There's a moment Willie Seals III describes that cuts right to the core of what The Academy for Creating Excellence (ACE) is about. A young man walks in late, maybe 9:30 or 10:00, when the program started at 9:00. Instead of a reprimand, he's greeted with warmth, “We're glad you're here. Make sure to shake everybody's hand.” That small act, the welcome before the question, is not accidental. It is the entire philosophy of the ACE Academy lived out in a single moment. Seals kn

We've had the great privilege of interviewing several people from the greater Seattle area doing important and interesting social justice work for our newsletter this year. If you've missed any of them, we encourage you to read the interviews on our blog to learn more about their work and how to support them. Dr. Tanmeet Sethi Tanmeet is an integrative medicine doctor and author of the book, Joy is My Justice. She spoke with us about how her son's fatal medical diagnosis led

As a kid, Kade Kricho needed things a certain way. He was a perfectionist, the kind that doesn't just want things to go well but needs them to. At the same time, he describes an ongoing tension between his need for stability and his pull toward growth. He reflects, "I kind of felt like I needed control of my domain in order to embark on something new or to kind of expand my way of thinking. And at the same time, I was just insatiably curious. So, I got these two forces that w

Estela Ortega, Executive Director of El Centro de la Raza , doesn't describe her career in terms of titles or accolades. She describes it in terms of what needed to be done. "No task is beneath you," she says, "whether it's answering the phones, sweeping, mopping floors, cooking." For 53 years, Estela has shown up for El Centro de la Raza and she's still showing up. The organization began not with a board meeting or a grant, but with a peaceful occupation. In 1972, a group of

Artist Jo Cosme grew up being told Puerto Rico was paradise. Her work asks who that story actually belongs to. Yolanda Cosme grew up in Borikén, the indigenous name for the island the Spanish renamed Puerto Rico, absorbing a story about herself that wasn't hers. It was the story colonialism tells: that North Americans are more educated, more intellectual, more worthy. That to be from the Caribbean is to be lesser. "We grew up with this shame of being savages," she says. "Tha

"The practice of joy is reclaiming how to be safe in a moment, even when the world is not safe." Physician, author, and global trauma worker Dr. Tanmeet Sethi has spent decades sitting with suffering—in disaster zones, in exam rooms, and in her own home after her son was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which progressively destroys muscle tissue and is fatal. She talks about receiving that diagnosis, while nine months pregnant with her third child, in her New York

Dr. J.P. Anderson, one of Cultures Connecting’s racial equity specialists, recently joined the University of Washington (UW) as a faculty member in the American Ethnic Studies department where he teaches in the Integrated Social Sciences program (ISS). ISS is designed specifically to accommodate students outside of a traditional campus schedule—and for many, it is their only pathway to a bachelor’s degree. The program serves a wide range of nontraditional students includin

We were fortunate to interview representatives from six different organizations making a positive difference during 2025 and look forward to talking to more members of our community. In the meantime, here is a roundup of all the interviews we did. Make Us Visible: Urgent Action Needed to Include AA&NH/PI History in Schools Make Us Visible (MUV) is nationwide effort to get Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander (AA&NH/PI) history integrated into K-12 curriculum. We

In the heart of Seattle’s Chinatown–International District, A Resting Place offers something rare—a culturally rooted sanctuary for grief. Founded by community organizer and grief worker Derek Dizon, the center serves as a “grief and loss cultural resource center,” a place where people can connect with others, honor their ancestors, and themselves. For Derek, grief is inseparable from identity. “When we experience loss, whether it’s the death of a loved one, the displacement

Photography, illustration, makeup artistry, and multimedia production are just some of the careers Miguel Vigil could list on his resume,...

On the last Sunday of every month, Asian Americans form a long line at a small table in front of Mam’s Books in Seattle’s...

“Restaurants have always had the potential to be very toxic and inequitable, very hierarchical. Kitchen brigade is built off of the...

“Being able to grow a little of your own food is one of the best things you can do for your health… the community that's built around...

Angelie Chong recalls walking across the street in a neighborhood with her children when a woman slowed down her car to shout something...

"Even at the appointment where the doctor was giving a terminal diagnosis to my wife and I, he was looking at this watch. He was trying...

In the second and final interview in our series to honor Native American and Indigenous Heritage Month in November, I sat down with...

In honor of Native American and Indigenous Heritage Month in November, I sat down with Cynthia Masterson, Teaching Artist and owner of...

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Alyson Lamont, a district-level instructional specialist, and Emilie Hard, a retired assistant...

"A lot of companies will bring in diverse individuals, but they are really asking those individuals to fit into the company rather than...

“I just so often wish that I could talk to Grace or my dad. I would ask them, when you were 43 years old, were you as worried about the...