Mia (M.R.) Raquel

M.R. is usually an Oakland-based audio-storyteller & producer; however, due to the pandemic they are currently located on the east coast. M.R. is bilingual (Spanish/ English) since birth & is a storyteller in various mediums, audio producer, & writer with experience working for nonprofits such as StoryCorps (NPR) & Omnidawn Publishing, along with lots of culinary arts experience working with chefs such as Russ Moore of Camino, in restaurants around the Bay Area.

centered around community & family, building community & connections through swapping stories & listening is something M.R. practices every day in their personal & professional life, via guiding oral history recordings, or by engaging in an unanticipated conversation with a stranger on the side of the road.

with experiences & practices in queer/ LGBTQIA+ & Latinx oral history projects & community archives in Ohio, professional cooking, fermentation & storytelling in the Bay Area, M.R. is deepening a community-building storytelling praxis. originally from Massachusetts, M.R. graduated with a B.A. from Oberlin College with a degree in Comparative American Studies & Creative Writing in 2017.

in January, 2021, M.R. finished up 15 months with StoryCorps as a Bilingual Field Producer (Facilitator) where they recorded & archived over 250 oral history conversations into the Library of Congress. they are currently a freelance audio producer for StoryCorps, & are open to a variety of professional development opportunities.

when they're not working, M.R. is likely cooking up something fresh, enjoying long phone calls with loved ones, being kept company by a good book, fermenting vegetables while listening to metal, taking a trip to the ocean in their 1972 ford pickup, & reveling in the company of loved ones.