Dmae Roberts, Executive Producer
is an award-winning independent radio artist and writer who has written and produced more than 400 audio art pieces and documentaries for NPR and PRI programs. Her work is often autobiographical or about cross-cultural peoples and is informed by her biracial identity.  Her Peabody award-winning documentary Mei Mei, a Daughter's Song is a harrowing account of her mother's childhood in Taiwan during WWII.  

Her most recent three-year project has been Crossing East the first Asian American history series on public radio. The eight-hour series ran on more than 210 stations around the country. Roberts has also produced the 13-part Legacies: Tales From America and the 3-part Legacies, Faith Hope and Peace series, Sorting Through Shadows, Stories1st.org , and The Breast Cancer Monologues.

Awards and grants include the Peabody, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism award, the Casey Medal, the United Nations Silver award, the Clarion Award, two Heart of America awards, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Award, two CPB awards and an AIR award for innovation and excellence.

As a playwright, Roberts stage plays have been produced in Portland theatres such as the Artists Repertory, the Portland Repertory and the Interstate Firehouse Cultural center. Her play Picasso In The Back Seat garnered her the Oregon Book Award. She has also had readings and performances of her plays at the Northwest Asian American Theatre in Seattle, EastWest Players in Los Angeles, Second Generation Productions in NYC and the University of Florida. Roberts has taught acting, creative writing and radio classes throughout Portland.

As the executive producer of MediaRites, she continues her personal mission to create works that bring diverse communities together. Though Roberts was born in Asia and lived there as a child, Oregon has been her home since the age of ten. There she continues to write from a Northwest perspective while working on community and national projects.

"It's important for all voices to be heard. Every culture has something very unique to say, and offering individuals a chance to express their thoughts and feelings in a creative way is an act of empowerment and a contribution to society."

Sara Caswell Kolbet, Associate Producer (on leave)
returned to MediaRites after a year living and working near London, England. Among other activities there, she taught radio drama classes to secondary school students in a program that was documented on BBC's Radio 4 in the series The Other Royal Society.

Kolbet previously worked with MediaRites for two years, assisting with bookkeeping and secretarial duties as well as writing and production. During that time she also taught English to adults and helped direct a youth musical group.

Kolbet's background in radio began in college, where she participated in several amateur radio dramas at the Williams College radio station, WCFM. In her senior year she wrote, directed, and produced Simon Squash, Williams PI, a 10-part noir radio drama. After college, she was an intern at WUWM, an NPR-affiliated station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Kolbet also writes her own songs and has extensive experience in musical arranging and CD production.

Ping Khaw-Sutherland, Visual Arts Instructor/Marketing And Graphic Designer
teaches visual arts residencies and is the marketing and graphic designer for the MediaRites arts programs and radio projects.

Sutherland is a Chinese-Malaysian who speaks four languages, which helps with outreach to International Asian communities. She has bachelor's degrees in art/graphic design and business accounting. She has run a marketing and design business and worked with MediaRites in the marketing and production of the national radio series Legacies: Faith, Hope and Peace, Sorting Through Shadows, Stories1st.org and The Breast Cancer Monologues, a production from outreach workshops of The Breast Cancer Radio Arts Project.

Sutherland is a visual artist and teaches arts residences to at-risk children throughout Oregon. In the past ten years, Sutherland has given many presentations and done art training in local seminars. She has helped put together community art projects which involved youth from various communities: Lynch View Elementary School Mural Project (2004), Woodmere Elementary School Mural Project (2002), Portsmouth Banner Project, N. Portland (2001), Gresham Banner Project at Gresham Main City Park (2000) and Clinton Street Alternative School and "Get A Start" program at MacLaren Correctional Facilities (1998). In 1999, she produced "The Oral History Project" at the Southeast Multicultural Center, and co-produced and performed "The Maiden Pearl" Chinese Puppetry at Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center.

Sutherland has shown her work at Foyer Gallery, Montinore Estate (2005), Athena Showroom (2004), Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (2002), PNCA Alumni Show (2003-2004), Gresham City Hall (2003), Portland Art Museum, Portland Oregon (group exhibition) 1993, Wentz Gallery, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland Oregon 1992 & 1993, Western Oregon State College, Monmouth Oregon (group show) 1993, The Heathman Hotel, Portland Oregon (juried show) organized by Elizabeth Leach Gallery 1993, The Fuse Gallery, Portland Oregon, 1991, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia (group exhibition) 1990, Penang National Art Gallery, Penang Malaysia (group exhibition) 1988.

She has also been a NAP artist for the Portland Regional Arts & Culture Council since 1996. Contact her at Pingkhaw@cs.com.