Photograph Rommy Torrico (2021, Yuca Valley)
Queer Icons by Gabriel Garcia Roman.2015
Queer Icons by Gabriel Garcia Roman.2015
Queer Icons by Gabriel Garcia Roman.2015
Writing Residencies:
Poetry Incubator Fellow 2018 for the Poetry Foundation
BOAAT Press Writers Retreat 2016: Poetry under Eduardo C. Corral
Voices of our Nation Arts Foundation (VONA): 2015 Poetry under Ruth Forman at the University of Miami, & 2013 Poetry under Jimmy Santiago Baca at Berkeley University
UndocuWriting Literary Retreat, Participant & Coordinator 2013: Poetry under Staceyann Chin and Mark Gonzales
Grow Fierce-Digging Deep Facing Self Writing Program: 2013 Participant under Caits Meissner
Books:
Nostalgia y Fronteras ( Severo Publishing 2023)
Donde Somos Humanos ( Harper Collins 2023)
What Things Cost: An Anthology fir the People (Univ. Press of Kentucky 2023)
Daughters of Latin America: An International Anthology if Writing By Latine Women ( HarperCollins 2023)
Somewhere We Are Human (HarperCollins 2022)
Migrant Feelings, Migrant Knowledge: Building A Community Archive (Univ. of Texas Press 2022)
Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism. 2nd Edition (Seal Press 2019)
This is Not A Gun ( Sming Sming Books 2020)
Stop Telling Women To Smile ( Seal Press 2020)
Sonia Guiñansaca
Sonia Guiñansaca is an international award winning queer migrant poet, cultural organizer and social justice activist. Sonia has over 17 years of movement and cultural organizing experience that began when they were among the first waves of young people to publicly come out as undocumented. They emerged as a national leader in the migrant artistic and political communities where they coordinated and participated in groundbreaking civil disobedience actions. Guiñansaca helped build some of the largest undocumented organizations in the US, including co-founding some of the first artistic projects by and for undocumented writers and artists. Sonia has worked for over a decade in both policy and cultural efforts building equitable infrastructures for migrant artists. They have been awarded residencies and fellowships from Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation, Poetry Foundation, British Council, Creative Time, and the Hemispheric Institute for Performance & Politics. Guiñansaca has performed at the Met, the NYC Public Theater, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, La Mama Gallery, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and has been featured on PEN American, Interview Magazine, Ms.Magazine, Teen Vogue, Diva Magazine UK, CNN, NBC, Democracy Now! and PBS to name a few. Their migration and cultural equity work has also taken them to London and Mexico City to advise on migrant policy and arts programming. Consults for national social justice organizations, cultural institutions, and foundations on artists convening, cultural activations, and civic engagement. Past clients include: Fwd.us, National Employment Law Project, Latina Institute, Your Neighborhood Museum, Inner City Struggle, and The Rasmuson Foundation.
Sonia self-published their debut mini chapbook Nostalgia and Borders in 2016. In November 2023 they partnered with Severo Editorial to publish Nostalgia Y Fronteras, Sonia’s poetry collection translated in Spanish & Kichwa. Sonia embarked in their first international book tour through Ecuador for the release of Nostalgia Y Fronterars, where they traveled from Guayaquil, Cañar/Cuenca, and Quito. Now, represented by Johanna Castillo at Writers House Agency , Sonia is also working on their first memoir, and recently co-edited the highly anticipated anthology “SomeWhere We Are Human” (HarperCollins June 2022).
Sonia is also a contributor to Daughters of Latin America Anthology, and the new edition of ColonizeThis! Anthology (2019 Seal Press), a contributor to Migrant Feelings, Migrant Knowledge Building a Community Archive (2022 University of Texas Press), featured on Stop Telling Women to Smile (2020 Seal Press), What Things Cost: An Anthology for the People (2023 The University Press of Kentucky) . In April 2022 launched House of Alegría, a multi-fold creative project supporting emerging undocumented Queer/Trans/Non-binary artists. Guiñansaca is releasing their second chapbook #PapiFemme later in the year .
Long Bio:
Born in Ecuador (Kichwa-Kañari) , at the age of 5, Sonia Guiñansaca migrated to the United States to reunite with her parents in New York City.
