AUNTIE KRISTINA'S GUIDE TO ASIAN AMERICAN ACTIVISM

Dr. Theodore Chao co-wrote and co-produced the web series Radical Cram School. He is an associate professor of Mathematics Education at The Ohio State University, specializing in equity-oriented education for early and middle-childhood learners. Theodore is a nationwide leading expert in connecting STEM learning and STEM teacher preparation to issues of equity, power, and social justice. He has written numerous articles aimed at educators and parents on ways to teach mathematics from an equity-oriented lens, and he’s spoken at conferences throughout the world. His research has been funded by Fulbright, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education. Theodore has been featured in multiple education-focused books, textbooks, and podcasts. He is the STEM consultant for the Penguin Random House titles Happy Pi Day to You and I Can Code! Can You?, and a STEM educational consultant for McGraw Hill Education, the Educational Testing Service, and the ACT. Theodore’s recent work on Asian American identity education is featured in the Inspire Podcast’s recent episode “Not Your Model Minority” and the book Teacher Educators as Critical Storytellers. Theodore received his PhD in Mathematics Education from The University of Texas at Austin and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard. Theodore is also a parent of three, including the middle school-aged daughter who inspired Radical Cram School. 

Dr. Theodore Chao

Kristina Wong is a Doris Duke Artist Award winner, Guggenheim Fellow, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Drama. She’s a performance artist, comedian, actor and writer who has been presented internationally across North America, the UK, Hong Kong and Africa. She’s also a local elected official serving in Koreatown, Los Angeles. 

Kristina is a creator of the Radical Cram School web series in which she stars as “Auntie Kristina.”  Her newest solo show, Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, premiered off Broadway at New York Theater Workshop in 2021. It is “New York Times Critics Pick” and has won the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel Awards for “Outstanding Solo Performance.” The show detailed Kristina’s pandemic journey from out-of-work performance artist to overlord of the Auntie Sewing Squad, a national volunteer homemade face mask sewing group she founded. 

Kristina was featured in the New York Times’ Off Color series “highlighting artists of color who use humor to make smart social statements about the sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious ways that race plays out in America today.” She has been a guest on late night shows on NBC, Comedy Central, and FX. Her commentaries have appeared on American Public Media’s Marketplace, PBS, VICE, Jezebel, Huffington Post, and CNN. In addition to Radical Cram School, Kristina’s child-focused projects include  the Gray Gardens for Children theater show and the Houston in Action: Get Out the Vote video series, directed by Jenessa Joffe. She is an author of The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice. 

Kristina Wong

Anna Michelle Wang co-wrote and co-produced the web series Radical Cram School, contributing as music director, lyricist, and puppeteer. She is a multifaceted artist and entrepreneur who narrated the Monster Diary seriesfor Familius Publishing on Audible. She wrote, produced, and performed in the 34-episode puppet home renovation web series The Hanna Rochelle Show, featuring original songs about the home design process. She has performed excerpts of her new musical SANDWICHED at the 2018 & 2019 National Puppetry Conferences and the Tank NYC and is an alumnus of the Jim Henson Company Puppeteer Fellowship. She is also a successful entrepreneur, designer, and manufacturer who founded Kitsch'n Glam, a line of designer aprons and mugs sold at Anthropologie, Paper Source, Macy's, and Newbury Comics. Her products have been featured on The Today Show, in The Wall Street Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, and Real Simple Magazine. She is a mother to three children between the ages of 9 and 13 years old. 