Real People Stories

Keith Raskin moved to San Francisco in 1975 at age 20, fell in love with the city’s intensity, and became a true “mobility veteran” who learned it block by block. First as a trumpet player touring the U.S. and Europe, then as a cab driver for nearly four decades. From the driver’s seat he witnessed San Francisco’s defining eras. His personal backbone was forged at 22 when he got sober after a “one...

Peter Son Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American immigrant, life coach, and mechanical engineer whose life began in the shadow of war. After escaping Vietnam at age 10 under gunfire and resettling in the United States with little more than the clothes he carried, Peter learned resilience through displacement, language barriers, and the pressure to adapt fast. Over time, his search for stability and meani...

Michael Hecht is a Los Angeles–raised creative who earned a computer science degree from UCLA and went on to build a career in software including working at Google. Alongside his engineering background, he is a lifelong musician and maker—drawn to composition, sound, art, and learning instruments—and he has devoted significant focus to understanding the human mind through healing, contemplative pr...

Rene Ishimwe is a multidisciplinary creative and entrepreneur. He brings a rare blend of artistic vision to everything he builds; bridging health, culture, and business with clarity and purpose. He is a Co Founder of HarakaMeds and KigaliKaftan among other ventures.