Our Mission

Cut Fruit Collective is a SF Bay Area grassroots group creating art for AAPI community care. We create more resilient AAPI communities through art and storytelling.

We are a fiscally sponsored project of Possibility Labs 501c3 and are funded in part by:

Our Vision

We see a colorful future where all AAPI communities thrive and feel seen, heard, and celebrated.

Our Goals

• Support AAPI artists

• Amplify AAPI activists

• Invest in vulnerable AAPI communities

• Build coalitions across AAPI communities and beyond

Our Values

• Community

• Creativity

• Service

• Equity

Our Story

Oakland based artist, Jocelyn Tsaih, first founded Save Our Chinatowns in March 2020 as a response to the devastating impact COVID-19 had on SF and Oakland Chinatown communities. Collaborating with artists, Save Our Chinatowns raised $75k+ for small businesses as well as aid organizations in the Bay Area.

To move past the current climate of fear and hate and into empowerment and love, our team realized this requires us to go beyond a dynamic of “saving” one community to fully joining forces with and uplifting our fellow Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.

So in May 2021, we unveiled our new name, Cut Fruit Collective. The name reflects a quiet gesture of care recognized by Asians across the world as the quintessential love language.

Just as Chinatown continues to serve as both landing and launching pads for many AAPI communities to come into their own, Cut Fruit Collective will remain rooted in serving Oakland Chinatown while we shape our stepping stone to build and strengthen coalitions across communities. Thanks to your support, we continue to exist as a grassroots initiative driven by art, community, and shared love of food.

Get in touch!

Daphne Wu

Daphne is passionate about community building through food, drinks, and storytelling. She focuses on helping small businesses and organizations grow as a freelance web designer.

Favorite Fruit: Mangosteens or cherries 🍒

Maya Kulkarni

Maya (摩耶 / ಮಾಯಾ) is an artist and designer currently living in Berkeley, California. Born in Los Angeles to a multicultural family, much of her work focuses on the complex intersections of identity. She enjoys using art and design to foster connection, curiosity and belonging.

Favorite Fruit: Strawberries 🍓

Sophie dela Cruz

Sophie is a non-binary writer, novelist, and poet. They grew up in Texas and are currently attending the University of California, Berkeley. Inspired by their multicultural background and queer identity, they focus on uplifting marginalized voices in the work. IG: @sophieandtheirstories, Twitter: @pineappellae, TikTok, YouTube

Favorite Fruit: Pineapple 🍍

Paulina Hoong

Paulina is a visual artist and a writer. Born in Minnesota and based in the Bay Area, Paulina uses art to explore Chinese symbolism, the diasporic Asian-American experience, being a restaurant kid, and the natural world. You can find her art and her food diary on Instagram.

Favorite Fruit: Persimmon

Reg Lim

Reg | 새아 (they/them) is a Korean-American creator based in Oakland, California. They are passionate about uplifting underrepresented voices and histories in their work. Find them on Instagram @regsaeha and Twitter @saehawon.

Favorite Fruit: Asian Pears 🍐 and Kiwis 🥝

Ren Markle

Ren (蓮) is a Hawaiian-Taiwanese-Japanese foodie and self-proclaimed tea connoisseur born and raised on O’ahu, Hawai’i. She uses writing and art to explore the complexities and charm of diaspora and mixed identities like her own.

Favorite Fruit: Strawberries 🍓 or yuzu 🍋!!

Jason Yen

Jason is a Chinese-American graphic designer and artist. Originally from Los Angeles, he is currently studying Chemistry and Design at UC Berkeley. Inspired by his childhood, he is passionate about incorporating cultural nostalgia into a multitude of media like 3D art, posters, and stickers. When he’s not working on expressing his creativity, he can be found thrifting, cooking, or watching movies.

Favorite Fruit: Mango 🥭

Jane Trieu

Jane is an illustrator + designer based in San Francisco. Experimenting with analog and digital forms, her visual language incorporates vibrant colors, patterns, and found ephemera to explore the multitudes of an Asian American upbringing.

Favorite fruit: figs

Jocelyn Tsaih

Jocelyn is an Oakland artist by way of Taiwan and Shanghai. She is interested in utilizing art as a tool to amplify voices, raise awareness, and give back to communities. Her work is a reflection on human connection and identity.

Favorite Fruit: Mangoes 🥭

Megumi Tanaka

Megumi is a web designer, tea enthusiast, and Bay Area native. They code handcrafted, sustainable websites using permaculture design principles.

Favorite Fruit: Peaches 🍑

Cynthia Huie

Cynthia is a small business commissioner for the City of San Francisco. Previously she founded Seedstore, a clothing shop in the Inner Richmond neighborhood. She has also served as President of the Clement Street Merchants Association.

Favorite Fruit: Pluots 

Amanda Huynh

Amanda Huynh is a queer, neurodivergent Vietnamese-Filipina 🇻🇳🇵🇭 clinical mental health counseling student and previous intern at Cut Fruit Collective for her master’s program.

Yenny Hoang

Linh-Yen (Yenny) Hoang is a Vetnamese-American designer based in Portland, Oregon. She created Cut Fruit Collective's initial brand design and was the lead designer for our "Have You Eaten Yet?" Zine.