Ann Muno | she/her

We, a group of women and girls in Seattle, launched the Five Girl Powers Project in 2016. But my personal story begins twenty years ago. In 1995, I bought a low-fare airline ticket and boarded a plane for Beijing, China to attend the United Nations Women’s Conference, and have had the privilege of doing girl’s empowerment work ever since.  My social work experience spans the past twenty years, including work with schools and community organizations, and is rooted in a deep commitment to the next generation of girls. Through my much-cherished involvement in Powerful Voices, a non-profit I co-founded, I have seen girls take hold of their potential and staff and volunteers create educationally exciting spaces for girls. Taking these discoveries and putting pen to paper, I published articles that capture what works to empower girls in academic, peer-reviewed journals including Social Work in EducationCrime & Delinquency and After School Matters.  Now I believe it it is time to put "what works" into the hands of the broader community.  I am currently working on a book "The Five Powers of Extraordinary Girls" to spark conversations  about girls and power and I direct a statewide non-profit called The Justice for Girls Coalition of Washington State.  I am the proud mother of five kids -- four girls and a boy.

 
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Rita Alcantara | she/her

I was born and raised in Seattle. My fervor for my community and early social justice training came from my immigrant mother who, for sure, was a "nasty woman" and ran a daycare (read: social services center) for over 30 years in our family’s Beacon Hill home. I have worked in program leadership and fundraising for various non-profit organizations serving young people where I deepened my analysis through the teachings of many capable colleagues, including young people. After becoming a mother in 2013, I became a doula and birth educator as another avenue in my work to help people find their power in the transformative time around birth.

I am currently employed full-time by my two young, leady (my spin on "bossy") daughters and I thankfully have a part-time, money-paying, outside-of-the-home position at a vital organization called Open Arms Perinatal Services which provides free doula and early parenting supoort to expecting families.

My life is blessed by my many non-biological sisterx in the struggle who refuel my fire with wisdom, creativity, love and support.

 
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Devon de Leña | she/her

With lifelong roots in the Pacific Northwest come from a matriarchal lineage and am the fourth of five daughters. I find my home in youth-development, activism and organizing among the vibrant Seattle social justice community in Seattle.  I am committed to fierce communities fighting for racial, gender and youth justice. I value the importance of intersectionality and honoring complexity within our stories and movements. As a community facilitator and filmmaker - my vision is to weave stories of identity, resilience and imagination together so that we can cultivate authentic narratives of people living at the intersections and fringes of mainstream culture. I have been privileged to work alongside phenomenal young people at Arts Corps: Youth Speaks Seattle, Powerful Voices, and internationally for Village Volunteers: Youth Outreach Mentors Program. 

C. Chimaera Bailey | they/them/theirs

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C. Chimaera Bailey is a Northwest-based artist, producer, trainer and consultant serving communities most impacted by systemic oppression and generational trauma. As a youth organizer, they began training with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond through what is now known as the Tyree Scott Freedom School and has since continued developing their anti-oppression framework into an intersectional transformative justice model for youth and family advocates in grassroots organizing, social services, mental health, after school enrichment, education, violence prevention and the arts. They began focusing on reducing rates of depression and suicide among youth and young adults ages 10-24 as a trainer with Youth Suicide Prevention Program in 2014 and City of Seattle Human Services Department from 2015 to 2017. Currently, they contract with School's Out Washington as a Youth Program Quality Initiative (YPQI) Methods trainer and the 253 Making Connections Initiative as a lead organizer focusing on culturally responsive trauma informed healing justice models that affirm the identities and experiences of Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults of color in Tacoma/Pierce County.