Since 2007, Guiñansaca has been public about their experience as an undocumented immigrant. In 2008, they joined the New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC) the first and only undocumented youth led organization in NY where she served was core- organizer, Arts and Expression program founder, and then served as a Board Member. Guiñansaca has since participated in: the second recorded civil disobedience action done by undocumented youth where they took over the D.C Senate Building (2010), and a 10- day hunger strike. They organized NY undocumented youth communities, direct actions, led campaigns to stop the deportations of undocumented young people in New York, and advocated for educational bills for migrant students. During this time, the poet and activist also attempted to infiltrate an Alabama detention center, and coordinated campaigns to end the deportation of undocumented people (2011) , among other actions in the immigrant rights movement.
In 2011, Guiñansaca launched the Dreaming in Ink creative writing workshop for undocumented youth and performance spaces known as UndocuMic’s. This would become the first writing and performance initiatives by and for undocumented emerging writers and artists. Since then, Dreaming in Ink and the UndocuMic's have become structures replicated throughout the country.
In 2013 they joined CultureStrike, a national arts and cultural organization where they served as the Undocu Writing Coordinator, Artist Network Senior Manager, and Managing Director for 6 years. They were instrumental in leading efforts on narrative strategy, migration, climate change, and cultural equity. Sonia has led national projects on racial and migrant justice (UntilWeAreAllFree.com), continuously fought for cultural equity, supported artists of color especially migrant, queer, trans, and women of color emerging artist, and shifted conversation around migrant narratives. They have collaborated with social justice movement groups to shift and increase the understanding of the roles of arts and culture in movement spaces. In 2013, along with Kemi Bello, a fellow undocumented writer staff at CultureStrike, they created and put together the first national UndocuWriting retreat in North California for undocumented writers of different genres, with Staceyann Chin as one of the guest faculty. This became a groundbreaking moment bringing together for the first time 11 undocumented writers from across the nation, representing over 9 countries. Since then, Sonia has continually supported emerging undocumented writers through residency opportunities, and by developing a partnership with VONA to increase support for these writers, and co-founded/curated Undocumenting.tumblr.com, the first and only online archive profiling undocumented artists. They continue to mentor emerging migrant writers, curating safe welcoming panels and open mic's for these artists. They culminated their work at CultureStrike by advocating for migrant qtpoc leadership, training cultural workers of color (#ArtistPowerSummit) , spearheading artist convening (i.e #BorderVisions in El Paso, TX) and cultural programming like “You See Me?!?” at the Park Avenue Armory (2019).
In 2021, Sonia joined Gender Justice LA, a 20 year old TGNC led organization (one of the first Trans led organization in LA county). For two years they served as the Outreach Director and Programs Director helping build the organization’s team, programming structure, funding stream, artistic projects, and COVID-19 Outreach for *Trans BIPOC communities throughout Los Angeles. During Sonia’s time at the organization Gender Justice LA participated in the #Food4All campaign fighting for food assistance program for all California’s regardless of immigration status, and the #Health4All campaign ensuring all California’s have access to health care regardless of immigration status.
Guiñansaca is now a consultant for national social justice organizations, cultural institutions, and foundations through out the country on artist convening, cultural activations, and civic engagement.
Graduate from Hunter College, they hold a B.A in Africana Puerto Rican Latino Studies, and Women & Gender Studies. They have been awarded residencies and fellowships from Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation, Poetry Foundation, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, Creative Time, and BOOAT. Guiñansaca has performed at cultural institutions through out the country like the Met, El Museo Del Barrio, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, La Mama Gallery, Galeria de la Raza, the NYC Public Theater, Lehmann Maupin Gallery featured on PEN American, Interview Magazine, Ms.Magazine, Teen Vogue, Diva Magazine UK, CNN, NBC, Latina Magazine, and PBS to name a few. They have presented keynotes, workshops, panels at universities like Columbia University, Yale University, Brown University, and at conferences throughout the country.
They were named as 1 of 10 Up and Coming Latinx Poets You Need to Know by Remezcla, as well as one of 13 Coolest Queers on the Internet by Teen Vogue, the 2017 and 2018 Artist in Residency at NYU’s Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, and 1 of 3 U.S.A 's Future Leaders Delegate for the British Council in 2018.
Guiñansaca’s range of work touches on migration, climate-ecological justice, Queer liberation, being a Queer/Femme Non-binary artist and cultural worker of color, and the role of artists in social movements. Their work is a deep look into deconstructing borders, and blowing up migration discourse so that tiny radical seeds can grow from that gravel and help us imagine a world without borders. Extensive background on community organizing, social media, arts equity, and cultural strategy.
