Ralph Leaño Atanacio
Co-Director

pronouns: they/them

I am a 1.5 gen queer Filipinx immigrant who grew up in unceded Ohlone land on the borders of Daly City and SF) and am now based in Oakland. I bring in experience working with young people from mentoring in college access programs, leading social justice education at the Spot Youth Center and organizing college students as a political education and leadership development chair with APASD. I deepened my relationship to grassroots organizing in 2017 as a Lavender Phoenix Summer Organizer and shortly after as a core committee member and trainer for their leadership development programs.

I lead with love, actively cultivating relationships with people and land that feels expansive and liberatory. And in leading with love, I also lead with abundance, practicing the belief that we are enough for ourselves, each other, and for our work towards liberation.

My journey in the movement started because so many people believed in my power as a young person, at a time when I didn’t believe in my abilities or understood what I can do as a young person to address oppression in my communities. Organizers created spaces for me when I was struggling to find the language, community, and support to be my whole self. I do this work so young people can have transformative experiences like me, where young people find belonging, joy, and agency to organize and build towards their liberation.

A fun fact: If I fall asleep on public transit I will always wake up before my stop.

Lusi Wang
Lead Youth Organizer

pronouns: they/them

I'm a child born from the concrete jungle of Guangzhou, China and raised at the border of two cities and counties, in Milpitas. I'm both a perpetual learner and an educator, driven by my passion to raise political consciousness through education by our people, for our people.

I lead with curiosity and openness, constantly seeking to understand the "why" and "how" of the world around me. My relationships with others are incredibly important to me, and are containers where I've felt free to explore my authentic self and also have been challenged to step into courage.

My journey with community organizing is one about intergenerational healing, radical self acceptance, and finding love in community. Youth organizing has been a space for me to heal my inner child, the part of me that felt disconnected from myself, my history, and my community. I never saw myself fitting into traditional ideas of "leadership" and what being an "activist leader" looks like, and aim to hold spaces where youth can step into their power and leadership in ways that feel true for them. My vision for SBYC is to be a space where youth can show up in their wholeness and complexity to dream and take collective action for their liberation!

A fun fact: I have a cat named Smudgy that has a patch of brown fur around her butthole that makes it look like she wiped bad. She's the love of my life!!

Amulya Mandava
Co-Director

pronouns: she/her

I’m a 2nd generation Indian American who grew up here in Santa Clara County. I left the area for college at age 18, and have spent the past few decades learning about the ins and outs of social change. As an anthropologist, I researched, wrote, and taught about social movements and approaches to addressing inequality in the US and India. As a labor organizer with the United Auto Workers, I fought for fair union contracts with my own co-workers and with workers across the country. And I’ve advocated for an end to sexual harassment and violence in higher education as a Title IX complainant, harassment case handler, and ultimately as a plaintiff in a landmark civil rights lawsuit.

Through these experiences I’ve come to believe that organizing is a key pathway to transforming our worlds and building truly democratic power for the long haul—and that all of us are capable of contributing to this transformation.

I recently returned home to the South Bay with a deep desire to invest in and learn from my community. I’m proud to serve as a Co-Director of SBYC, where everyday I see youth stepping into their power to imagine and build a just future for our region and beyond. I hope you'll join our group of truly hilarious, talented, curious and caring staff and members!

A fun fact: I love divination tools of all kinds. Ask me to read tarot for you!

Vivian Kuang
Lead Youth Organizer

pronouns: she/her

I am a 2nd generation Chinese American who grew up in Fremont and the Tri-Valley. I graduated from UC Berkeley, where I studied Political Economy and was involved in Asian American student organizing.

My journey in movement work started in the decarceration and abolition space, where I did research and advocacy work at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the Vera Institute of Justice. Later on, I was introduced to organizing through Asian American student spaces at Berkeley. Learning about Asian American movement history in the Bay Area, especially youth movements, inspired me to be part of that history in my own way, whether it was by researching these histories of survival and resistance, or organizing with Asian Pacific American Student Development (APASD).

Organizing, and the experiences and relationships I have gained through it, has deeply shaped me and my worldview. It has helped me understand my personal experiences and the communities I grew up in through an entirely different light. It has helped me step into my power and wholeness in resistance of capitalism and model minority culture, and taught me how to be in meaningful solidarity with others. Each day I organize, I feel a little bit more transformed, and I do this work so that other young people can be transformed in their own way. My hope is that through this space, we can collectively heal, grow, and become co-conspirators in a truly liberated future

A fun fact: I am an art/media/pop culture nerd and love to catalog, analyze, and review the books, music, films, etc. I consume!