The heart of our mission is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our communities. In the recent weeks, we’ve had the privilege to connect with some incredible artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rabble rousers and we can’t begin to express how impressed we are with the incredible group below.
Diamond Rashad
What started as a way to tell my story quickly grew into something much bigger. I found that so many people, including students, practitioners, families, and community members, really resonated with the perspectives I was sharing. The platform became a space for connection, education, and advocacy, shining a light on the importance of diversity and inclusion in healthcare. From there, A Dime of OT took off, and it has continued to grow as a trusted space where occupational therapy, culture, and community come together. Read more>>
Samira Shiridevich
When I came to the U.S., I carried with me both my cultural pride and my questions about identity. For the first time, I encountered the confusing reality of not knowing what “race” box I belonged to on legal forms. I wasn’t white, Black, Asian in the American sense, Arab, or Hispanic. I was Persian, Iranian—and yet there wasn’t a space for that. These identity struggles, along with the stereotypes I encountered about my country (like people assuming Iranians still ride camels or that women cannot work or drive), deeply influenced how I began to think about design. I started to see design not just as a profession but as a way of challenging simplified narratives, broadening perspectives, and giving space to voices that don’t easily fit into categories. Read more>>
Wildly Riftian
Even though art wasn’t always viewed as a stable career path back home, I knew early on that creativity was what I wanted to pursue. After high school, I moved to Seoul, South Korea, to study Visual Communication Design. Starting from scratch with a new language made the transition tough, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Beyond design and language skills, living in Seoul taught me independence and resilience. Read more>>
