Emely Rauda is a Community Education Specialist at the UCLA Labor Center, where she leads the Nonviolence Education Project (NVEP), named in honor of Rev. James Lawson Jr. and Dolores Huerta. She previously spent three years as a teaching associate for UCLA’s Labor Studies courses, including ‘Nonviolence & Social Movements’ with Kent Wong and Rev. James Lawson Jr. Activities of the NVEP include promoting nonviolence education, hosting fellowships, conducting research, and supporting student-led movement building. 

Emely holds a Master’s of Public Health in Community Health Sciences from UCLA, and she earned her BA in Chicana/o Studies with double minors in Global Health and Labor & Workplace Studies.

Panelist: “The Transformative Power of Love”

Pamela Tom is a 5th-generation Chinese-American and Emmy award-winning filmmaker dedicated to creating thought-provoking stories that challenge and expand prevailing narratives of marginalized communities. Pam’s films have aired and streamed on PBS, the Criterion Channel, Amazon, and Showtime Networks and have screened in theaters and film festivals worldwide, including Sundance, Telluride, and New Directors/New Films at Lincoln Center.

Her award-winning feature documentary, TYRUS, about Chinese American artist and Disney Legend, Tyrus Wong, premiered on PBS’s American Masters series, and her film, Finding Home: A Foster Youth Story, won a 2019 Los Angeles Emmy and LA Press Club award.

Pam received her MFA from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television and her BA from Brown University. She’s a member of the 1871 Los Angeles Chinese Massacre Memorial Steering Committee.

Panelist: “The Transformative Power of Love”

Producer and Director Karen Hayes holds an M.F.A. in Film and TV Production from UCLA and leads Ubuntu Motion Pictures, a production company dedicated to creating narratives that foster dialogue around equity, justice, and healing.

Her work in the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women culminated in the writing, production, and direction of the short film An Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl, inspired by the autobiography of abolitionist Harriet Jacobs.

Over a span of 15 years, she was afforded unique access to film Desmond Tutu internationally and is currently finalizing the documentary feature The Foolishness of God: A Forgiveness Journey with Desmond Tutu.

Panelist: “The Transformative Power of Love”

Kalyan Balaven serves as the Head of Dunn School, where he is deeply committed to fostering authentic humanity in education. Balaven strives to teach and lead in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

Balaven is the founder of the Inclusion Dashboard Consortium and the Santa Barbara Inclusion Lab, two initiatives dedicated to helping schools measure and strengthen belonging within their communities. Through these efforts, he provides valuable tools that enable educational institutions to create more inclusive environments.

As the host of The Whole Student podcast, Balaven delves into the intersection of data-informed inclusion and genuine human connection in education. His writing and interviews, featured by organizations such as the National Association of Independent Schools and Business Leadership for Independent Schools, explore how schools can use data to support meaningful inclusion while maintaining a focus on each student’s needs and experiences.

Balaven practices Shia Islam as a follower of the legacy of Fatima. He is one of the few English-speaking elegists in the tradition of marsiya*, having composed “The Tragedy of Karbala and Other Poems.” Through his poetry, Balaven weaves the remembrance of Karbala into his work, enriching his approach to teaching, leadership, and inclusion with spiritual depth and cultural understanding.

Speaker: Take Heart Now Series

*Marsiya: The word is derived from the Arabic word marthiyya, meaning “lamentation” or “tragedy”.