Hi, my name is Kirin. I am a 30something working wife and mother on a quest to make free time magically appear. Two framed pieces of paper on my mom’s wall say I have a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Master’s in Social Work from San Diego State University. In grad school, my emphasis was on social service administration, switching my professional gears from counseling to nonprofit management. I work in fundraising and development, having raised millions of dollars for good causes. To exercise the other side of my brain, I am a photographer and co-founder of BKM Photography, & Design, Inc. I am also an active member of BIBAK San Diego, a cultural arts organization. I credit my friends and family for helping me get to this happy place in life, and thank my husband and son for bringing me immeasurable love and joy. My life is full of strange sounding things like SWOT analyses, LOI’s, bokeh, the salidsid, and Brobee, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
My name is Herna (w/a silent H). Half of my life has been dedicated to telling people how to correctly pronounce my name. Just kidding. That's only a third of my life. I'm a proud mom of a preschooler and proud wife of an amazing guy who loves to tackle the arts and community work with me. We're totally never going to get rich. I've been working with nonprofits for over 12 years wearing many hats - fundraiser, event planner, administrative manager, office manager, project coordinator, HR & finance, community organizer, performer, executive director, board member…you name it…I've probably worked it. I graduated from Morse High School in 1996, left San Diego for the San Francisco Bay Area in 2000, and graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Asian American Studies in 2004. Just recently, I left being an office manager for a start-up in San Francisco called Circle of Moms, and was blessed with landing the Programs Manager position at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. My non-paying job is with a nonprofit I co-founded with amazing artists teaching Philippine cultural arts to youth and collaborating with other organizations, and I'm very slowly yet surely going to graduate with a Masters in Education in this lifetime! In my spare time…haha…actually…I never have spare time…but if I DID…I would play, dance and sing more with my daughter for hours while rocking out to any of the Glee soundtracks, and plan more date nights with the Hubs.
My name is Sharon Mayo. Born and raised in San Diego, California, I am an unmarried woman in a committed relationship and we live with two corgis and two guinea pigs. I started off going to San Diego State University with a Interdisciplinary Double Major as an effort to get into medical school, but decided that was too much work. I dropped it all (I went from being a senior back to a sophomore) and started over at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and received a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Film and Television. I got to use my degree by working at sites such as ESPN, CBS, ABC, NBC, etc. but found I preferred to not work 100 hours a week. Subsequently, I moved from New York City to live in Washington D.C. I work as a Technical Project Manager for Post Production in a media related field. I have a ridiculous amount of Pixar and Nintendo paraphernalia, blu-ray dvds, books, magazines and video games. I am almost undefeated on Tetris. I like road trips. I do NOT like long walks on the beach. In my spare time, I begrudgingly get up early on Saturday mornings to either train for a half marathon (I've finished 2 halves and a 10k) or for a triathlon. I am currently learning sign language and how to swim for my first triathalon. I'm hoping the triathalon body will magically appear in the meantime.
Hi. I'm Jennifer Derilo, the eldest daughter of four and a big sister to three. I recently broke up with the Hodge, otherwise known as Hodgkin's lymphoma. And apparently, I'm more afraid of ghosts and haunted spaces than cancer or chemo. I was born in the Philippines on Clark Air Force Base and immigrated with my parents to Southern California when I was 3. I still live in SoCal. I have a BA in Literatures of the World from UC San Diego and an MFA in English Literature and Creative Writing from Mills College. I've been an educator for over ten years, although right now I'm an unemployed educator. I'm the creative nonfiction editor for Kartika Review, and I'm an advocate for DS Action, a San Diego nonprofit supporting individuals with Down syndrome. I have been known to rock climb indoors for DS awareness. I love to eat. I'm supposed to be a writer. Currently, I'm working on a project about my surviving cancer and my paternal grandfather surviving the Bataan Death March. I have a one-eyed cat named Veda Bean Dunmire. I used to dream often about zombies. And fragment sentences.
My name is Carol and…“In Southeast San Diego, I was born and raised…on the playground is where I spend most of my days.” Hah. True statement. But I am definitely not a Fresh Prince(ss). The last decade of my life has been defined by the military and my family. My husband is one of “the few” Filipino-Americans in the United States Marine Corps. (Yes, I say that proudly.) Together, we have two children who keep us on our toes and on the go. Because of his career, we've moved 5 times in the last 8 years! Our family has had the incredible opportunity to live in places such as Virginia, Japan, Washington, DC, and soon in North Carolina. As for me, I studied Human Development with an emphasis in Education at UC San Diego with the hopes of becoming a School Counselor. That never happened, but while stationed in Japan, I discovered a passion for money management volunteering for a private, nonprofit that serves Sailors, Marines, and their families. It was with this organization I found a niche combining my love for helping people, personal finance, and military culture. I currently serve as their Social Media Administrator. When I’m not working or fulfilling my family duties, I enjoy singing, watching 80's movies, playing video games, and running (thanks to Sharon!). If I were asked to describe myself, I'd probably tell you "I'm nerd-tastic!"
