Past Forward

Skye Patrick is the Library Director of LA County Library, one of the largest public library systems in the nation, serving one of the most diverse populations. She was previously Broward County Library’s Director and held leadership roles at Queens Public Library in New York and San Francisco Public Library.

Patrick was appointed to the Executive Board of the Urban Libraries Council (ULC), the premier membership association of North America’s leading public library systems, in July 2017. ULC is on the cutting edge of library innovation, and Patrick has joined a dynamic team of leaders and works alongside the board to inspire libraries to evolve and grow.

In January 2019, Patrick was named Librarian of the Year by Library Journal, a national publication. The award honors outstanding achievement and accomplishment reflecting the service goals of librarianship, including free access to information for all, encouragement of reading enhancement and expansion of library services to all residents, and strengthening the role of the library within the community.

As the Library Director, Patrick continues to reinforce the Library’s role in the community as a civic and cultural center, a hub for public information and services, and an institution of literacy, innovation, and lifelong learning.

Chapters is a multi-part series concerning the history and the lessons of civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices carried out against communities or populations—including civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices that are perpetrated on the basis of an individual’s race, national origin, immigration status, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

This project was made possible with support from Chapman University and The California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded grant project of the California State Library.

Guest: Skye Patrick
Hosts: Jon-Barrett Ingels
Produced by: Past Forward

Hoang Nguyen is the Director of External Affairs at AAPI Equity Alliance (AAPI Equity). Prior to joining AAPI Equity, Hoang served as a policy deputy at the Office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, which has governing jurisdiction over more than 2 million residents within 20 cities and 23 unincorporated communities in LA County and 25 neighborhoods in LA City. While there, he oversaw a variety of policy and community issues such as immigration, AAPI affairs, older adults, redistricting, Census, and board operations. He was also the district’s representative and liaison for the areas of Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Historic Filipinotown and Thaitown. Hoang received a BA in Political Science from UCLA.

Chapters is a multi-part series concerning the history and the lessons of civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices carried out against communities or populations—including civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices that are perpetrated on the basis of an individual’s race, national origin, immigration status, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

This project was made possible with support from Chapman University and The California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded grant project of the California State Library.

Guest: Hoang Nguyen
Hosts: Jon-Barrett Ingels
Produced by: Past Forward

Abdi Soltani has served as the executive director of the ACLU of Northern California since 2009. During his tenure, he has pursued long-term priorities to deepen the ACLU’s presence in the California Central Valley and elevate the ACLU’s voice on state policy at the California state capitol.

Abdi has worked directly on a number of ACLU campaigns. Through 2015, he co-chaired the Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy with then Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, where he helped draft the blueprint for safe and equitable legalization of marijuana in California. He has also worked on campaigns for racial justice, criminal justice reform, voting rights, and immigrants’ rights.

Beginning in the mid 1990’s, the central arc of Abdi’s career as a civil rights advocate has been the transformation of California from a state that led attacks on civil rights to a state that is at the forefront of advancing equality. As an Iranian-American, Abdi is a champion of the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, educating the public about its origins in the movement to abolish slavery and its impacts for equality and freedom for all of us.

Chapters is a multi-part series concerning the history and the lessons of civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices carried out against communities or populations—including civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices that are perpetrated on the basis of an individual’s race, national origin, immigration status, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

This project was made possible with support from Chapman University and The California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded grant project of the California State Library.

Guest: Mason Granger
Hosts: Jon-Barrett Ingels
Produced by: Past Forward

Mason Granger is the Deputy Director at Get Lit. Originally from Philadelphia by way of Willingboro, NJ, Mason is a poet with 19+ years of professional experience on stage & in classrooms across 49 states and six countries as part of the performance poetry trio, The Mayhem Poets. In 2014, he created SlamFind, a digital platform to connect fans of poetry videos with the poets & live poetry venues where these videos are born. Connecting the poetry community to itself and the rest of the world continues to be the foundation of his work to this day.

Between 2016-2018, Mason was the official videographer for Poetry Slam Inc., producing several iconic poetry videos that continue to garner millions of views across multiple platforms. In the spirit of his mission of always keeping the ‘live’ in ‘live poetry’, he also hosted the weekly PoetNY open mic at Bowery Poetry Club in NYC from 2017-2019 while also serving as Executive Director of Bowery Arts & Science through 2019.

