Shu-Ling Zhao (she/her) is biracial Chinese-American, mother, daughter, sister, wife, performer, director, fabricator, community organizer, arts educator, lover of local wildlife, cooking enthusiast, fundraiser, facilitator, fair-weather runner, black coffee drinker, data junkie, seltzer connoisseur, millennial, and artist residing on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded land of the Lummi People.

In 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, Shu began working with community organizers Kristina Michele Martens, Terrance “TeeJay” Morris, Ebony, and Eve Smason-Marcus to support the Black Lives Matter movement. In August of 2020, she helped organize the protest to declare racism a public health crisis and later worked with both Whatcom County and City of Bellingham to craft the Resolutions Affirming Racism as a Public Health Crisis. Following the murder of six Asian and Islander women in Atlanta last April and with the rise of hate incidences against the AAPI community, Shu organized a solidarity vigil at Maritime Heritage Park. She is currently working with Chuckanut Health Foundation and local partners in government to develop a Whatcom County Racial Equity Commission through a community-owned process.