lines.
VALUES
- Meaningful learning: We seek to provide an interactive and creative
learning experience that fosters individual self-awareness and self-discovery.
- Safe environment: We are committed to providing a nurturing community
and society that values self-esteem, confidence and positive identity
development in all people.
- Community: We recognize that community is a source of connectedness
and inclusive relationships for families and youth.
- Respect: We believe in the inherent dignity and worth of all individuals.
- Diversity: We strive to serve diverse populations in the Bay Area.
Families which include children who are multiracial, biracial, ethnically
mixed, and/or transracially adopted.
- Collaboration: We cultivate partnerships with other organizations
and agencies to provide a learning experience based on excellence
and quality.
iPride Staff
Tarah Fleming
Co-Director of iPride
(Non-Voting Board Member)
Tarah Fleming is currently the Co-Director of iPride, the longest
standing organization in the U.S. dedicated to mixed heritage family
pride, and the Director of the Multiethnic Education Program which
is a project of iPride in Berkeley, CA. She received her M.A. Ed.
at the University of San Francisco in International and Multicultural
Education. She has twenty years of experience in the classroom teaching
internationally, and locally as a teacher trainer focusing on cultural
competency, issues of power and privilege and developing equitable
and inclusive curriculum for all ages. She has a biracial son and
has over two decades of experience working with multiracial families.
She is the executive producer of the film “My People Are…Youth Pride
in Mixed Heritage” and of the Educator’s Guide and Video entitled
“Serving Biracial and Multiethnic Children and Their Families.” Ms.
Fleming is also the founder and director of START DIALOG, Courses
in Cultural Competency, a consulting practice for corporate and service
agencies.
Jilchristina Vest,
Co-Director of iPride
(Non-Voting Board Member)
Jilchristina is a righteous
mixedblood activist of Black, Indian and Euro descent. Originally
from Chicago and a resident of the Bay Area for 20 years, she
has participated in numerous mixed-race events in addition to having
years of experience taking to the streets in the name of anti-racist,
feminist, and anti-war struggles. She has 2 bachelors and a masters
degree- Women's studies, Black studies, and International and Multicultural
Education. She has traveled the globe and is committed to the necessity
for mixed race youth and adults to be able to claim their
mixed heritage with pride.
iPride Board Members 2006-2008
Andrew Jolivette
President
Andrew Jolivétte is an assistant professor
in the American Indian Studies Department and also teaches in the Ethnic
Studies Program at San Francisco State University. He recently completed
a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship through the National Academy
of Sciences and the National Research Council. Professor Jolivétte
is a mixed-race studies specialist with a particular interest in Comparative
Race Relations, Creole studies, Black-Indians, and mixed-race health
disparities. Andrew is the author of, Cultural Representation in Native
America (AltaMira Press, July 2006) which is a part of the Contemporary
Native American Communities Series. Dr. Jolivette also recently received
an advance book contract for his second book, "Louisiana Creoles: Cultural
Recovery and Mixed Race Native American Identity" to be published sometime
in 2007. Andrew will begin work on a third book, "Mixed Race Gay Men
and HIV: A Community History" in the fall of 2006.
He received Ph.D. and master's degrees in
sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the board
president of Speak Out Speakers and Artist Agency in Emeryville, California,
and also serves as board president of i-Pride, an organization for mixed
heritage and transracially adopted youth and their families. He is a
Creole of Opelousa, Choctaw, Atakapa, French, African, and Spanish descent.
Logan Gutierrez-Mock
Vice President
Logan Gutierrez-Mock is a 26 year-old, queer,
biracial (Chicano/white), Female-to-Male transgender person who has
been a youth organizer since the age of 16 and is now a fierce youth
ally. He is a sex educator and works as a Peer Educator at Bay
Area Young Positives (www.baypositives.org)-
the world’s first peer-based HIV/AIDS youth agency. Logan
received his MA in Human Sexuality Studies in 2005 and is currently
pursuing his second MA in Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University. His
research examines the intersectionality of mixed heritage and transgender
identities. One of his many life goals is establishing a field
of research focused on mixed heritage and transracially adopted transgender
people. Another life goal is to one day own a super cute, fluffy
little dog that he can tote around the Castro. Logan also volunteers
on the Speaker’s Bureau at Community United Against Violence (www.cuav.org)
and with Proyecto Lucha- a queer Latina/o organization in San Francisco. He
believes that for true liberation we have to fight all oppressions-
preferably while wearing pink!
