ABOUT US

The Safe Zone is the non-profit grassroots organization that created GiRL FeST Hawaii and GiRL FeST Bay Area, the organization’s main programs. The aim of Safe Zone's projects and programs is to create dialog and progressive action through the use of educational and artistic media for the advancement and development of institutional and individual policies and practices that promote economic, social, racial, and gender equality. Aside from the GiRL FeST programs in Honolulu and San Francisco, the Safe Zone engages year-round in Outreach Workshop development dealing with Primary Sex-Assault prevention and in public awareness and advocacy with regard to State and Federal Anti Sex-Trafficking legislation. The Safe Zone is a member of the Attorney General's Hawaii Anti Trafficking Task Force and a registered social service with the Hawaii State Department of Health.

FOUNDING MEMBERS

Award winning producer/director Kathryn Xian studied film at New York University and Bard College. She was one of the original drafters and organizers of the Multi-Ethnic Studies Program (MES) implemented in 1993 at Bard College. Intent upon encouraging the growth of independent filmmaking in her home state of Hawaii, she co-founded Zang Pictures, Inc.; the only local filmmaking collective which offers education in both digital video and 16mm film production to university interns and the public. ...read more...

THADDEUS OLIVER,
SAFE ZONE FOUNDATION CO-FOUNDER

Originally from Washington D.C., Oliver holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Hawaii, B.A. in International Studies from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University with a concentration in International Business. He is also a 1999 Award Recipient for the Pacific Asian Scholarship for research concerning the Pacific and Southeast Asia and is also one of the co-founders of The Safe Zone Foundation and Zang Pictures, Inc..

KATHLEEN HOGANSON,
SAFE ZONE FOUNDATION CO-FOUNDER

Kathleen Hoganson has been a computer programmer for over five years. Initially a 3-D CGI graphic animator working with top of the line software and hardware from Square USA, Hoganson has since delved into mulitimedia, bringing her technical expertise in programming and design to practical use. Her company Scientech assists companies with multimedia, system support, graphics, and construction of advanced system design.

GIRL FEST VOLUNTEER STAFF

Kathryn Xian
Non-Executive Director

Jessmaya Morales
Co-Director, Girl Fest Bay Area

Selah Geissler & Wow Krittiya Pongpanich
Spoken Word & Music Chairs

Nikki Stevens
Technical Media Coordinator & Assistant Director Girl Fest Bay Area

Christy Werner
Men’s Program Coordinators

Aldra Robinson
Fund Development

ASSISTANT COORDINATORS & VOLUNTEERS

Andrew Williams
Katherine Burke
Katie Whitman
Wow Pongpanich
Nohea March
Laura Messingale
Heather Craig
Jess Morales
Katherine Shulock
Rebecca Meredith
Nikki Williams
Alice Hunting
Tamara Teffetelle

Maria Blanco
Joe Bloom
Puanani Burgess
Derek Ellerman, Polaris Project
Kathy Ferguson, Ph.D
Susan Hippensteele, Esq., Ph.D.
Jackson Katz, MVP Strategies
Meleanna Meyer
Jessica Neuwirth, Equality Now
Sonia Sanchez

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MARGARET FILBEY
Former lawyer for the Environmental Legal Institute, Filbey has worked as an intern for Al Gore, and the Ashford and Wriston Law Firm in Honolulu. She recently returned from a tour in the Peace Corp in Ecuador.

MICHAEL J. BOLLOW
Graduate of the Mid-Pacific Institute for the Performing Arts, Bollow is a producer for E! Entertainment Television. He is committed to promoting Hawaii's fledgling film and video industry in order to boost the economy.

HARRY RAMOS
Mr. Ramos currently resides in New York City and teaches preschool. He is an event coordinator for poetry slams and literary events. Former protegee of novelist Lois-Ann Yamanaka, Ramos is committed to promoting local voices from the Pacific, a trait he admittedly inherited from his mentor and his Filipino roots. He has performed in several venues in the east coast including the Bowery Poetry Club, the Asian American Writers Workshop and Amherst College. Harry currently resides in New York City and has roots in Honolulu, Hawaii where he was known in the early 90s as DJ Skarry on alternative radio station KTUH-- spinning old school ska. He also introduced independent poetry slams to Honolulu paving the way for the burgeoning Honolulu spoken word community which has just recently blossomed in the Pacific.

JAYMEE CARVAJAL
Ms. Carvajal has trained numerous students and interns in video technology and continues to do so at 'Olelo, Hawaii's progressive public access channel. A native of Guam, she has worked in several capacities as a producer, director and technician onseveral independent films. She is the award-winning co-producer of "constructions" and Ke Kulana He Mahu: Remembering a Sense of Place.

MEREDITH ING
Ms. Ing is a teacher at Central Middle School in Honolulu. She has formerly worked for the D.C. based Human Rights Campaign on the Protect Our Constitution Campaign in Honolulu in 1998 to give equal rights to gays and lesbians with regard to marriage. She has also worked for CARAL in San Francisco lobbying the California Government to ensure that legislation continue to protect women's right to choose.

WESTON WILLARD
Mr. Willard is a teacher at Hakipu'u School. He has an M.Ed. from Harvard University and is committed to improving the lives of children in Hawaii. He has been teaching for Hawaiian public charter schools for over four years and remains a steadfast reformist of the current education system which leaves too many children without adequate skills for learning.

HINALEIMOANA WONG
Ms. Wong is a Hawaiian language and culture instructor at Halau Lokahi Hawaiian Public Charter School. She also teaches Hula to highschool students. She is a community leader and activist in indigenous Hawaiian rights maintains a firm belief in the preservation of indigenous culture. Her work has helped form bridges of understanding between communities in Hawaii and communities on the continental U.S. with regard to Hawaiian rights.

JENNIFER JOHNS (Bio TBA)