The Good Foot
Arts Collective

The word COLLECTIVE to us represents the diverse set of skills, talent, passion, character and identity that an artist brings to the table. A shared vision of hope, light and love to be lived into, using gifts and abilities for a greater purpose than serving ourselves. “THE GOOD FOOT” is inspired by the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, as many breakers know and dance to his music. To us, the words “The Good Foot” also represents a deeper set of foundational values for us to stand on: Faith, Hope, Truth and Love. To live into these values one must have strong character, desire for positive impact and care for your neighbor and community. This is what it means to get on “The Good Foot”, to get on the right side of life, to think less of ourselves and to serve others with our abilities.

In 2005, a group of young passionate artists got together in the basement of a home in Seattle with a shared desire to impact youth and community. With a collective of artists from various backgrounds, a drive to plant seeds of community change to better the lives of young people from societal violence came to be. It started with a Hip Hop dance outreach in Seattle’s Chinatown where young people gathered to speak truth, light and hope through change and action. With a passionate focus on ending violence before it begins, it has since grown in the last 12 years to provide domestic abuse awareness and youth violence prevention advocacy through Arts Education. We believe the platform of mentorship, Hip Hop expression and culturally relevant youth programs through the arts is essential for young people to express themselves creatively as we provide a safe space to learn, grow and thrive.

Many of us have different learning styles and approaches to engagement. We use the platform of Hip Hop, Art and Culture to engage the youth and community. There are times we can align, communicate and be impacted by movement, visuals and sound. It opens us up to dimensions that learning senses may be limited to as in traditional school or academic settings. Many of us as artists know and believe in the power of expression, transparency and vulnerability. Art, music and dance are bridges to one another and the larger community. It makes life colorful, provides healing and freedom to those that need it. Cultural competency, cultural relevancy and racial equity are also embedded within our approach as it is important to recognize diversity and educate about justice. Our Arts Education consists of three components: Youth Collective, Community Classes and Events.

**May Praseuth**
Co-Founder & Executive Director

May has over 22 years of experience in youth and community advocacy in Seattle. For over 12 years she has been a Domestic Violence advocate and worked in the DV field particularly with youth violence prevention in schools. In the last few years May created CLAY, Creative Leaders Affirming Youth, a Healthy Relationships curriculum that partners with schools in SE Seattle to educate on social, emotional and behavioral engagement on violence prevention, offering creative ways to facilitate activities that will make a lasting impact for change. As an artist, May has been a teaching artist in visual/mixed media and instructed and performed hip hop dance for over 15 years. She has created youth art programs through Seattle Parks and Rec and Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute. She has a passion in empowering emerging indigenous leaders in the community, specifically in strengthening women as role models for youth. May attended the University of Washington studying Interdisciplinary Visual Arts with minors in Architecture and Art History. She is the co-founder of The Good Foot Arts Collective.

**Kristi Woo**
Treasurer

Kristi serves as ARTS’ Youth Funding Project Manager and has a passion for cultural preservation, youth empowerment and community advocacy. Kristi is a former Arts Education Manager of the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute and Education Manager for the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience. Her innovation in bridge-building amongst schools, families and artists along with advocacy in underserved communities around arts education is well respected. She has worked and volunteered with pluralistic communities in Seattle’s Rainier Valley, Chinatown International District and Central Area neighborhoods for more than 20 years.

**Milton Campbell**
Secretary

Milton Campbell is a multi-disciplined artist actively working as an independent graphic designer/photographer and music producer. With roughly 20 years of experience in each medium. Milton mentors others in the field of visual and musical arts and maintains a consistent stream of culture based visual work for the likes of independent musicians and music labels to the large culturally relevant and multi-faceted Red Bull America creating posters and branding for various events of their West Coast Cultural division and the globally influential Adidas America. On a local, regional level, Milton’s worked with the likes of The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute creating posters for various dance classes and plays. School’s Out Washington contributing custom stock photography of youth in their school network for an annual report and for their site usage. He and his collective design team (Brokin nglish Design Co.) created an app for the Port of Seattle. The App is available for free for both iOS and Android. Check it out HERE and give it a try next time you’re at Sea-Tac with time.

