Marilou Mariko Carrera
Marilou Mariko Carrera
Development & Strategic Communications Director
Marilou Mariko Carrera (they/siya*/she) is a queer Filipinx-Japanese cultural worker and emerging artist with foundations in healthcare, organizing, and advocacy. They root largely in the creative practices of writing and movement as pathways and practices for personal and collective power, sharing stories, and healing. Marilou Mariko joined AFIRE in 2023 after a short stint as a member/volunteer. They bring their experiences in community engagement, grantmaking, advocacy, & organizing and a desire for intergenerational community spaces.
Their current preoccupations include writing queer stories, Kali martial arts, Butoh, body sovereignty, anti-imperialism, and reading.
Marilou Mariko leads AFIRE’s work to develop strategies for raising funds that sustainably continue programming and intentionally connect AFIRE’s work to the community.
*Siya does not translate to English use the way “they” and “she” do, but please know it is a gender-neutral pronoun from the Philippines.