Ripple Effect

We live in times of rapid change, where respecting multiple perspectives can make it challenging to hold our own personal truths. Navigating the torrential flow of information and opinion requires that we rely on each other as guide posts of context and reminders of what we believe to be important.  

The four visionaries we’ve gathered to reflect on the ways we perceive each other could not be more distinctive in their areas of focus. They have given us a varied glimpse of what inspires their work and what personally pushes them to understand their fellow human beings more deeply.  

Theater creators Mei Ann Teo and Nile Harris of Ping Chong and Company (PCC) craft fantastic moments from documented narratives from their home base in downtown Manhattan. Witnessed in their Minnesota environment, chef and community organizer Sean Sherman and the NĀTIFS team fight to ensure that Indigenous food practices and pre-colonial ingredients hold an equitable place in the American experience. Journalist Maria Hinojosa—leading Futuro Media from her home and studio in Harlem—asks us to consider the simple and complicated act of being vulnerable with each other. 

Together, they help show that every drop of curiosity that we add to the pool of what we know has the potential to swell a wave of transformation. Even the smallest ripple can be enough to wash over yet untouched hearts.