I treasured the one semester I had with my co-facilitator as a Penn State student and the notable evolution we and our group co-created together across historically tenuous racial and gender lines. In our time together, our group participants went from awkward, distant strangers to ones who actively sought out goodbye hugs from us (my co-facilitator and I) on our last day of dialogues. Our group became living proof of the power of facilitated dialogue…and I wanted more of that. I wanted to catalyze more cross-cultural connections with the dream of catalyzing social healing across cultural divides.

Fast forward passed time in Japan—plus years engaging in various iterations of social justice, creative community building and entrepreneurship—and I joined World in Conversation to get “more of that” cross-cultural connection building and living proof of the power of facilitated dialogue. Since working with the center, I have worked across many teams as a facilitator, dialogue assistant, observer, mentor, and now most recently, as a member of the SOC 119 Stream Team that supports the production of the class livestream. 

Outside of World in Conversation, my interests span from comedy to language-learning, wellness and engaging with music from around the world.

Email: ja@worldinconversation.org