PROGRAMMING TEAM
Carla Macal
Executive Director
Carla Macal (she/her/ella) was born in Guatemala and raised in East Los Angeles. Since 2010, Carla has participated in various collectives, from Community Education and Social Action (CESA) to co-creating community spaces in South Central L.A. and El Monte, with the vision of promoting wellness and safe spaces in her community. Carla serves as the E.D. of CASA, working collectively to co-create an arts and educational space at Memories of El Monte/People’s Cafe for diasporic and multi-generational communities.
Sabrina Chu
Education Coordinator
Sabrina (she/they) was born in Monterey Park and grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. They come from a Taiwanese family that immigrated to Los Angeles from Bogota, Colombia. Sabrina has volunteered for several grassroots organizations in the SGV and LA around tenant organizing and mutual aid. Sabrina coordinates political education programming for C.A.S.A. and reading circles to build self-understanding, self-reflection, and nurture collaborative spaces for learning.
Zacarías Bernal
Project Coordinator
Zacarías is a culture worker and organizer grounded in anti-capitalist and decolonial approaches. He uplifts ancestral knowledge and Indigenous teachings to transform ourselves, our communities, and society. Zacarías is dedicated to strengthening cultural memory through study, creative expression, and action, primarily through the tools of circle, story, and song. His ancestors came from the Chihuahuan Desert of Northern México.
Cassandra Flores
Communications Coordinator & Data Analyst
Cassandra Flores (she/them/ella) is a bilingual poet, dancer, community organizer, and the daughter of immigrants. Her parents are from Nayarit, her ancestors are Cora, and she was raised in South El Monte. She creates art to confront the complexities of gender, culture, healing, and religion, looking for a spiritual refuge amidst the constant threat of displacement in the San Gabriel Valley. Cassandra serves as the communications liaison between C.A.S.A and People’s Cafe, ensuring our teams are aligned to actualize our shared mission of holistic wellness. She also manages data for the Center for the Arts and Social Action to promote a culture of self-reflection, accountability, and self-sustainability.
Kiara Aileen Machado
Art Exhibits Coordinator
Kiara Aileen Machado is a contemporary artist born and based in Southern California. She depicts and explores the construction of identity, familial lineage, intergenerational trauma, and culture in her work. Machado has worked on murals in border towns, calling attention to the violence these borders bring to communities, migration, and the environment. The murals have been between San Diego and Tijuana, Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico; she also co-facilitated a community-based mural in Siguatepeque and Punta Gorda, Honduras. Her largest mural was completed in El Monte through the summer of solidarity residency with LAvsHate and MuralColors. Her artwork has been seen in museums and galleries across the United States and has begun to show internationally, including Florence, Frankfurt, Berlin, Paris, San Salvador, Antigua, Havana, and London. Her work has been acquired by the Hood Museum and the Ulrich Museum. Machado will serve as the communications coordinator and visual arts exhibition and workshops at the Center for the Arts and Social Action.