Now as a Los Angeles resident in his fourth year with Get Lit, Mason continues to pursue creative projects while helping to shape the future of spoken word poetry education in the state of California and beyond.

Chapters is a multi-part series concerning the history and the lessons of civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices carried out against communities or populations—including civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices that are perpetrated on the basis of an individual’s race, national origin, immigration status, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

This project was made possible with support from Chapman University and The California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded grant project of the California State Library.

Guest: Mason Granger
Hosts: Jon-Barrett Ingels
Produced by: Past Forward

Charles (Chuck) Dickerson III is the founder, Executive Director and Conductor of the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles. He is also the founder, Executive Director and Conductor of both the South Side Chicago Youth Orchestra, and the Youth Orchestra of Tsakane, South Africa.  He also serves as Director Special Ensembles at California State University, Dominguez Hills, as Director of Music at Rolling Hills United Methodist Church, and as the Choir Director at Leo Baeck Temple in Bel Air, California.  He serves on the Board of Directors of the League of American Orchestras.  He was recognized in December 2019 as a Professional of the Year by Musical America.

He holds a Master of Music Degree with a focus on conducting from California State University, Los Angeles, and degrees from Howard University (B.S.) and American University (J.D.).  He has studied with esteemed Conductors Gustav Meier, Daniel Lewis, and Kenneth Kiesler. He formerly served as Music Director and Conductor of the Southeast Symphony (2004-2011) and as Director of Music at Holman United Methodist Church.  He has held important public and civic leadership positions in Washington DC and Los Angeles.

Chapters is a multi-part series concerning the history and the lessons of civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices carried out against communities or populations—including civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices that are perpetrated on the basis of an individual’s race, national origin, immigration status, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

This project was made possible with support from Chapman University and The California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded grant project of the California State Library.

Guest: Charles Dickerson III
Hosts: Jon-Barrett Ingels
Produced by: Past Forward

Jacqueline Vogtman won the 2021 Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize for her book Girl Country. Her fiction has appeared in Hunger Mountain, Permafrost, The Literary Review, Smokelong Quarterly, Third Coast, and other journals. A graduate of the MFA program at Bowling Green State University, she is currently Associate Professor of English at Mercer County Community College. She has lived in New Jersey most of her life and resides in a small town surrounded by nature, which she explores with her husband, daughter, and dog. Girl Country is her first book.

Girl Country
Dzanc Books, 2023

A World Without Books was created to help writers connect with readers during the pandemic. This Micro-Podcast provides authors a platform to share stories about writing, discuss current projects, and consider life without books. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you podcast.

Past Forward is a curiosity company dedicated to educational accessibility. Our public podcast service, paired with millions of discounted books curated into topic-themed collections, provides guidance and tools to support lifelong learning.

Stephanie Takaragawa is a cultural anthropologist whose research examines cultural display. Her research broadly focuses on media, art, performance, exhibition, and theme parks and their relationship to racial representation. Much of her work specifically looks at the Japanese-American incarceration during WWII and how that is understood, represented and memorialized in the present. Her teaching areas include cultural anthropology and visual culture, Asian American studies and race and ethnic studies.

Chapters is a multi-part series concerning the history and the lessons of civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices carried out against communities or populations—including civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices that are perpetrated on the basis of an individual’s race, national origin, immigration status, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

This project was made possible with support from Chapman University and The California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded grant project of the California State Library.

Guest: Stephanie Takaragawa
Hosts: Jon-Barrett Ingels
Produced by: Past Forward

Brian Niiya is the content director for Densho, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of Japanese Americans who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II. His professional life has been dedicated to Japanese American public history, having held various positions with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, the Japanese American National Museum, and the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai’i that have involved managing collections, curating exhibitions, developing public programs, and producing videos, books, and websites. He has published many articles on Japanese American history in a variety of academic and mainstream publications and is the editor of the online Densho Encyclopedia.

Chapters is a multi-part series concerning the history and the lessons of civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices carried out against communities or populations—including civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices that are perpetrated on the basis of an individual’s race, national origin, immigration status, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

This project was made possible with support from Chapman University and The California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded grant project of the California State Library.

