Member Directory
Ariana Sawyer is a young journalist especially interested in immigration and social justice issues. She is currently the Opinions Editor for the Daily 49er, California State University, Long Beach’s student-run newspaper, as well as a regularly contributing news and opinions writer. She recently won the Phyllis Jackson Memorial Scholarship and looks forward to graduating with honors in 2016.
In the 1980s Seng’s parents fled the Khmer genocide; past land mines, over rivers, across jungles, through death and despair. In 1989, his parents were granted political asylum in the United States. Seng received his bachelor’s degree in Asian American Studies at UCLA in 2008. Seng is currently an organizer in Long Beach fighting for racial, economic and gender justice.
Citlalli Chávez was drawn to journalism, media, and communications during her years of commitment to student and community activism. Citlalli is also a Project Coordinator at The Alliance for California Traditional Arts and primarily focuses on connecting community members and youth to arts and cultural programming. Previously, Chávez worked as a labor organizer and has been active within the immigrant’s rights movement throughout her life. Citlalli received a Political Science degree at CSU Fullerton and later moved to LA to complete an M.A. in Latin American Studies at UCLA.
Paula Abad is a community organizer for Anakbayan Long Beach, a progressive Filipino youth and student organization working to educate, organize, and mobilize the community to address important issues that affect Filipinos in the U.S. and the Philippines. Currently pursuing her BA in Political Science and minor in Global Migration Studies, she is also an aspiring cartoonist and plans to start an online business to promote her art. She loves biking, karaoke, comics, and serving her community.
Christian is an upcoming first year law student dedicated to assisting and empowering individuals who are historically disenfranchised. Currently, he aspires to focus his experience with photography and journalism to bring awareness to issues affecting historically underrepresented groups.
Michelle Zenarosa is a media-maker committed to building alternative and vibrant community media platforms. She has worked as a journalist for over a decade at various media outlets that include local newspapers, news wires and industry trade magazines, as well as non-profits like the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. Growing up in the diverse Southern California area, she is dedicated to grassroots community-based journalism at the local and hyperlocal level, where she believes it has some of the most direct impact. She has been a facilitator for storytelling by youth in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Palestine.
Michelle received her bachelors in Journalism and Peace Studies at Cal State Long Beach and masters in Public Affairs Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her work has also been featured in independent magazines like Left Turn, $pread, Make/Shift and MaximumRocknRoll as well in the PBS docu-series "America By The Numbers."