Nikole Wilson-Ripsom
Treasurer
Nikole Wilson-Ripsom has over 15 years of
non-profit organizational experience. Ms. Wilson-Ripsom has been instrumental
in creating new non-profit organizations (NPOs), as well as working
as both a Development Director and then a Consultant in the fundraising,
daily administration, long-term planning, and implementation of special
marketing projects for a number of Bay Area NPOs. Her client list has
included more than 20 organizations, including Festival at the Lake,
the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the YWCA, the League of Women
Voters, BraveKids, the Future 500, and Oakland Community Pools Project.
Ms. Wilson-Ripsom has also worked as an editor of children's books,
a buyer for a bookstore, and co-founder and on-air talent for a grassroots
radio station. She holds a Master's degree in Education from the University
of California at Berkeley, where she also obtained her undergraduate
degrees in Mass Communications and African American Literature. She
is the mother of one toddling boy and in her rare free time, enjoys
knitting and reading.
Sean Anglon
Secretary
Sean Anglon has been an educator for
nine years. For the last six years he has taught in the school
district where he grew up, Pittsburg: four teaching high
school English at his alma mater, where he co-created an English
course focusing on African-American literature, and two teaching
4th grade at his old elementary. He began his career teaching
English in Japan, where he met his wife; they have two children.
Joemy Ito-Gates
Fusion Program Founder
Joemy is the founder of Fusion. She wrote
the initial proposal and curriculum while attending the International
Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. She has extensive experience with
children domestically as well as internationally. She has designed and
led workshops on multiracial identity and Transracial-adoption. She
has a B.A. from Smith College and a Multiple Subjects k-8 teaching credential
with a CLAD emphasis from the New College of California in San Francisco.
She is currently a third grade teacher at Malcolm X Arts and Academics
Magnet Elementary School in Berkeley.
Jacqueline Miller
Jacqueline Miller is currently a social worker at Golden Gate Regional
Center. She received a BA in Social Work from the University of
Georgia and earned her Masters of Social Work, concentrating in Human
Services Administration and Planning, from San Francisco State University.
She is passionate about youth development and social justice work and
has over ten years of successful field experience in teaching, advocacy
and community organizing, program development, research, case management
and counseling. Jacqueline is actively involved in the mixed heritage
community in the Bay area and is the co-founder of Fusion: A Day Summer
Camp Program for Mixed Heritage Youth. She conducted a comprehensive
qualitative needs assessment of mixed heritage youth and their families
in the Bay Area. She has designed and presented professional development
trainings to social service organizations on the identity development
of mixed heritage adolescents. Additionally, she developed and implemented
a Multicultural Education Program for disadvantaged youth. She
is proud of her Vietnamese and Western European roots.
Victoria Bruno
Victoria was born in S. Korea, adopted by
an Italian-American family and raised in a small, non-diverse town on
Long Island. She received her BA in International Development from The
American University in Washington, DC. Victoria is a nonprofit management
professional whose career has focused on technical assistance/capacity
building, training, volunteer management and fundraising. In the DC
area, she volunteered for Chingoo, a mentoring program for Korean-adoptees
and their families. Victoria moved to the Bay Area in the summer of
2005 and immediately immersed herself in the local adoptee community.
Currently, she is on the board of AKA-SF (www.akasf.com), the advisory
council for the Adoptee Mentor Program (www.adopteementorprogram.org),
volunteers with Pact Adoption Alliance (www.pactadopt.org) and facilitates
a monthly transracially adoptive parent group with Our Family Coalition
(www.ourfamily.org). Victoria brings candor, openness, commitment, energy
and professionalism to her volunteer work. She is truly passionate about
helping transracially adoptive parents better understand the transracial
adoptee experience so they can become the best stewards of their children’s
self-esteem. Her goal is to help parents navigate real life situations
in ways that encourage positive racial and cultural identity.
Sachiko Reed
Sachiko Reed is currently working towards
a Ph.D. in Sociology from University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).
Her work centers around social justice issues and mixed heritage identity.
She is currently a fellow for the Center for Biomolecular Science &
Engineering department at UCSC researching implications of health and
genomic research and mixed race identity. Sachiko is also researching
racial segregation in prisons and conducts interviews with previously
incarcerated inmates including those who identify as multi-racial. She
earned her masters in Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University
examining racial hierarchies, white privilege and EurAsian identity
in the Bay Area. She has been in the field of education and youth development
for over ten years and was one of the first head counselors for FUSION
2005. Sachiko was born and raised in San Francisco in a biracial, bilingual
household and is of Japanese, English, German and Polish descent.
Diego Luna
Bio coming soon.
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