Guest: Brian Niiya
Hosts: Jon-Barrett Ingels
Produced by: Past Forward

Taryn Palumbo serves as the Executive Director of Orange County Grantmakers, a regional association of philanthropic funders in Orange County. As Executive Director, Taryn provides strategic leadership, oversees and executes programming, communication, member services and community engagement, and supports the operations of the organization. Taryn joined OCG as a part-time Executive Administrator in January 2017 and was promoted to Executive Director in February 2018.

Prior to joining OCG, Taryn held roles in public policy, government affairs, education, small business engagement and community relations. She has also served as a consultant with United Way Orange County, helping to launch UpSkill OC, a middle skills job initiative and with The Olin Group, supporting a variety of nonprofit clients.

Before moving back home to Orange County, Taryn spent four years with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, first as their Manager of Public Policy and later as their Director of Strategic Partnerships. In this role she created, grew and implemented UniteSF, an education/workforce development initiative, and co-chaired San Francisco’s Small Business Week Committee.

Taryn earned her Juris Doctorate from Chapman University School of Law and passed the CA Bar in 2011. She earned her B.A. from Loyola Marymount University. Taryn currently serves on the Executive Board of the OC Forum and is the proud mother of 3.5 year old boy and 1 year old girl.

Adjust Accordingly: Placing Equity into Practice is a series of discussions about personal experiences of inequity and how industries, organizations, and people are working to move equity forward.

Each conversation will highlight the challenges, opportunities, and strategies for confronting these issues in our communities while collectively progressing toward a more equitable future.

Produced with Orange County Grantmakerswith support from Orange County Community Foundation.

Guest: Taryn Palumbo
Hosts: Jon-Barrett Ingels
Produced by: Past Forward

Keith Swayne, along with his wife, Judy, co-founded the Keith and Judy Swayne Family Foundation. Prior to retirement from his business career, he served as CEO of Case Swayne Co. a major developer and processor of specialty sauces and seasonings for the food service and industrial markets and the successor company, International Food Solutions, a subsidiary of BestFoods/Unilever. Since retirement he has remained active in the community, and business, serving on a number of private company boards and non-profit boards, including, most recently, as Chair of the Orange County Community Foundation Board of Governors.

Keith, in 1997, was a regional winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award and was recognized by the California Association of Human Rights Organizations for his work in the Human Rights field. He was named Philanthropist of the Year at National Philanthropy Day in 2019. He has received numerous other awards for his work in the non-profit field.

He has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Oregon and an MBA from UC Berkeley. He served as an officer in the Navy with duty in Vietnam. He was married 50 years to Judith, who passed away in 2014 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. They have two children and one lovely granddaughter.

Anne Swayne-Keir graduated from the University of Oregon in 1997, received her teaching credential from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California in 2002 and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine in 1998.

Anne has served as a trustee on the board of her family foundation, The Keith and Judy Swayne Family Fund, since 2007. Nationally, she has worked with Exponent Philanthropy Next Generation Committee and Resource Generation Family Philanthropy Planning branch for 2 years on the planning committee for the Creating Change for Family Philanthropy Retreat. She is a certified family foundation consultant trained at 21/64.

Anne developed a local chapter of EPIP, (Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy). EPIP Hawaii was a chapter of a national organization that through a social justice lens, developed new leaders to enhance organized philanthropy and its impact on communities. She co-founded, Next Gen Hui. Next Gen Hui was an organization that focused on bringing together young donors and trustees in Hawaii to share ideas and learn and implement progressive and innovative methods of giving that contribute to systemic shifts in local philanthropy. Next Gen Hui organized and collaborated with other funders on several initiatives: Kukulu Switchboard and Funder Hui. Anne currently serves on the board of two funder initiatives: Hoi’wai Fund and  Funder Hui.

When Anne is not focusing on philanthropy, she enjoys volunteering her time to local nonprofits. She has served and is currently serving on the board of KUA, The Hawaii Arts Alliance, Hawaii Public Radio, The Merwin Conservancy, and The Hawaii Contemporary. Anne has presented on panels and workshops for the Hawaii nonprofit community and helped organize educational sessions for the annual HANO nonprofit conference.

Anne also enjoys her time with her 13-year-old daughter Linnaea, hiking in the Northwest and Hawaii, traveling, the arts, visiting the beach and reading.