Their first mini chapbook Nostalgia and Borders was self-published in November 2016. The chapbook encompass their early collection of poetry touching on their undocumented experience growing up in the United States, migration trauma, and family separation. The chapbook was designed by (un)documented artist Rommy Torrico, and edited by undocumented writer Emilia Fiallo. In July 2017, Guiñansaca collaborated with artist Jess X Snow to release a mini documentary to accompany #NostalgiaAndBorders, which premiered at the Brooklyn Museum as part of a performance for Radical Women: Latin American Art 1960-1985. In November 2023 Sonia released Nostalgia Y Fronteras, the trilingual collection of her poetry through Severo Editorial. This book features Sonia’s poetry in Kichwa, and Spanish. In late 2023, Sonia embarked in their first International book tour through Ecuador, visiting Guayaquil, Cañar, and Quito.
Right now, they are working on their 2nd chapbook called Papifemme, after #Papifemme, which is a term (and hashtag) they coined in Spring 2015 to give language to their gender fluidity at the intersection of their Latinx, Femme, and Non-binaryness after noticing that majority of non binary language and mainstream dialogue on gender fluidity centered white American thin able-bodies. PapiFemme is a term for Latinx of color who are both gender non-conforming and Femme.
Invested in supporting the next wave of emerging undocumented migrant Queer, Trans, Non-binary artists Sonia has launched House of Alegría. A home for artists that offers an artist in residency, in house publishing press, public workshops, and consultations. Learn more: HERE
Guiñansaca is now Represented by Writers House Agency and working on their first memoir.
Witness their work online on Twitter & Instagram @TheSoniaG.
Awards & Honors:
2023 Winner of the International Latino Book Awards in the category of The Raul Yzaguirre Best Political/Current Affairs Book Award for Donde Somos Humanos
2023 Broze Medal for Donde Somos Humanos for the International Latino Book Awards in the category of The Victor VIllaseñor Best Latino Focused Non-Fiction Book Award
2023 Keynote Speaker for Right to Heal: Centering Mental Health Multi-Racial Equity in California Conference by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
2023 Keynote Speaker for “Power of Storytelling” at Purdue University Indianapolis
2023 Featured panelist at Los Angeles Festival of Books for “Donde Somos Humanos”
2023 Poderoses Collaboration with Rommy Torrico, for Amplifier & Latino Institute
2023 Somewhere We Are Human Paperback Release Celebration @ Avenue 50 Studio (Los Angeles, CA)
2023 Guest Presenter & Reading at Jornadas Feministas FLACSO 2023 (Quito, Ecuador)
2023 Inaugural Undoc+ Collective Artist In Residence with Rommy Torrico @ Visible Records
2022 Guest Faculty for The Collective Power of Communicators: Communication Institutes by Northern California & SoCal Grantmakers
2022 Featured on NYC Build-board for “Cultura” Celebrating Hispanic Culture Books
2022 Featured Keynote for National Coming out Day @ University of South Florida
2022 Borderlands Keynote @ Colorado State University
2022 Featured Performer at CHIRLA’s Annual Gala
2022 LUCAS Fellow Artist in Residence @ Motalvo Arts Center w/ Related Tactics under Thick Solidarity
2022 Launch of House of Alegría
2022 Featured on SF Chronicles “3 books capture the stories, terror and inspiration at the heart of human migration”
2022 Guest Speaker for Manchester Poetry Library (UK)
2022 Featured Artist at MOCA’s Memory Material
2022 Somewhere We Are Human featured on Ms.Magazine’s June Reads for the Rest of Us
2022 Keynote Speaker at the Undocu Recognition Celebration at California State University-Fullerton
2022 Keynote Speaker at the Lavender Recognition Celebration at California State University-Fullerton
2021 Creative Time Think Tank Cohort
2021 Named as 1 of Most Stylish 100 by Dapper Q
2021 Featured on Terremoto Magazine “Poetica de Resistencia Para Atravesar Los Estados de la Migracion”
2021 Featured contributor for Related Tactics’s Climate Changing: On Artists, Institutions, and the Social Environment project on view at the Wexner Center, Ohio
2020 “Migrant Organizing: A Retelling” Essay featured on Ms.Magazine
