La Segunda

Paula Dewart is an Award-winning dancer and choreographer, Co-Director of DAYP Co. based in North Oakland. With over 25 years of professional performance experience and 15 years of mentoring, developing, and teaching the arts to youth throughout Oakland and the Bay Area .

Born and Raised in the Bay area, growing up she split her time between Oakland and San Francisco. Paula uses her background in ballet, modern, and hip-hop to create dynamic experiences for her students. Paula has been teaching dance since 2004.

Edreece Arghandiwal is the Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer for The Oakland Roots SC, a soccer club seeking to harness the magic of Oakland and the game of soccer as a force for social good. In this episode, Edreece discusses how his parents left Afghanistan to come to America. Out of college, he landed internships in New York that shaped his perception of the world and built his interest in marketing. Later in life, he found a co-founder group with diverse experiences and perspectives which had the recipe for success for the city of Oakland.

When Edreece discovered his North Star— celebrating the diversity of Oakland and his passion for soccer— he started working on the creative process and investing his most important assets in life: time and energy.

The song in this episode titled "Lofi Chill Funk" is produced by Gushito and the podcast editing for this episode is by @100firesmusic_

Listen to the full episode on our website.

Momo Chang is a Freelance Journalist, Editor, and Co-Director of Oakland Voices based in the San Francisco East Bay. Born in Taiwan, and raised in the United States, her work has a special focus on healthcare, immigration, education, Asian American communities, food, and culture.

Growing up with not enough Asian-American journalists to look up to, she aimed to create a more diverse media by working with the alumni network of Oakland Voices. Momo’s writing journey began with writing short stories and poetry which led her to receive journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for investigative reporting and the Asian American Journalists Association, among others.

Momo's portfolio:  www.momochang.com

The podcast editing for this episode is by @100firesmusic_

Listen to the full episode on our website.

Michelle Miller better known as DJ Shellheart is as an International DJ producing events all over the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. She grew up in Richmond, California and was introduced to music when her father bought her turntables in high school (3:10). During the same time she was working with youth, she taught herself how to DJ and surrounded herself with friends that pushed her to work in the music industry and build out her DJ career (5:34).

In each performance, DJ Shellheart transmits her self-confidence to the audience. "I'm giving the people what they want, and that's me. It's authentic to me. Everything that I've come up with is from me."

Music for this episode is produced by Humans Win and the podcast editing is by 100fires.

Listen to the full episode on our website.

Oscar Quiroz-Medrano is a multifaceted community activist located in San Jose, CA.

He works as Political Education Coordinator for Somos Mayfair addressing systematic inequalities in the community. Oscar uses the voice of the community to create maps of anti-displacement policies caused by gentrification that will work as a role model for future generations.

Oscar also performs as a Venture Capital Scout for Rebel One looking for ways to create a more sustainable future around the world solving water scarcity and renewable energy solutions.

In addition to his work with Rebel One and Somos Mayfair, Oscar is a mentor at the Bronco Venture Accelerator for Santa Clara University. Through this mentorship, startups receive resources that help create incubators empowering them to obtain funding and execute projects.

In our conversation, Oscar reflects on the motivations behind his passion and actions to create a better world.

The song "Lofi in Coffee Shop" for this episode is composed by Simon Sharp and podcast editing is by 100fires.

Listen to the full episode on our website.

Join the conversation with Bomani Mintz Founder & CEO at Crave It based in Los Angeles, California. 
The driving force in Mintz's creative business is to make sure food creators and food lovers have a space where people can easily find and share where to eat based on recommendations.“I want to make sure that food creators and food businesses truly have a home. I want to break down cultural barriers and I think the best way to do that is by breaking it literally with food, dishes, and understanding who we are as a people,” Mintz said. (02:04)
Since college Mintz wanted to build businesses, generate revenue, and make an impact on the community, leading him to take many risks before starting an app for foodie lovers. (11:56)
Mintz's passion started as a side hustle, taking photos and videos for restaurants, and event companies.

Later on, he started looking into how to go to Silicon Valley and landed a job at LinkedIn. Working as Market Enterprise Customer Success Manager at LinkedIn, Mintz got the skills needed to create a successful business focused on tech and food. (6:24)

For Mintz, consistency has become a key factor to make possible innovative disruptive ideas to release the full potential of the business of food and tech and that's what he keeps working towards. (29:15)

The song and the podcast editing for this episode is by 100fires

Listen to the full episode on our website.

Heli Cienfuegos, stage name 100fires, is a Music Producer and DJ located in Houston, Texas.

The Houston native creates hip-hop music heavily influenced by the East and West coasts. After completing his degree and working as a software engineer in San Francisco, 100fuegos decided to move back to Houston and transition into his passion as a music producer, DJ, beatmaker, businessman, and sound designer.

Making a career change is not easy, but for 100fires not following his musician career felt like it would kill his passion.

The song "Still Great" used in this episode is produced by 100fires and the podcast editing is also by 100fires. Listen to the full episode on the website.

Shawndeez (they/them) is a Ph.D. of Gender Studies, an independent scholar, educator, public speaker, and spiritual guide based in Colorado.

We recently hopped on a call and discussed their decision to step away from higher education to focus on helping Queer and Trans communities find spiritual meaning through Islam as a form of resilience and overcoming.

Melecio Estrella (he/him) is a director, dance artist and educator based in Oakland, CA. Committed to advancing equity, access, environmental and social justice, Melecio believes dance and art-making play a vital role in the health of individuals, communities and societies.

Melecio has been dancing with BANDALOOP since 2003. In 2011 he became the company’s Education Director and in 2015, the Associate Artistic Director. His BANDALOOP artistic milestones include making dances on the cliffs of Tienmen Mountain in the Hunan province of China; Art and About in Sydney, Australia; The Africa Cup in Libreville, Gabon; The Barents Spektacle in Kirkenes, Norway; and the JFK Centennial at The Kennedy Center, Washington, DC.

In addition to his work with BANDALOOP, he co-directs the dance theater company Fog Beast and is a longtime member of the Joe Goode Performance Group. His choreographies have been commissioned by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the San Francisco Opera Center, Dancers’ Group, Headlands Center for the Arts and numerous universities around the US. He is a 2018-2019 recipient of the Gerbode Special Award in the Arts, and a 2017/18 Leadership Fellow with the Association for Performing Arts Professionals (APAP).

Eric Merrill is the Music Director, Singer, and Songwriter at The Eric Merrill Project.

In this interview, Eric tells us how music has become a tool to tell beautiful stories and have a closer relationship with God. Eric's foundation for songwriting began with a refreshing and unique style and melodies accompanied by poetic words.

In addition to becoming a fantastic singer and songwriter, Eric went on to obtain a Bachelor’s of Science degree, became a Chemist, successfully matriculated through medical school, became a Medical Officer in the US Navy, a Flight Surgeon in the Air Force, and a Neurosurgery Resident Physician.

The music for this episode is composed by Oleksii Abramovych and editing is provided by Bill Fires.

Listen to the full episode on our website.