Diablo • August 2024

House of the Dragon

"Air-oh-ant. Perhaps the first thing to know about Emerald High School in Dublin is how to pronounce its mascot, the aerouant. On the long, winding road to opening the first new comprehensive high school in Alameda County in more than 50 years, it was the aerouant that kept founding principal Francis Rojas up at night."

Diablo • September 2023

Super Power: Physicist Andrea Kritcher

"For 60 years, scientists and engineers have been on a quest to achieve controlled nuclear fusion ignition—a major step on the path to clean, limitless energy. When it finally happened on December 5 last year, most of the team behind the feat were asleep. 'We were so excited, but individually from home,' says Andrea Kritcher, the principal designer of the experiment, who learned of its success at 1 a.m."

Diablo • August 2023

Olympic Dreams

"When she steps onto the floor at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships—hosted this month at San Jose's SAP Center—Tiana Sumanasekera will be cheered on by a proud hometown crowd. The 15-year-old from Pleasanton is on a red-hot rise as a first-year senior elite competitor, winning the all-around title at the Pan American Championships and landing in contention for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris."

Visit Oakland Magazine • January 2023

Big Style: Oakland Icons in Conversation

"Ayesha Curry and Sherri McMullen met in 2011, when Curry popped into McMullen's eponymous fashion boutique in Oakland. Today, Curry owns a store just up the block, Sweet July, and she and her husband (Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry) are often styled by McMullen for photoshoots and events."

Diablo • August 2022

From Spectacle to Sanctuary: 100 Years of the Oakland Zoo

"Growing up in early 1980s San Leandro, my oldest memory of the Oakland Zoo is watching a gibbon swing effortlessly around a cylindrical metal enclosure. It would pause, seemingly observing me, then swing away. I was mesmerized. Not unlike the sway of a gibbon, the history of the East Bay’s beloved institution feels a lot like an arc..."

Diablo • September 2021

Agents of Change: Kim Curtis

"Curiosity first drew Kim Curtis to the homeless. At age 14, she was riding BART into San Francisco when she saw people living on the street. She wanted to know why, so she asked them. Soon, she was making friends and bringing meals. Today, Curtis is the executive director of Goodness Village, a nonprofit in Livermore that provides affordable permanent housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness."

Diablo • May 2021

Game Changer: The Lab's Leading Lady

"When Kim Budhil came to Livermore from Chicago in 1987 as a graduate student studying lasers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, she didn't expect to stick around. But 36 years and many roles later she's still at the lab—and is now its director."

Saint Mary's Magazine • April 2021

Into the Future / An Empathetic Leader

Profiles of retiring Saint Mary's President James Donahue and incoming President Richard Plumb.

Diablo • September 2020

Agents of Change: Emily Pilloton

"When Emily Pilloton says, 'I want to give girls the tools they need to build the world they want to see,' she means it literally. She provides them with power drills and circular saws to make a bookshelf or a chicken coop—or a whole city."

Via • May 2020

Smart Person: Matthew Turner

"Matthew Turner is the quick-witted 37-year-old ranger behind the National Park Service's official social media presence."

Diablo • July 2019

Blade Runner

"It's understandably chilly in the Oakland Ice Center. Alysa Liu is gliding around in a knee-length navy puffer jacket. She marks some jumps and practices a spin, pulling her leg up within inches of her face. A large poster of Liu holding a gold medal looms over the rink, the text congratulating her on her 2018 junior national championship title. But it's out of date: She is now the 2019 senior national champion."

Diablo • June 2019

Odd Jobs: The Ice King

"When a buzzy Bay Area tech company wants to celebrate its IPO launch, party planners bring in Robert Chislett to make the event even cooler. The artist and owner behind Chisel-It Ice creates elaborate frozen sculptures that last for only a few hours, but won't soon be forgotten."

Via • January 2019

Smart Person: Joy Cho

"Joy Cho owns the world's most popular Pinterest account, with 13 million followers. The founder of lifestyle brand Oh Joy, she has designed wallpaper, baby moccasins, and dog collars—plus a Target line of home decor."

Diablo • June 2018

Fathers Know Best

"A year ago, Kevin Madsen noticed that conversations with his friends had completely changed. 'We were talking about allergies and car seats and what pacifiers work best,' he says. 'What was sort of surprising to all of us was that we weren't resentful of it.'"

Diablo • May 2018

Game Changer: Alicia Garza

"On July 13, 2013, upon hearing that George Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of black teen Trayvon Martin, Alicia Garza took to Facebook. Capping a series of posts, she wrote: "Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter." Patrisse Cullors, a friend and activist based in Los Angeles, shared Garza's sentiment, adding a hashtag: #blacklivesmatter. A movement was born."

Diablo • December 2017

Time to Shine

"When figure skater and Fremont native Karen Chen defends her title as U.S. national champion, she'll do so in front of a hometown crowd. At San Jose's SAP Center December 29–January 7, she could also score a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team."

Diablo • October 2017

Fall Arts Preview

"'Yes, I was very nervous about writing a convincing female lead. I'm not, you know, a woman,' offers author Andy Weir, before he's asked, about the protagonist of his novel Artemis, out November 14. Set in the moon's first city, Artemis, the tale is told from the perspective of Jasmine Bashara, known as 'Jazz,' a small-time criminal who gets in way over her head."

Diablo • September 2017

Elements of Good Taste

"Samin Nosrat believes anyone can learn to be a good cook. To start, you need to close the cookbook and turn off the kitchen timer. In her new book, 'Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat,' the 37-year-old Berkeley chef—a Chez Panisse and Eccolo alumna who taught Michael Pollan how to cook—distills her philosophy into four basic elements, and encourages readers to start using and trusting their senses."

Diablo • August 2017

Odd Jobs: Instrument Inventor

"From a Bluetooth-enabled sensor bow for violins to a programmable drum pad, Keith McMillen's innovations have been on the cutting edge of music for nearly four decades—and now he's rocking other industries."

Sacramento • June 2017

A Chat With... Ashlee Gadd

"When Ashlee Gadd launched Coffee + Crumbs in 2013, the collaborative blog about motherhood found quick success, with three posts going viral. Then, the East Sacramento mom scored a book deal with Zondervan, releasing a collection of essays, The Magic of Motherhood, this spring."