2020 Featured interview on Tatyanna Fazlalizadeh’s book “Stop Telling Women to Smile” (Seal Press)
2020 Contributor for the “In/With/For the Public” Issue for the Exploring Public Art Practices Symposium held at the Oakland Museum (supported by Kenneth Rainin Foundation, coordinated by Art Practical)
2020 Featured on Vogue Magazine “Look Up: 80 Artists Are Skywriting to Highlight the Injustice of Immigration Detention in America” as one of the artist participant of the In Plain Sight Project
2019 Represented by Writers House Agency
2019 Second Edition Contributor to “Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism” Edited by Daisy Hernandez, and Bushra Rehman through Seal Press
2018-Present National Advisory Member for the Laundromat Project
2018 & 2019 Creative Capital’s Cycle Application Reader
2019 Judge for California’s Poetry Out Loud State Final for the California Endowment of the Arts
2019 Master of Ceremony of “Rise Up: Defend Democracy Remember Tiananmen” for Pen America World Voices Festival at Cathedral of St.John the Divine
2019 Featured Spread on Bitch Magazine about Nostalgia and Borders
2019 Featured as “1 of 9 LGBTQ + Poets Who Will Speak too Your Soul” by Fierce (Mitu)
2018 Featured on Interview Magazine’s “Six New Mobilized New Yorkers On These Political Times”
2018 Featured on Rewire.News “Migrants Share Their Vision for a World That Honors and Respects Them”
2018 Featured on Autostraddle “An Ode to Fat Tomboy Femmes: Effortlessly Cool Plus-Size Outfits”
2018 Featured Performer for “Cuerpxs Radicales: Radical Bodies in Performance” for Brooklyn Museum’s Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985 Exhibition
2018 Poetry Incubator Fellow for the Poetry Foundation
2018 Artist Residence at NYU's Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics
2018 U.S.A British Council Representative for Immigration Policy Incubation (Mexico)
2018 Featured on Univision Noticia's "Asi son los 'Dreamers' que luchan por los derechos de los indocumentados" photo timeline
2017 U.S.A Future Leaders Delegate for the British Council (London)
2017 Featured and interviewed on LAMBDA Literary
2017 Named as 1 of "9 Latina Poets You Should be Reading Right Now" by Mitu!
2017 Guest Speaker at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC)
2017 Artist Residence at NYU's Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics
2017 Featured Poet at the annual the "Poetry in Motion" event of the Poetry Society of America (Grand Central NYC)
2017 Chapbook "Nostalgia & Borders" officially housed at the Ethnic Studies Library in UC Berkeley
2016 Innovative Cultural Advocacy (ICA) Fellow of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute
2016 Featured on Univision's Portraits of Latinx Generation
2016 Named as "13 Coolest Queers on the Internet" by Teen Vogue
2016 Featured Interview on NBC Latino Poetry Series
2016 Poetry featured on Third Women Press's new online journal: TWPulse
2015 Featured on PEN American Ten
2015 Featured poet on the Poetry Foundation
2015 Selected by Remezcla as one of “10 Latinx Poets You Need to Know”
2015 Featured Poet on Feministing Five
2015 Featured poet on PBS.org
2015 Selected by Medium.com NAT. BRUT as one of “3 Artists & Cultural Workers of Color You Need to Know About”
2015 Honored and Profiled as a Queer Icon by artists Gabriel Garcia
2013’s El Museo Del Barrio Madrina Award
2013 Featured Speaker at the 27th Annual From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom Conference at Hampshire College
2012 Campus Progress Activist/Campaign of the Year Award
2012 Profiled on the Emmy Nominated CUNY TV: Nueva York Episode on the Dream Act
2011 Recipient of 40 Under 40 Rising NY Stars by the Hispanic Coalition
2010 Recipient of the Courageous Advocacy Award from NYSYLC
2010 Latina Magazine’s 100 Latinos of the Year
Selected Performances & Appearances:
2024 Guest Speaker at Occidental College for their Creative Writing Workshop
2024 Featured Poet at Saffron Cowboy’s Author Series @ North Figueroa Bookshop
2024 Performer at Voices of A People’s History @ Lincoln Center
2024 Guest Panelist and Speaker at the First Nations Performance Arts Convening in NY
2024 Guest speaker for Club De Lectura Marika @ La Nube Casa Cultural in Quito, Ecuador
