TEAM

Dr. Yao Xiao (蕭堯, he/they/佢) is a scholar of cultural studies, migration, diaspora, Chinese studies, and critical Asian studies. Their research explores identities, transnational mobility, cultural memories, inter-Asia relations, and Asia/Africa interface, with a focus on social justice education and participatory, community-engaged methodologies. Their collaborative research has appeared in leading international journals, including Cultural Studies, Critical Arts, Postcolonial Directions in Education, and Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education.

Dr. Xiao is an Associate Editor of Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies, a Steering Committee Member of the Centre for Culture, Identity, and Education, and a founding director of Critical Alternatives, a knowledge network committed to unlearning imperialism and platforming pluriversal ways of being.

Dr. Xiao is affiliated with the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice, as well as the Department of Educational Studies, at The University of British Columbia. They teach courses in social justice, critical studies, and diversity education, integrating research insights and lived experiences into their curriculum and pedagogy.

A non-binary Cantonese-Hakka first-generation immigrant settler of colour on Turtle Island, Dr. Xiao has spent over a decade accompanying/walking/working with grassroots seniors and youth in and around Vancouver Chinatown, centring intergenerational memories, non-Anglophone-dominant practices, and forms of care that are non-extractive, non-savior, and grounded in reciprocal learning.

Melody Yun Ya Ma 馬勻雅 (she/her) is a second-generation Hakka Toisan Chinese writer and cultural organizer. She leads the SaveChinatownYVR anti-gentrification advocacy campaign and is a founding member of Kirin Rising 麒麟革命, the only active, youth-led Hakka Kirin Chinese Unicorn dance troupe on the continent. Melody is a fellow of the EU’s Global Cultural Relations Platform and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC). She is a founding board member of The Tyee, and served on the Vancouver Public Library Board of Trustees and the City of Vancouver’s Arts and Culture Advisory Council. She was also the national co-chair of artsScene, a young patrons program with Business for the Arts. Her writing, commentary, and advocacy on issues of cultural equity and racial justice have been featured in The Economist, CBC, Maclean’s, Vancouver Sun, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, South China Morning Post, Georgia Straight, and other outlets.