Founder. David is a proud Malaysian currently based in London. Initially unimpressed by his 23andme results stating 100% Chinese origin, he decided to take matters to his own hands and look further into the richness of his lineage beyond scientific reports. Starting #kindredpacket is probably the closest he could get to fulfilling his lifelong ambition of being Santa! His other life missions include seeking out lost songs from his childhood and visiting his birth town Kelantan. Outside of the #kampaign organising, David is a multidisciplinary creative whose work centres around spreading joy and helping others to #keepkam through movement and play at davidkamkiawei.com.

Lauren is a British Born Chinese, born and bred in Essex, with a mum from Malaysia and a dad from Hong Kong. She is an in-house lawyer, yoga teacher, a proud cat mumma who loves movement, travelling, surfing and most of all food. 2020/2021 has been a beautiful reclamation of her Chinese heritage, spending more time with her family than ever, a couple of months in Hong Kong and learning more Chinese dishes to cook and share with her family as a wonderful and unexpected result of the pandemic. Being a part of KindRedPacket has allowed her to connect with fellow East and South East Asians and she hopes to meet everyone in person via our socials soon!

Gloria is a Hong Kong born, British-bred Londoner. She is an events and community engagement organiser who enjoys spending her time buried in a pile of books or eating her way through mountains of good food. She is a proud advocate of mental health and uses her expertise in event management to create, develop and nurture safe spaces for people to talk and share experiences. 2020 was a transformational year for her as her family moved to the UK permanently and she was able to reconnect with them and develop a greater understanding and appreciation for her heritage and culture.

Jasmine is from Leicester in the East Midlands and has Hong Kong Chinese and British heritage. After studying English Literature at University, Jasmine trained as a contemporary dancer and completed an MA in Dance Performance at Trinity Laban in 2019. She cares about anti-racism, education, genealogy and enjoys learning Cantonese as a way to reconnect more with her heritage and her family in Hong Kong and the UK.

Jonathan is a London-based researcher and university lecturer. His family background is Hakka-Chinese-Malaysian-Singaporean-American-Scottish. His work currently explores how arts-based digital research methods can provide different perspectives on social and environmental issues. He likes speculative fiction, soundscapes, capybara-yuzu-bathing, community gardening, zine libraries, moss, new media art, gai mei bao and movie nights. He blogs at jonathangray.org.

Liliana grew up in a small rural island community in Eastern communist and post-communist Romania. She moved to the Netherlands for her studies and was taken in by a community of Filipina women who supported her when EU job market restrictions did not permit her to work. She is now a university lecturer in London and is still learning to navigate the trauma and tensions of inhabiting multiple spaces, from totalitarian communism, to post-communist transition, nationalist resurgence and neoliberal austerity. In her free time she enjoys reading intersectional feminist science and speculative fiction, foraging, growing food, hiking, doing yoga, meditation and martial arts. More about her can be found at lilianabounegru.org.

Sarah grew up in Stoke-on-Trent to a Chinese-Malaysian dad and a British mum. She is a programme and events coordinator for a health charity, working on collaborative initiatives and funding programmes. In her spare time she enjoys cooking, collecting condiments, cats, live music, and occasional running to explore the Surrey countryside. Getting involved with kindredpacket has helped Sarah to connect with others in ESEA community and explore her mixed heritage.

Laura is a California-bred, London-based yoga teacher and writer. She grew up living in different countries and continents and grew an affinity for meeting people and hearing their stories. As an adult, she helped tell people's stories as a journalist, public relations specialist, and community manager. Laura now helps others explore and embody their own stories through yoga and meditation classes grounded in self-exploration, inclusivity, and collective care. She is also in the process of decolonizing her practice through karma yoga, education, and reparations. She writes about her learnings on this as well as modern spirituality, healing, and mindfulness at yogaetc.substack.com.

Tien is a British Born Vietnamese, born in London and raised in Milton Keynes. She is a civil servant who enjoys spending time with family and friends, venturing to Asian bakeries for egg tarts and binge-watching K dramas! Since visiting Vietnam in 2019, she has been reconnecting with her family, culture and heritage by learning Vietnamese. For Tien, kindredpacket offers the space to exercise creativity without limits, engage with the ESEA community and support others. She is looking forward to reading your stories, connecting with you and meeting you at our future events!