Nuestros Team

Spanish coming soon!

Rene Yung, Lead Artist and Program Director

Rene Yung is an internationally exhibiting artist, thinker, designer and writer. Her cross-disciplinary works articulate the hidden and the overlooked by connecting community, history, and place, to address social and cultural issues in relation to the built environment. Her large-scale public projects engage community on multiple levels to catalyze social change, while creating highly aesthetic works of art that enrich community experience. A native of Hong Kong, Rene has a deep understanding of cross-cultural dynamics and broad experience in working with diverse global communities. She has exhibited at venues including TransCulture, part of the 46th Venice Biennale; Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, Texas; and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco. She has completed extensive public projects for organizations including the Seattle Office of Art and Cultural Affairs, the San Francisco Art Commission, and the Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle. A graduate of Stanford University, Rene is the recipient of grant awards from the Creative Work Fund, the Center for Cultural Innovation, Open Circle Foundation, and the California Council on the Humanities’ California Story Fund. She is on the faculty of City College of San Francisco.

Susie McKinnon, Outreach and Project Coordinator

Susie Mckinnon is a design/marketing professional and program/outreach manager with over 9 years experience at non-profit, Internet start-up and Fortune 500 organizations. Susie’s years of experience has given her the opportunity to work with digital media education, online media distribution, and the educational publishing industry. Most recently Susie worked at Benetech.org in Palo Alto, CA as a Program Manager building partnerships, conducting nationwide marketing campaigns and training programs for educational, non-profit and government institutions nationwide. Susie holds a BFA in digital media from San Jose State University, and graduated with honors. She is also a graphic designer and visual artist.

Phillip Maisel, Program Associate

Phillip Maisel is a Bay Area-based photographer and technical consultant by way of Chicago and Montreal.  Phillip’s background as a Project Manager at an environmental consulting firm has taught him how to successfully and effectively multi-task and problem solve, which has proven to be useful as a Program Associate for Our Oakland.  He was the Fall 2008 recipient of theYefim Cherkis Scholarship for his work in photography.  Phillip graduated with Distinction from Montreal’s McGill University with a BS in Psychology. 

Amanda Bornstein, Program Associate

Amanda Bornstein has extensive experience in community outreach, arts education and program management. She has worked at Arts in Progress in Boston, Southern Exposure in San Francisco's Mission District, the Richmond Art Center, and the City of Berkeley in support of original and innovative projects. Amanda recently received her Master’s in Urban Planning from the University of California Los Angeles.  She also holds a B.A. in American Studies from Tufts University and a B.F.A. in Visual Art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.  She is an Oakland native and is excited to help the East Oakland community share its stories!

Ari Salomon, Web Designer

Mary Fuller, Project Advisor

Mary Fuller is a Bay Area non-profit consultant who helps grassroots organizations raise money and awareness for their work, while making their work more efficient and strategic. She’s worked in various capacities at such superstar organizations as Creative Time in New York, Boston Cyberarts, the San Francisco International Arts Festival and Independent Arts & Media here in the Bay Area. Her fundraising philosophy hinges on the notion that donations are a radical act of civic engagement, free speech, and community building and that it should be educational, energizing, rewarding, and FUN! Mary got her Masters in Arts Administration from Boston University, and her BA in history and art history from Southwestern University. She also a visual artist.