The REALSOUL Team
Katie Quan
Executive Director & Founder of REALSOUL
Born and raised on Ramaytush Ohlone land (now known as San Francisco), Katie Quan (she/her) is a third generation Chinese American. She is an artist, community advocate, curator, storyteller, and educator. Her comics and illustrations capture the multidimensionality of Asian America, exploring themes like self identity, mental health, and family.
Her work has been exhibited at SF Zinefest, Kearny Street Workshop’s APAture, A PLACE of Her Own, and Chinese Historical Society of America. She is a recent recipient of the Youth Speaks and California Arts Council’s Individual Artist Fellowship as an Emerging Artist. She currently serves on the advisory board to the AAWAA and newsletter editor to the Square and Circle Club. In her free time, you can find her drawing, bouldering, or swatting gnats away from her indoor plants.
Advisory Team
Francis Wong
Francis Wong has a 45+ year history in student and community activism, beginning in the Asian American Movement of the 1970s and 80s. He is known for his contributions to community-based arts that share the stories and perspectives of Asian Americans. Francis Wong was honored as the Distinguished Graduate Student in Asian American Studies at the Graduate Student recognition ceremony in 2016. Francis was honored for his academic excellence and for his artistic and community practice in the Asian American community. As an award-winning saxophonist, composer, and music director, while in graduate school he directed and recorded musical scores for Lenora Lee’s immersive dance theater works “The Detached” and “Rescued: NY Stories” (2014) which dealt with the issue of human trafficking and “Fire of Freedom” (2015) which dealt with issues of war, trauma, and women’s experience. He also released a CD of new work entitled “Needs Are Met” in collaboration with legendary saxophonist Ari Brown and veteran bassist Tatsu Aoki in Chicago.
Allyson Tingtiangco-Cubales
Dr. Tintiangco-Cubales was born and raised on Ohlone land with parents who were immigrants from the Philippines–womb (Batangas) and seed (Tarlac). She is a distinguished professor in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University. Since 2000, she’s been teaching Asian American Studies focusing on Filipina/x/o (American) Studies. She is also an affiliated faculty member in the Educational Leadership. She is currently the director of curriculum for UCLA’s Foundations and Futures: Asian American and Pacific Islander Multimedia Textbook. In 2024, she was honored with the Wang Family Award, one of the most prestigious honors faculty can receive in the California State University (CSU) system for her teaching, service, and scholarship. Also, in 2024, she became an American Educational Research Association Fellow. She has mentored hundreds of critical undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students who are now teaching and working in schools, colleges, and community organizations across the nation. Prior to her position at SFSU, she did her undergraduate work at UC Berkeley in Ethnic Studies and received her Ph.D. from UCLA in Education. In 2001, she founded Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP), a “barangay” that provides Ethnic Studies courses and curriculum, develops radical educators, and creates resources for Filipina/x/o communities and similarly marginalized people. She has worked with many educators, schools, and school districts throughout the nation to co-develop curriculum and frameworks that center pedagogies rooted in Ethnic Studies, social justice, wellness, artivism, praxis, solidarity, and humanization. She is also the co-founder and director of Community Responsive Education (CRE), a national firm that supports the development of responsive, equitable, and justice-driven educators. Dr. Tintiangco-Cubales is also a producer for Larry the Musical and Art of Work Film, both premiering in 2024. She is the author of many books, articles, and essays focused on the applications of critical pedagogy, the Ethnic Studies curriculum, Motherscholarship, and Pinayism. She has also served as an editor for several anthologies and journals such as At 40: Asian American Studies, the Journal of Asian American Studies, Asian American and Pacific Islander Nexus, and co-editor for the Sage Encyclopedia of Filipina/x/o American Studies. Allyson is a loving partner to Val Tintiangco-Cubales, a phenomenal teacher and leader, and the mother of Mahalaya, a prolific dancer and artist.
Youth in Power Alumni Council (Y-PAC)
Abby
Luna
Emma
Curriculum Squad
Lynn Huang
Trained in modern dance, ballet, and Chinese dance, Lynn has performed with Lenora Lee, Cynthia Ling Lee, and Philein Wang, among others in San Francisco, and HT Chen and Dancers, Dance China NY and Ella Ben-Aharon/Sahar Javedani in NYC. She studied at Minzu University Dance Conservatory in Beijing, China on a Fulbright fellowship and graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College of Columbia University. She also teaches GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS®. In her free time, she enjoys making bread – all kinds!
Flora Kim
Flora is a Korean-American choreographer, performer, and dance educator who earned her B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014. Flora is a founding member of GrinNare, a performing arts group of music and dance in Boston and premiered her 3 new solos at the Her Life as a ‘Comfort Woman’ Concert in January 2020 to support ‘com- fort women’ victims and human rights. As a choreographer Flora has presented her works at various venues including Harvard Kennedy School, Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, Onstage Dance Company Choreographer Residency Showcase, First Church in Cambridge, Korean Church of Boston, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Lotte Cinema World Towel in Seoul, Korea. Flora has performed and presented works by prestigious companies and choreographers including Prometheus Dance, Deborah Abel Dance Company, Korhan Basaran, Riley Watts, Hol- lis Bartlett, Nattie Trogdon, Jennifer Lin, Lorraine Chapman The Company, and Urbanity Dance.
Anthony Lee
Anthony Lee (He/hun) is a Queer 1st Gen Hmong American living in the South Sacramento region. He is empowered by his indigenous Hmong ancestors and continues to practice decolonizing the modern world and social systems he participates in. Anthony is currently an Associate Clinical Social Worker (Mental Health Therapist) on his Licensure journey to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He has worked alongside many Sacramento nonprofit organizations and specializes in working with the API and LGBT communities. Anthony looks forward to continuing working with diverse communities and causes for social equity.
Sara Marcopulos-Riberal
Sara was born and raised in San Francisco and has spent all of her career working with youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sara earned a BS in Physics from the University of San Francisco. Shortly after graduating, Sara realized she wanted to pursue a career in education and went on to earn her MA in Elementary Education and her CA Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. She taught sixth-grade Math and Science for a number of years before transitioning to her current position at Breakthrough San Francisco as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Sara recently returned to school and is earning her doctorate in Educational Leadership. Her research includes mixed-race studies, teacher preparation, and teacher identity development. Outside of work and school, Sara has three cats with her husband. They enjoy traveling together and hope to visit all fifty states.