YPIN Lake Union Cruise with Activists and Changemakers

YPIN’s Annual Lake Union Cruise is back, one of our most popular events! The event sells out quickly each year – limited space is available, so please be sure to sign up early!

Are you aware of the issues affecting you and the community around you? From the Arab Spring, to Occupy Wall Street, Fair Trade, Feminism, Black Lives Matter, the Labor Movement, and more, activists are leading protests, rallies, policy change, and exposing injustices in their communities and in the world. This year's annual cruise will gather influential Seattle activist leaders and changemakers who are passionately speaking their mind and raising awareness on issues through social media, rallies, and collaboration with policymakers.Activism can raise awareness and create social change, sparking movements that give a voice to individuals and organizations. Your voice, and the young professional voice matters - let's connect over a shared passion for creating change through social and political engagement!

This event is pre-registration ONLY. The first 10 YPIN members to register will receive a $5 discount. Email ypin@world-affairs.org for the discount code.
Ticket includes appetizers and alcoholic beverages. Please note: This event is 21+ only.
Boarding information: Attendees will meet at the Fisherman’s Terminal, Dock TBD, to board the Christine W boat. Registration will begin at 5:30PM and the boat will depart at 6:00 p.m. sharp!

Meet our Guests of Honor:

Robert Beiser is the Executive Director of Seattle Against Slavery (SAS). After several years at Microsoft, he left the tech world to work in the nonprofit sector as a social justice advocate. His role with SAS began in 2010 as the volunteer Public Awareness Campaigns Manager. Robert holds a Master's Degree in Public Affairs from UW and travels the country speaking on technology and human trafficking.

Philip Deng is the visionary behind MarketShare's innovative approach in utilizing grassroots organizing strategies gleaned from his experience in campaign politics to motivate entire communities to build lasting public institutions for the common good. Throughout his career working on three continents and Oceania in the nonprofit and public sectors, he has demonstrated a particular deftness in crossing cultures to unite diverse communities to solve shared problems and generate value for all. From posts that include remote coral atolls in the Marshall Islands, to major metropolitan centers in China, to local Seattle neighborhoods, Philip's recognition of potential in all people, value in all cultures, and power in food to bring us together, inspired him to found MarketShare.

Jessica Partnow is the Executive Director and Co-founder of The Seattle Globalist. She is an international radio journalist whose work has been broadcast by dozens of public radio stations, networks and programs. She has received two Edward R. Murrow Awards, regionally for her radio series Life on the Duwamish and nationally for Generation Putin, an hour-long public radio special on young people and political change in the former Soviet Union. She won a 2015 Gracie Award for her radio series on humanitarian drug trafficking. Jessica also teaches journalism at the University of Washington.

Lisa Nikolau is a Seattle-based journalist covering health, inequality and human rights in Latin America and worldwide. As a second-generation immigrant from Greece, Lisa’s objective is to encourage awareness of global issues and cultures through her stories.

Veena Prasad is the Founder and Executive Director of Project Feast, an award winning nonprofit social enterprise founded in 2013. Veena’s professional career has zigzagged through the corporate world at Procter & Gamble nd as a solo food entrepreneur before she embarked on her journey as a social entrepreneur with Project Feast. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and a Masters in Business administration from the University of Washington Foster School of Business. A first generation immigrant herself, Veena is originally from Bangalore, India and moved to the United States as a teenager. Through working on many international teams and extensive global travel, Veena realized she had a passion for cross cultural interaction. After launching and running Veena’s Market in 2010, an Indian food products company, she realized the tangible role that food played in personal identities and bringing people together. The idea for Project Feast was born out of the combination of a love for food from around the world, a deep respect for the immigrant experience, the need for maintaining cultural heritage, and the desire to create impactful change.

Born and raised in California and Arizona, Karen Okonkwo is one of 7 from a Nigerian family. Motivated by her hard-working immigrant parents and a realization at a very young age that life is short, Karen has always been inspired to live her life to the fullest and achieve any dreams she sets her eye on. With a professional background in medical sales and business management, Karen has been able to infuse these skills with her cultural heritage in order to provide opportunities for impactful social change within her community. In 2014, she began the Building Bridges Brunch, which connects motivated aspiring influencers to share ideas, and encourage and support each other through their social enterprises. Her latest social entrepreneurship idea is Her Big Day, an organization that strives to assist the cultural bride in adding her native cultural traditions and charm into her wedding.