Lilia Gonzáles-Chávez, was appointed Executive Director of the Fresno Arts Council in 2011, and was appointed to the California Arts Council by Governor Gavin Newson in 2020.  She is a performing artist with over twenty years teaching and performing Ballet Folklorico. With a BA from Fresno State University and a Master’s degree from Fresno Pacific University, Lilia has worked in the education, human services and the arts field first as a teacher and advancing through management and leadership positions in public and nonprofit organizations. She is co-founder of Arte Américas, the Latino cultural arts center in Fresno and served as its Director for nearly ten years. 

Brynn Saito is a poet, educator, and organizer based in Fresno, CA. She is the author of two books of poetry from Red Hen Press, Power Made Us Swoon (2016) and The Palace of Contemplating Departure (2013). She recently published Dear—, a chapbook and online letter archive funded with an Artist's Grant from Densho, an organization dedicated to sharing the story of the World War II-era incarceration of Japanese Americans. In 2017, Brynn co-founded Yonsei Memory Project (YMP) with artist and farmer, Nikiko Masumoto; YMP uses the arts and storytelling to engage in memory work and draw connections between the Japanese American incarceration and current struggles for justice. 

Learn more about the Fresno Arts Council at fresnoartscouncil.org and the Yonsei Memory Project at yonseimemoryproject.com.

Chapters is a multi-part series concerning the history and the lessons of civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices carried out against communities or populations—including civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices that are perpetrated on the basis of an individual’s race, national origin, immigration status, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

This project was made possible with support from Chapman University and The California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded grant project of the California State Library.

Guests: Lilia Gonzáles-Chávez and Brynn Saito
Hosts: Jon-Barrett Ingels and Jonelle Strickland
Produced by: Public Podcasting