The Team

Paloma B. Concordia (She/her) is a first generation Filipina and Spanish American, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and gives credit to New York City for developing her business-savvy state of mind. Her education and career began in the fashion and retail industry and transitioned into the music business at the height of the digital media boom.

Inspired by progressive artists in the Bay Area, Paloma began to explore youth empowerment programs and social justice initiatives and found her passion in supporting the progressive arts community through public relations.

Paloma has served as a program coordinator in partnership with Beats Rhymes and Life, and the East Bay Asian Youth Center in Oakland, CA, as well as a Program Director with a non-profit arts organization, the Estria Foundation.

Combining her experience in these fields, she founded the PapaLoDown Agency in 2009, a boutique public relations company specializing in a client base of entrepreneurs and community organizations in the arts, culture, and community spaces.

Paloma is passionate about empowering APIA women through entrepreneurship and public relations and has served on Daly City’s inaugural Small Business Commission, was a founding advisory board member for Pinayista, and is currently an advisory board member for the Asian American Women Artists Association, and the Pinays Rising Scholarship fund. She now lives in Oxnard, CA where she serves on the city’s Cultural Arts Commission. When she's not working with clients, she enjoys running, practicing yoga, and raising a family of four boys with her husband.

Robin Castel Navarro (she/her) was born in San Diego and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a Social Worker serving children, youth and families in San Francisco. She has been organizing with social justice advocates in San Francisco, New York and the Philippines for over 10 years.

Her love for the arts began at a very young age exploring different mediums. She has been using graphic design as a way to express her new modern love. As PapaLoDown Agency’s Graphic/Site Designer for over 8+ years, she enjoys assisting clients reach their goals and being part of their success.

Kristen Soller (she/they) wonders about how we can be better stewards of our personal and collective stories. These thoughts thread their various roles and identities as an artist, writer, and certified hypnosis practitioner of the Philippine diaspora. She currently works with language, sound, and imagination as instruments of care. Her hypnosis practice inside voice offers a means for us to attune to the poetry deep within ourselves.

Kristen has over a decade of experience in mass communications, including copywriting, marketing and public relations. For three years, they hosted and produced Kidnapped for Dinner, a podcast featuring conversations about disorienting and difficult moments in the creative process. Mana Contemporary commissioned Kristen to host a series of live artist talks, broadcasted by Orchid.fm, during Miami Art Week 2019. She also currently makes music under the moniker taupe set xl.

Kristen earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Miami, received her hypnosis training from the Divine Feminine School of Hypnosis, and is certified by The National Guild of Hypnotists.

Karla Reyes (he/she/they) is a community activist and organizer working with Abolition Miami. When they aren't facilitating conversations about alternatives to policing and redistributing resources to the community, you can find them reading a book, drinking lots of wine and eating tasty treats.