Theme: Renewal

Transcending barriers, time, and boundaries. Renewal is about growth, change, re-adapting, or repurposing old solutions to new challenges. The history of the Japantown/Fillmore neighborhood becomes a catalyst for powerful voices and broader discussions of how to preserve the most important essences of the past while evolving into the present and future. In times of scarcity, how can we find moments of abundance? How do we know which pasts are worth preserving, and what to leave behind? Our theme of Renewal invites bold approaches and reflections of what it means to uncover and support hidden vibrancy in moments that are seemingly dull and stagnant, and we move forward to a new day.

Pa'ina Lounge
1865 Post Street
San Francisco, California, 94115
United States

Dianne Fukami

Dianne is a second generation San Franciscan and attended public schools in the City before entering U.C. Berkeley and majoring in journalism. She worked in the newsroom of what was then KPIX-TV (now CBS5) for 15 years before co-founding Bridge Media, Inc., a production, media, and consulting company. Her most recent documentary is called Stories From Tohoku showcasing the resilience and strength of people who survived the devastating earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in eastern Japan in March 2011 and the re-connections to the Japanese American community in the U.S. She has served on a number of non-profits boards including the National Japanese American Historical Society and more recently, President and board member of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California based in San Francisco. She is now in the fundraising and pre-production phase of a documentary profiling former San Jose Mayor and Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta.

Lisa Fetterman

Lisa Q. Fetterman is the founder and CEO of Nomiku, the first home sous vide immersion circulator. She was recently named Forbes 30 Under 30. Lisa’s culinary sensibilities were honed at the best restaurants in the world like Babbo, Jean Georges, and Saison. She has a sophisticated writing and editing background with a BA in Journalism from the prestigious NYU Arthur L. Carter of Journalism. She’s worked for Hearst Corporation in their digital media department and has helped publish multiple New York Times Bestsellers with SMITH Magazine.

Lisa Q. Fetterman

Lisa Q. Fetterman is the founder and CEO of Nomiku. She was recently named Forbes 30 Under 30. Lisa’s culinary sensibilities were honed at the best restaurants in the world like Babbo, Jean Georges, and Saison. She has a sophisticated writing and editing background with a BA in Journalism from the prestigious NYU Arthur L. Carter of Journalism. She’s worked for Hearst Corporation in their digital media department and has helped publish multiple New York Times Bestsellers with SMITH Magazine.

Niles Lichtenstein

What does it mean to "make history a habit," specifically our personal histories? Niles Xi’an Lichtenstein elaborates at TEDxPeacePlaza 2015. Niles Xi’an Lichtenstein is a writer and community focused entrepreneur that grew up in the People’s Republic of Berkeley and enjoys giving back to the area he grew up and creating platforms for storytelling and empowerment through digital content, media and mobile technology. He is the co-founder of The History Project, which started when his father died, and he realized that his father’s story was scattered across a set of clickable files in the cloud. So he was inspired to “reinvent the modern time capsule” to help people reconnect with the moments that matter to them. Niles is also the board chairman (and an alumnus) of Youth Speaks, the largest youth spoken word non-profit, empowering youth to write, perform and amplify their voice on issues important to them.

Richie Nakano

Richie Nakano is a chef and the founder of Hapa Ramen in San Francisco. Growing up in a Japanese-American family who loved sharing big meals triggered his interest in a food career. Richie started his career cooking Asian food, first at Sushi Ran and then Va de Vi and Pres a Vi. Looking to expand his repertoire, he then joined the team at Nopa, where he learned about seasonality, California ingredients, and layering flavors. In 2010, he opened Hapa Ramen, a pop-up food stand at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. By teaming up with some of the best organic farmers and employing modern techniques, he pushed beyond the concept of what traditional ramen can be. He then opened Hapa, his first brick-and-mortar ramen noodle restaurant, in fall 2014, focusing on non-traditional Japanese ramen, and ran it to critical acclaims until late March 2015.

Ryan Howell

Dr. Ryan T. Howell is an Associate Professor of Psychology at San Francisco State University and the co-founder of beyondthepurchase.org an academic website which allows individuals all over the world to take free psychology quizzes to find out how their spending choices affect their happiness. He is the director of The Personality and Well-Being Lab at San Francisco State University which focuses on identifying the factors that may best remedy human problems and cultivate thriving by understanding the barriers to functioning while simultaneously determining the conditions for meeting higher-order psychological needs. Ryan’s research has been covered in media outlets such as TIME magazine, the New York Times, PBS (This Emotional Life), Forbes, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company and he has appeared on National Public Radio, Radio New Zealand, and ABC 7 News.

Sheryl Davis

"Is Segregation Bad?" Sheryl Davis poses this provocative question at TEDxPeacePlaza 2015. Sheryl Evans Davis was born in Denison, Texas, but she grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She began her career as an educator, working in private schools and volunteering in community centers in the Western Addition. Early on in her career, Mrs. Davis became well acquainted with the disparity between the two of resources, experiences, expectations and opportunities.She went on to become the founding director of the Mo’ MAGIC collaborative, which develops and implements solutions facing the Western Addition neighborhood around economic development, social justice, education and community health. Currently, Ms. Davis continues her work with Mo’ MAGIC and coordinates programming for the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center through Collective Impact. Sheryl is also a Commissioner on the San Francisco Human Rights Commission.