2023 Nostalgia Y Fronteras Book Launch and Presentation @ Centro Cultural Benjamin Carrión in Quito, Ecuador
2023 Guest Speaker for “Memoria y Fronteras: La potencia de (re)narrar lo vivido” @ La Imaginativa Center in Quito, Ecuador
2023 Ceremony and Community event with Parroquia Morales in Cerro Shungumarca in Cañar, Ecuador
2023 Guest Speaker @ Corredores Migratorios in Quito, Ecuador
2023 Libre Libro Festival Speaker & Presenter in Guayaquil Ecuador
2023 Performer for 92NY Center for Culture & Arts “Daughters of Latin America” Reading
2023 University of Illinois’s Radical Poetry & Performance Reading Series
2022 LATINX Heritage Month Feat. panelist for the Curv Foundation
2022 Las Vegas Book Festival #SomewhereWeAreHuman Panel
2022 Featured Pen America presents: The Writer as Migrant @ Brooklyn Book Festival
2022 Somewhere We Are Human Book presentation @ Trinity University (Texas)
2022 Book Store Tour for #SomeWhereWeAreHuman : Medicine for Nightmare (SF), Brazo’s Bookstore(TX), Books Are Magic (NY), Migrant Roots Media, LibroMobile , Book Soup (LA), and The Mistake Room for the LA Book launch
2022 Guest Speaker at the UCLA’s Dream Resource Center Dream Summer Fellows Retreat
2022 Guest Speaker at Define America’s Fellowship Kick off
2022 Guest Speaker at Anchorage Museum & Rasmuson Foundation’s panel Considering Cultural Appropriation
2022 Guest Speaker at Terremoto Magazine’s Issue 22 Launch
2022 Guest Speaker at The Society of California Archivist Conference
2022 Guest Performer at Influx Collective’s Queer Poetry Night
2022 Guest Speaker for Native American Studies Course at UC Berkeley
2021 Breakthrough U.S Artist Spotlight
2021 Host of The Autry’s Museum’s In Community Podcast
2021 Guest Speaker for Cronicas Al Borde Podcast
2021 Guest Speaker at “Gather & Create” for Laundromat Project
2021 Guest presenter for Homoland security come in, gurl conference
2021 Women Who Wow Guest Speaker at Cottey College
2021 Guest Performer for José Villabos’s “Across” show opening at Urban Arts Center, TX /Mariconx
2021 Guest Speaker for Pen America’s Ready, Set, Go: Creating Platform That Works For You and Your Community series
2021 Host of A Tender Poetry Reading virtual series
2021 Audio Archive poem for Humanizando La Deportacion Project
2021 Performer at Launchleft’s Queer Artisan Pop-Up at Pirate Studio hosted by Rain Phoenix
2020 End of Year commissioned Poem for The California Endowment
2020 Guest Speaker for Equis Festival de Cine Feminista de Ecuador
2020 Performer for #NationalPreparednessMonth Disaster Ready Live for Listos California
2019 Guest Speaker for the Yerba Buena Arts Center’s Artist Fellows
2019 Curator of “You See Me?!?” A Pop-Up Art Exhibition at Park Avenue Armory. Featuring Undocu Art Featuring Undocu-Artists Emulsify and Julio Salgado
2019 Guest Speaker for “A Conversation About Collaboration” at The Greene Space’s curated by June Canedo alongside artists Lizania Cruz, and Den Quinsay
2019 Guest Lecturer for Diverse Works in Houston Texas
2019 Guest artist for “Re-Stating the Union” at NY’s International Center of Photography. Performance alongside Dread Scott, Ken Chen, Demian DinéYazhi
2019 Feature Reader at “Colonize This! Book Launch” at Miami University, Ohio
2019 Guest Moderator for Dance NYC Symposium at Hunter College
2019 Guest Performer for “#KeepAleFree NYC Fundraiser” at The People’s Forum
2018 Guest Performer for “Alternative Migrant Futures Through Poetry” at UC Berkeley
2018 Keynote Speaker for Latinx Heritage Month Closing Banquet at Ramapo College
2018 Guest Performer & Panelist for Artist Thanushka Yakupitiyage/Ushka Artist in Residence Launch Event by A/P/ Institute at NYU
2018 Invitee and Presenter for the Whitman Institute’s “Re-imagining Our Future” Convening
2018 Curator, Performer, and host of “Me Quedo: A Reading of #PapiFemme & #NostalgiaAndBorders” at Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics
2018 Guest Speaker and Panelist for "Untold Stories” at the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (Houston, TX) alongside Rick Lowe and Deana Haggag
2018 Guest Speaker for “Creating Art & Media” at San Francisco Museum of African Diaspora. Hosted by Bryant Terry