**Jackie Jainga Hyllseth**
Board member

Jackie Jainga Hyllseth is the Executive Director of the Associated Recreation Council (ARC). This non-profit works in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation to provide childcare, healthy recreation programs, and activities to the residents of Seattle. In her previous position with School’s Out Washington (SOWA), she led their statewide quality improvement system for the afterschool and youth development field. She also led the development of the Washington State Core Competencies for Child and Youth Development Professionals and the Washington State Quality Standards for Afterschool & Youth development programs. She has been a coach for community-based youth development programs with their quality program development and capacity building efforts. Jackie has been part of many local, state, and national committees and convenings focused on system building, youth program quality, and racial equity. She holds a BA in Foreign Language and Literature and a Secondary Teaching Certificate. She is Filipina and Tsimshian Native and is a traditional Cedar and Ravenstail weaver.

**Louie Praseuth**
Co-Founder & Creative Director

Louie Praseuth is a community and youth leader and has been serving in the field of community development, youth and arts ministry for 21 years. Social, emotional, artistic, and personal identity development are some of his passions. He has experience in quantifying positive youth outcomes as a former staff with School's Out Washington and has strong formal education and after school time partnerships. Prior to professional development, Louie was a full time international performer, choreographer and has competed in high level Breaking competitions worldwide and has worked with artists such as Salt N Pepa, Talib Kweli, and has featured in commercials like Subaru, T-Mobile and Sony. He choreographed a remix video for David Bowie's, Let's Dance which made #1 on the dance charts upon release. Louie co-founded the youth, community and arts organization, The Good Foot Arts Collective in 2005 that exists to provide safe space for youth to develop artistic expression for future leadership. He currently continues this work with a specific focus on addressing youth violence within local school and community settings.

**Laura Rice**
Community Education Director

Laura began working with The Good Foot in 2013 when she invited May and Louie to talk about healthy relationships to her Rainier Beach High School classes and where CLAY was first started and used. She has collaborated with TGFAC as a curriculum writer, classroom facilitator, and volunteer. Laura has also worked for over 12 years in mainly SE Seattle Public Schools as a teacher, summer program manager, substitute, and Family Consumer Science support for substitute teachers. As an artist, Laura was trained in dance at Cornish College of the Arts, danced professionally for Spectrum Dance Theater, and served as Ballet Mistress for 6th Day Dance. She holds a B.A. from SPU in Family and Consumer Sciences and a Secondary Education Teaching Certificate. Laura is an eager learner and desires to support young people, through arts education, to step into their original designs and giftings, strengthening their own families, relationships, and connections to their community. Laura was born and raised in Seattle where she currently resides with her husband and three sons and is currently enjoying Vietnamese classes to learn more of her mother tongue.

**Chris Kaku**
Graphic Designer and Artist Mentor

Chris Kaku is a Seattle SoufEnd native who was raised on Beacon Hill. He has performed, battled, judged, and taught dance throughout the Pacific Northwest for the last 20 years. His love for cartoons, comics and graffiti inspired him to develop his illustration skills from an early age which ultimately led him to pursue a career in graphic design. Chris has collaborated with The Good Foot Arts Collective since 2007 and deeply believes in their ethos of community work in BIPOC communities through art and Hip Hop. Chris is a graduate of Seattle Central Creative Academy and serves as the Graphic Designer and Teaching Artist for The Good Foot.

Eva Chuc
Program and Operations Associate

Eva immigrated from China at the age of 2 and grew up in South Seattle. She graduated from Franklin High School, then went on to the University of Washington and majored in American Ethnic Studies. Eva struggled with mental health issues at a young age and throughout her life, with mentorship and community, she was able to work through her struggles in a healthy way, and find healing. After coincidentally sitting in a CLAY session, she was captivated by the work and knew this was what she needed to advocate for. Eva loves to work closely with us to provide resources for youth and to help build a safe and supportive community. She is the Programs and Operations Associate at The Good Foot working with schools and the Youth Collective scholars. In her free time, Eva is always out looking for the best noodles in the Pacific Northwest!

