Who we are

Outreach and Impact Report Lead

Brooke Lober is a teacher, writer, and scholar of social movements who is currently teaching in the Gender and Women’s Studies department at UC Berkeley, while writing about legacies of Jewish feminist, queer and trans anti-Zionism in the late 20th century US. Brooke is a co-editor of the two-volume work Abolition Feminisms, published by Haymarket in 2022, and co-editor of a special issue of the lesbian journal Sinister Wisdom, on the historical organization Out of Control: Lesbian Committee to Support Women Political Prisoners. Brooke’s writing is also published in the scholarly journals Feminist Formations, Women’s Studies, the Journal of Lesbian Studies, Meridians, and on numerous websites of radical culture. Brooke is a longtime participant in many grassroots social movements; for the past several years, Brooke has organized mutual aid and advocacy projects for Gaza at community and university sites, while building Jewish participation in the Palestine solidarity movement.

Communications Manager and Visual Identity

Gil Monteverde (they/them) is a Designer and researcher exploring decolonial and politically engaged practices that use geological technologies, data, and design to communicate and intervene in social and environmental realities. Their MA project, Vibrational Witnessing: Towards a Counter-Sensing Seismology, repurposes seismic infrastructures to detect and testify to extractive violence. Through design and community initiatives, they investigate how territory, technology, and collective memory intersect in processes of radical social transformation.

Community Outreach

Gustavo Gustrava (they/them), Brazilian queer chameleon living in Lisbon (any pronoun), hybrid professional in the field of communication. He has been working for 12 years in the market, in several fronts: 1) concept & strategy of communication projects & campaigns, 2) creative writing / copywriting & creative direction, 3) consultancy in cultural diversity and social impact projects, 4) branding consultancy, 5) screenwriting and film direction, 6) editorial / PR, 7) educational programs on strategic communication for content creators, and 8) creative direction & production of events. She is also an LGBTQIA+ and human rights activist, a Master in Anthropology with focus on body, queer activism, art & intersectionality, and is always tying knots between all of this. They're the co-founder & CEO of Pajubá, Diversidade em Rede, a consultancy that sees innovation through the lenses of cultural diversity and social impact. Gustrava has led projects, campaigns, classes, workshops, debates and lectures for different brands, companies, institutions, NGOs, and foundations, whether in the arts and culture market, the creative industry, social organizations, the third sector, or basic industry. Finally, they're the co-founder and member of the artivist collective A Revolta da Lâmpada, from São Paulo. Yup: many tabs open! She's layered AF :)

Producer (they/them)

A nonbinary artist based in Lisbon. They manage their time between producing events, directing projects and plotting against the colonial Empire. Throughout the years they have explored film festivals and taken part in organizing them. As a multifaceted octopus, their tentacles are delicate and punchy, musical and crafty. Currently studying to be an art therapist they believe in the healing power of radical self acceptance and exploration through the arts. In their spare time they co create the ceramic project Glitter na Crica, transfeminist, radical and genital sculptures that question and embellish the spaces they are brought into. 

Free Palestine

Outreach and Impact Report

Kai Fujiwara (he/him) is a trans student of sociology and education at UC Berkeley. He is passionate about decolonial, antiracist, and liberating activism and teaching practices. Through working with JAHA, he hopes to build community and amplify the stories of other marginalized people during a time when our identities are increasingly under attack.

Edition 01 Programmer

Kholoud Nasser (they/them) is a Lebanese non-binary theatre artist, licensed psychotherapist, and drama therapist based in Oakland, California. Their work bridges cultural and healing spaces, shaped by more than sixteen years in Lebanon as a multifaceted theatre practitioner—writing, directing, acting, miming, puppeteering, designing, and producing. Their performances have toured widely across international theatre festivals. Kholoud has taught theatre in schools throughout Lebanon as well as at the Lebanese University, and prior to relocating to the United States, they served as a theatre critic for the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar. They have also led and facilitated community healing spaces for child refugees in Lebanon and for queer and Arab communities in the Bay Area. Rooted in an anti-colonial, empathic approach, Kholoud loves cultivating visions, concepts, and transformative creative spaces. They recently launched and produced Healing Home, a video podcast series that invites guests to share intimate stories of home alongside the enduring impacts of colonisation. Kholoud believes that nurturing decolonial public and cultural spaces is essential to collective healing and liberation.

Mama Ganuush (they/them)

JAHA Founder

A Palestinian nonbinary trans producer, dancer, drag artist, organizer, poet, founder of thehalacollectiv.com‍

Trailer Production

Nasri Sayegh Jr. (b. 1978) is a Lebanese-French multidisciplinary artist based in Beirut whose work spans embroidery, performance, acting, writing, and DJing. His practice examines memory, the body, and historiography.

Trained in literature and theater in Beirut and Paris, he has acted in films and performed with artists such as Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Saâdane Afif, and Rabih Mroué.

Sayegh received the Photomed Prize (2017), has held multiple international residencies, and created radiokarantina in 2020, a global sound-and-story project born in during lockdown. In 2025, he was a guest artist in a pioneering Queer Arts course at ALBA University Beirut.

Press Lead

Toshio Meronek (they/them) is a A trans non-binary journalist and award-winning author. Toshio is a nationally recognized journalist whose work has appeared in Al Jazeera, The Nation, them, Truthout, and Vice News. They co-authored Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary, which won the 2024 Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Nonfiction. Their work is currently being translated into Japanese and Portuguese.

As Press & Communications Lead, Toshio develops media strategies to amplify JAHA’s reach, securing national and international press coverage. They also host the podcast Sad Francisco, which critiques neoliberal policies while exploring radical solutions, further aligning JAHA with a broader discourse on trans liberation and social justice.

Community Outreach

Vic Hogg (they/them) A citizen of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi and an Indigenous environmental policy leader

Vic holds a Master in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School and a Bachelor’s from Yale University. They are a Senior FPIC Coordinator at the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), leading Indigenous-led environmental policy initiatives.

At NWF, Vic:

• Partners with Tribes east of the Mississippi

• Leads multiple coalitions to center Indigenous voices in climate justice

Beyond environmental work, Vic is a LGBTQ+ and survivor justice advocate, having co-led the Human Trafficking Leadership Academy, which authored federal recommendations on LGBTQ+ youth trafficking prevention. They also founded a support network for LGBTQ+ Christians, creating safe and affirming spaces. Based in Brooklyn, NY, Vic is deeply involved in queer advocacy, policy change, and community organizing.

Website Content Management and Integration

Zak (he/him) is a queer UX/UI designer who helped shape JAHAFILMFESTIVAL.COM User Flow and Content Management.

Edition01 Programmer

Trans Liberation Film School: Curriculum Organizer

Zara Ahmed (they/them) is a trans and non-binary Pakistani Muslim programmer, storyteller, and creative consultant with leadership experience spanning documentary filmmaking, youth media, public education, nonprofit administration, event production, and small business operations. They are passionate about amplifying ancestral wisdom through storytelling, healing spaces, and performance.