Left to right: Rising Peacemaker, Marvin Linares Herrera; Executive Director, Darlene Weide; Leadership Peacemaker, Tracy Zhu for Stop AAPI Hate; and, Visionary Peacemaker, Gaynorann Siataga.

Marvin Linares Herrera The Gail Sadalla Rising Peacemaker Award Marvin just turned 15. He attends Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in the Portola and lives in the Bayview. Originally from Guatemala, Marvin immigrated when he was 6 years old. He has led 20 Restorative Mediations this year alone. Marvin has been involved in Peer Resources since he was a Homeroom Representative in 6th grade. Throughout the pandemic, he helped to spearhead his school’s Change Project over Zoom. He is now a key leader of his schools Peer Mentoring Program, having been one of the founding members who created it, and currently has taken on a mentee to work one-on-one to address their very specific needs. Marvin has worked hard to make his school and his community safer and healthier places!

Gaynorann Siataga The Raymond Shonholtz Visionary Peacemaker Award Gaynorann is a Pacific Islander of mixed descent and a native of San Francisco. She has worked in the community for over 25 years. She has been a leader, volunteer, first responder, advocate, organizer, speaker, representative, and expert in the field of Pacific Islander and BIPOC needs. Gaynorann’s mission is to advocate in spaces that make decisions on issues that impact the community and to mobilize, organize, and empower people facing disparities. Gaynorann started organizing peace marches in 1991 with youth to bring gangs/turf together to bring peace to the streets. She served on the Victim Services Board and Crime Survivor Boards. She is one of the founding members of United Playaz, Aiga1, and other initiatives that are deeply rooted in violence prevention and youth empowerment. Gaynorann has organized 12 agencies that serve the community at no cost. Most recently, she created the first Pacific Islander Resource, The Hut, in the Bayview.

Stop AAPI Hate The Community Boards Leadership Peacemaker Award Established in 2020, Stop AAPI Hate was formed in response to the alarming escalation in xenophobia and bigotry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Its founders are AAPI Equity Alliance (AAPI Equity), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University. The coalition tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Stop AAPI Hate’s mission is to advance equity, justice and power by dismantling systemic racism and building a multiracial movement to end anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate. Stop AAPI Hate’s approach recognizes that in order to effectively address anti-Asian racism, we must work together to end all forms of structural racism leveled at Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color.

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