Esther Townsend
Youth Mentor and Communications

For the past 9 years, Esther’s greatest passion is seen in working with youth in South Seattle. She was connected with The Good Foot through a youth retreat where their team came and spoke to young people through their dance. This inspired Esther to push towards her calling of creating music and telling stories of her struggles growing up in a biracial and immigrant home. She hopes to use her experiences and art through The Good Foot to encourage and support youth in the community, while breaking down generational setbacks. She wants to better educate and support youth and to put an end to the violence that happens around her. Esther graduated from Northwest University in 2021 and is also a registered nurse.

Khansa Ali
Youth Mentor and CLAY Facilitator

Khansa is a Rainier Beach High school alumni and a South Seattle native. It was here in her health class where she first got introduced to The Good Foot. Khansa at the time was a 9th-grade student battling with obstacles surrounding childhood trauma and identity issues. She completed the course first hand and credits the openness and truth behind the classes to her personal growth and reflection of herself. Khansa has previously interned with The Good Foot and assisted with social and emotional curriculum at Franklin High school's summer programming with The Good Foot. Khansa is very passionate about turning past personal trauma into lessons for others, in hopes of making a safe and knowledgeable community.

Jasmine Walters
Youth Mentor and Teaching Artist

Born and raised in the South Seattle community of Rainier Beach, Jasmine grew a deep passion for learning, teaching and writing. Her mother believed that it takes a village to raise a child and brought in village members from all over the community to raise Jasmine and her 4 siblings and overcome life’s many challenges. May and Louie joined her community over 10 years ago, and through their arts ministry Jasmine found her voice in writing, poetry and performing. She continues to write and performs spoken word currently while helping others do the same. She has taught for several years in servant leadership positions at summer learning and enrichment programs in Rainier Beach investing into young people toward purpose, love, community - all of which have been poured into her by every member of the village. This will be her first year working with The Good Foot Arts Collective, and she is looking forward to making a difference in the community through this focus. She holds a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Sociology from Emory University and currently attends the Harvard Graduate School of Education pursuing her Master’s in Education with a focus on Education Policy and Analysis.

Faith Chea
HS + MS CLAY Facilitator

Through the support of her family, professional journey, and community engagement, Faith cultivated her passion for empowering and educating the next generation of young leaders. She graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor's in Education, Communities, and Organizations. She then worked as an Interventionist at Franklin High School for four years which allowed her to solidify her strengths as an enthusiastic encourager, steadfast accountability partner, and determined advocate. Faith first started working with The Good Foot in 2019 through the summer Power Up Program and is thrilled to continue her work with them. She experienced cultural and social disconnection throughout her K-12 education, which inspires her to use her giftings and social positionality to represent the supportive adult that she yearned for as a student. She is also currently in school to receive her School Counseling masters to use that as a platform for positively impacting her local community.

Ayiana Hernandez-Kiehn
ES CLAY Facilitator

Ayiana is a young Mexican-American woman, raised by her mother in South Seattle. A graduate of Franklin High School's Class of 2022, Ayiana has since enrolled at Seattle Central College with aspirations of obtaining a bachelor's degree in Education or Social Studies. In 2018, Ayiana met The Good Foot when they taught CLAY in her Health class. Through their guidance and mentorship, she has actively participated in transformative projects, such as, serving as a youth panelist for the No Excuses Campaign and co-creating the No Excuses Coloring Book for elementary aged youth. Currently, Ayiana works with The Good Foot as an elementary school facilitator, developing the CLAY curriculum for elementary scholars and facilitating lessons through a new pilot program at Graham Hill Elementary School. Ayiana's journey with The Good Foot has kindled a passion for fostering youth in their paths of self-discovery and emotional awareness. Ayiana feels that contributing to the growth of young people is so important to the strengthening of a community and builds the foundation for the future.