PROJECT DIRECTOR

Renee Tajima-Peña is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, whose films include Who Killed Vincent Chin?, My America...or Honk if You Love Buddha, and No Más Bebés. At UCLA, she is a professor of Asian American Studies, director of the Center for EthnoCommunications, and holds the endowed chair in Japanese American Studies.

PROJECT PRODUCER & MANAGER

As a queer Chinese American immigrant, Janet Chen’s work fosters community engagement and supports underrepresented and marginalized communities. She is a filmmaker, organizer and educator. She has worked for UCLA, UCI, Visual Communications, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans and Outfest. Janet is currently the assistant director for the Center for EthnoCommunications in Asian American Studies at UCLA where she co-teaches social documentary courses with professor and filmmaker Renee Tajima-Peña and leads film and multi-media projects, including Building History 3.0 and the Collective Memories Oral Histories project. She is also a core member for A-Doc (Asian American Documentary Network). Janet is currently completing a short documentary about Phoenix Bakery in Chinatown, Los Angeles.

CURRICULUM DESIGNER

Randall Fujimoto is the executive director of GameTrain Learning, an educational nonprofit organization that promotes game-based learning in schools and organizations. He has been creating game-based educational and training programs for over 10 years, prior to which he was an executive producer in the video games industry. He has master’s degrees in education (instructional design) and business (MBA).

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST

As an EdTech specialist, high school science teacher/chair, and STEM program coordinator, Kim is passionate about empowering young people—and finding innovative ways to do that. She earned her B.S. in Neuroscience from UCLA and also holds a M.S. in Education Media Design and Technology. In addition to teaching, Kim also leads tech training workshops for educators and has worked as a consultant for UCLA and Breakout EDU.

WEB DESIGNER

Charity Capili Ellis is a designer and educator in the greater Los Angeles area. She earned her BFA in Fine Art with an emphasis in Graphic Design at California State University, Fullerton and her MFA in Visual Arts at Azusa Pacific University. She enjoys using her design skills for the greater good and working on collaborative projects that empower, educate and cultivate the growth of inclusive communities.

LOGO AND WEB DESIGNER

Bio coming soon

PROJECT COORDINATOR

Melody Chen is a recent graduate of UCLA in Asian American studies. She has developed a strong passion for fostering community development and civic engagement, and has over 4 years of experience producing events, filmmaking, and online content creation of cultural, political, and social relevance. In the past, she has worked with Visual Communications, Asian American Documentary Network (A-DOC) and UCLA Center for EthnoCommunications.

PROJECT ASSISTANT

Lailanie Gadia serves as the Project Assistant on Building History 3.0 Project. Based in Los Angeles, she is currently building her business in the financial education and services field passionate about helping people gain better access to financial literacy. She also works with other filmmakers and entrepreneurs in the Asian American Pacific Islander community to amplify their stories and projects through marketing, finance, and coordination. She was raised on the island of Guam and in 2007, moved to Los Angeles for college. In 2011, she graduated with a degree in Economics with minors in Business and Asian Studies at Loyola Marymount University.

PROJECT ORIGINATOR

Gabriel Tajima-Peña conceived Building History 3.0 and is the project assistant. He is a student at UC Santa Cruz. His interests are film, photography and music.