Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association (VAALA) was founded in 1991 by a group of Vietnamese American journalists, artists, and friends to fill a void and provide a space for artists to express themselves as a newly resettled immigrant community. VAALA has made a significant impact on the cultural landscape by fostering artistic expression and providing a platform for artists of Vietnamese descent to showcase their talents. Through its various programs, VAALA has not only celebrated the rich cultural heritage of the Vietnamese diaspora but has also contributed to the broader artistic tapestry in the United States. VAALA's programs, including the annual Viet Film Fest, Viet Book Fest, exhibitions, and youth workshops, have had a profound impact on the Vietnamese American community and the broader cultural landscape. Through these initiatives, VAALA continues its mission: “to connect and enrich communities through Vietnamese art and culture” while fostering a sense of community and empowerment among its participants.

Elvia Susana Rubalcava is a chicana, writer, director, producer, award winning playwright and filmmaker whose multidisciplinary artistic skills have shaped her storytelling and contributions through arts leadership throughout Orange County and Los Angeles. Elvia is currently working on pre-development on her webseries Letters to my Dead Lovers, and is in post-production for her new short film Apa’s Girl as well as supporting storytellers through her newly formed production company Poco a Poco. In September 2022 Rubalcava received the City of Angel’s Women Film Festival’s Community Filmmaker Award with a grant from Dream Magic Studios.

Rubalcava is also the executive director of the Fullerton Museum Center, an award winning pop cultural museum in Fullerton, California. Elvia received the The Women’s Club of Fullerton Warrior Award in December 2021 for her work in the arts and her leadership that brought back FMC after being shut down due to the pandemic and defunding from the CIty of Fullerton.

OC Heritage Council is a nonprofit organization that has taken the leadership of carrying on Mrs. Helen M. Shipp’s legacy of the Annual Orange County Black History Parade and Unity Festival with Mrs. Shipp’s youngest, Dwayne (BH) Shipp as the president.

The annual parade and faire are always held the 1st Saturday in February, which has been designated nationally as Black History Month. Both events are currently held in Anaheim, CA and will be celebrating it’s 42nd Year come February 5, 2022, with the parade stepping off at 10am. The theme for this year’s event is “Our Heritage: Reflecting, Advancing, Uniting.” With the Orange County Heritage Council motto: “The Legacy Never Ends...New Vines Grow from Strong Roots” the legacy continues.

David Lopez is a queer Latino writer and award-winning librarian from Santa Ana, CA. He aims to elevate BIPOC and LGBTQ+ narratives through his writing and reporting. His work has appeared in the Orange County Register, OC Weekly, La Bloga, Rio Grande Review, and is a contributing writer for Instinct Magazine. David has been a Libromobile supporter since inception and has curated the Drag Queen Storytime for the Literary Arts Festival each year. As a professional librarian his mission is to bring necessary resources to underserved communities and to build connections and equity for communities of color in historically intimidating institutions. David is part of the executive board of REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking as well as a former councilor for the American Library Association.

Iuri M. Lara is a MeXicana-Indigena poet, a High School English Language Arts teacher, and a mother from Santa Ana, CA. She holds an M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of California in Riverside. Her poetry has appeared in The American Poetry Review, The Academic Journal for MALCS, Mujeres de Maize Zine, Bozalta Literary and Arts Zine, Open Doors Poetry Anthology, Recycled Languages Cartonera Zine, Seeds of Resistance Zine and La Bloga’s Poets Responding to SB1070. Her first poetry chapbook titled “Trece Poemas” was self-published in 2012, “Xicanx Affirmations” is her second poetry chapbook (2018) published by Libromobile. website: www.iurimlara.com

Emmy Pérez, Texas Poet Laureate 2020, was raised in Santa Ana and has lived in the Texas borderlands for the past twenty years. She is the author of With the River on Our Faceand Solstice. A collection of her new and selected works is forthcoming by TCU Press. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Academy of American Poets. Over the years, she has led writing workshops in detention centers and community spaces. In 2017, she co-founded Poets Against Walls collective in the Rio Grande Valley.

She is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where she teaches in the MFA and undergraduate programs. She also serves as Associate Director of the Center for Mexican American Studies.