About Learkana
[Pronouns: she/ her/ hers]

Learkana is an Associate Project Director for CompassPoint. She is a key member of our communications team and our in-house illustrator. Learkana also co-creates fun, accessible, and transformative learning experiences for our public training participants, and stewards our organization's technology projects, initiatives, and processes.

Prior to CompassPoint, Learkana worked as an administrative coordinator, grant writer, and communications lead at MISSSEY, a community-based nonprofit organization in Oakland that provides supportive services to young people impacted by commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. She also previously held internships with VONA, a Bay Area-based summer writing workshop for writers of color, and Aunt Lute, a multicultural women’s publishing press in San Francisco.

Learkana’s passion for and pursuit of social justice is derived from the following: 1) her lived experiences as a woman of color raised by a Cambodian refugee mother in California’s Central Valley, 2) a liberal arts women's college education that prioritized critical thinking and consciousness-raising, and 3) Internet memes. She believes liberation necessitates centering and uplifting the voices of Black and Indigenous folks, and that intersectionality as a critical lens is mandatory for meaningful success in equity and movement work.

Learkana strongly identifies as a feminist, a Virgo, a Beyhive member, a writer, and an artist. Her written work has been featured in All about Skin: Short Fiction by Women of Color, the Asian American Literary Review, Project Yellow Dress, Stilt House, and Backbone; her vivid illustrations have made an appearance in CompassPoint's learning materials, and also hang on the walls of some very cool people. In her spare time, Learkana thinks about how to leverage her power and privilege to push back against oppression, but also enjoys working on creative writing/art projects, grabbing boba with friends, singing karaoke, utilizing social media as a learning tool, and laughing as much as possible.

Read Learkana

Blogs

• "Witnessing Each Other: Reflections on Our Asian Affinity Space”
   
• "Grappling with Feedback: Lessons in Trying, Failing, and Trying Again"