The Highlights From The Launch of Faces of Santa Clara
On August 31st, Faces of Santa Clara launched with the premiere of Chapter One. Faces of Santa Clara is a community storytelling project celebrating the people, stories, achievements, cultures, and community spirit that make Santa Clara unique.
Made possible through a grant from the City of Santa Clara under the Where the Mission Meets the Moment initiative, this project brings together faces and places, past and present, through four themes:
Innovation and Technology
Sports and Olympians
Arts and Culture
Civic Leadership and Community
At the launch of Faces of Santa Clara, Diana Ding (Founder and CEO, Ding Ding TV, Silicon Valley Community Media, Asian American Stories) said:
“I have been a storyteller for most of my professional life. Through Ding Ding TV and Silicon Valley Community Media, I have spent many years listening to people because I deeply believe in the power of storytelling.
I thought I knew Santa Clara pretty well. But during this project, I listened to Preston talk about the Triton Museum, learned history from former Mayor Gary Gillmor, and heard stories about our innovators, athletes, artists, civic leaders, and community members.
I realized:There is so much about Santa Clara that I still didn’t know.
How many more stories have we never heard? How many could disappear if we don’t tell them?That is where Faces of Santa Clara began.
What makes Santa Clara, Santa Clara?
We can talk about technology, sports, arts, and achievements. But behind all of them are people — and everyone has a story. What you are about to see is not a complete history of Santa Clara, nor a selection of its “most important” people. It is simply our first chapter…
My hope is that residents, students, families, our library, museums, schools, and community organizations can help discover and preserve these stories.
The Face of Santa Clara does not need to be famous. It could be an engineer, teacher, small-business owner, public servant, volunteer, a mother — or someone who quietly made our community better.If we tell these stories today, future generations will know not only what happened in Santa Clara, but who made it happen…
As you watch, please ask:“Who is missing? Whose story should we know?”
Because the answer to “Who are the Faces of Santa Clara?” should come from all of us.
This is our first chapter. Help us write the chapters that come next.”