2018 Guest Performer for La Mama Theater
2018 Guest Poet for “Civil Salon” for Joe Pub’s
2018 Feature Performer for The Highlines’ “CultureShift” Season Opener
2018 Featured Reader for “Radical Visionaries” at NY Live Arts
2018 Featured Panelist for “Crossing Borders” & “Shifting & Showing Culture” at Split This Rock Poetry Festival in Washington D.C
2018 Featured performer and presenter at Harvard University
2018 Host & Curator of Mouth 2 Mouth Open Mic at the Asian American Writer's Workshop
2018 Guest Speaker and Performer at Dickinson College
2017 Guest Lecture "Nostalgia & Borders" A Conversation" at Sonoma State University
2017 Guest artist for South & Central America Project @ San Cristobal de Las Casa, Mexico with Hemispheric Institute
2017 Participant of annual Creative Change @ Sundance
2017 Host & Curator of Mouth 2 Mouth Open Mic at the Asian American Writer's Workshop
2017 Featured Artist at Lehmann Maupin Gallery for Teresita Fernandez's "Fire(America)" exhibition event in NYC
2017 Guest Speaker at Sarah Lawrence College
2017 Guest Teacher at the EmergeNYC Program
2017 Curator & Moderator of "Re-Imagining Existence: Migrant Artists in Conversation" Panel at the Hemispheric Institute
2017 Guest Speaker at Jr. High School 22 Jordan L.Mott in the BX
2017 Curator & Performer of "Artists Dismantling: A Night of Resistance" event at the Asian American Writers Workshop
2017 Featured Poet for "Unearthing Another World" at Florentine Music School
2016 Guest Performer for "Uplifting Our Rights-International Human Rights Day" at Perl's Poetry Shop
2016 Guest Performer at Latina/o Theatre Commons (LTC) New York City Convening
2016 Featured Performer of Undocumented Immigrant Alliance Event at Mount Holyoke College's
2016 Keynote Speaker at Contra-Cuentos:Nuestra Historia Annual Latinx Heritage Event at NYU
2016 Keynote Speaker at the 13th Annual Gay Straight Alliance Forum
2016 Latinx & Queer Heritage Month Featured Performer at Williams College
2016 Latinx Heritage Month Featured Performer at Colgate University
2016 Co-Host of Mouth to Mouth Open Mic at the Asian American Writers Workshop
2016 Guest Performer at #Access4All NYC Planned Parenthood Open Mic Event
2016 Queer Legacy Keynote speaker at Brown University's LGBTQ Center
2016 Featured Artists & Facilitator at NYC Governor's Island Writing On It All Project
2016 Guest Workshop at University of California Riverside for PODER's Immigrant Awareness Week
2015 Host of Mouth to Mouth Open Mic at the Asian American Writers Workshop
2015 Speaker at Decolonizing Borders at Chicano Studies & Cultural Center California State University
2015 Keynote speaker at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-Forward Grantee Convening
2015 Public Lecture at the Museum of the City of New York
2014 Speaker at the Sadie Nash Summer Institute
2014 Keynote speaker at the Sisters In Strength Banquet at Barnard College
2014 Featured performer at Eugenics & Migration: Asian Pacific Institute NYU
2014 Host and performer at “Home in Time of Displacement” Book Reading at Galeria de la Raza
2014 Poetry on display at Second Helping Visual Art Exhibit in San Francisco's SOMARTS's Gallery
2014 Who We Be, Jeff Chang's NY Book Launch at Nuyorican Poets Cafe
2014 Featured Speaker at the BLK Projek Conference
2014-2015 Host of Grow Fierce Women Reading Series at Blue Stocking Bookstore
2014 Featured poet at the NY Poetry Festival
2014 Performer at La Mama Gallery’s Grow Fierce Show
2013 Featured Artist for Funder’s Committee for Civic Participation Gala in Washington DC
2013 Art workshop presenter at Page Turner Festival in NY
2013 Opening Speaker at CLPP From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom (Hampshire College)
2012 Performer at the Dreaming Without Borders Nuyorican Poets Cafe
2012 Host & Performer at Youth Council Open Mic event a El Museo Del Barrio
2008-2017 Workshops/panels/keynotes at: Columbia University, Cornell University, Barnard College, NYU, US Social Forum, Race Forward Conference, Hunter College, Queens College, Temple University, Yale University, Harverford College, CUNY Law, Allied Media Conference, Wooden Shoe Books and Records, Berl's Brooklyn Poetry Shop, Allied Media Conference , Creating Change Conference, BlueStockings