Community Curator Interview: Colleen Echohawk
September 23, 2025
SAL is delighted to share this interview with Colleen Echohawk, this year’s Community Curated Series Curator! The newly minted CEO of Community Roots Housing, Colleen is a storyteller and changemaker encouraging hope-filled conversations that spark imagination, uplift justice, and inspire joyful transformation.
Read more about her literary history and vision for her series, and don’t miss Colleen in conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert, Padma Lakshmi, and Honorée Fanonne Jeffers this season!
✨ What role did books and stories play in your life growing up?
I grew up in rural Alaska, and we didn’t have a TV until I was fourteen, so books were my everything. They were my entertainment, my escape, and my doorway into other worlds.Whenever we went into the big city, Anchorage or Fairbanks, my parents would take us—me and my siblings, all big readers—to the thrift store. We’d make a beeline for the book section and pile our cart high with whatever we could find.There were always Louis L’Amour paperbacks scattered around the house—my parents loved them—but my siblings and I read anything we could get our hands on: Little House on the Prairie, The Chronicles of Narnia, Archie comics, even my grandma’s Reader’s Digest Condensed Books.Books gave me permission to dream bigger. They showed me places I’d never been, people I’d never met, and possibilities I couldn’t yet imagine. Growing up in such a small, remote place, I needed that spark—those stories carried me into other worlds and planted seeds of who I could become.
✨ And how about now? Who are some writers or creators that have shaped your perspective?These days, my reading habits have become more discerning. I try to make my way through The New York Times best-of lists every year, and I’m one of those people who has to finish a book, even if I’m not loving it. There’s just something about seeing a story all the way through.I read across genres—memoirs, mysteries, biographies, fiction, essays, and sometimes poetry. My favorite author is Audre Lorde. Her ideas about embracing and celebrating cultural identity in leadership, her framing and clarity of intersectionality, and her belief in storytelling as a force for social change have been foundational to how I lead and show up in the world.Her famous essay “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” has become a guiding theme in my work. It reminds me every day that real, lasting change can’t come from relying on the same systems and structures that caused harm in the first place. That belief has deeply influenced my leadership and advocacy — inspiring me to reimagine what’s possible and to build new ways of doing and being.My favorite book, though, is A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. It’s a dark, devastating story, and I’ve read it multiple times. As someone who considers herself an aggressive optimist, it might seem strange to be so drawn to it, but for me, it’s all about the friendships at the heart of the book. Amid the pain and trauma, there’s also this incredible, enduring love and the possibility of healing.
✨ As our 2025/26 Community Series Curator, what makes you excited about the three events you’ve chosen for your series? Is there a common theme or idea you feel connects them?
When I started thinking about this series, I kept coming back to the power and resilience of women—and to the hope and promise of restoration.We’re living through such a pivotal time, and I often think about the women who came before me, the ones whose sacrifices and courage made it possible for me to be here, doing this work. I wanted to curate a series that honored that legacy while also inviting us to imagine what comes next. This series highlights women who are reimagining old systems, creating new frameworks, and challenging us to think differently about power, community, and healing.The events are connected by themes of restoration, connection, advocacy, and truth-telling. Each of the women in this series brings a unique perspective to those ideas, and I’m giddy thinking about the conversations we’ll get to have. As my Hawaiian relatives would say, I can’t wait to “talk stories” with them—to sit in that space together and see where the dialogue takes us.
✨ How do you hope audiences will feel walking out of these events?
I hope people leave these events feeling loved, seen, and deeply valued. I want them to walk away knowing that their stories, their voices, and their perspectives matter.I also hope that our audience feels energized—knowing they have a role to play in creating change, in breaking down systems of oppression, and in building a more just and connected world—ready to tell their own stories and step into their own power.
✨ Where can folks learn more about what you’re up to?
I’m pretty active on social media, so that’s the best place to keep up with me. On TikTok, you’ll catch me sharing my thoughts about politics. Over on Instagram and Facebook, it’s a mix of some politics and a lot of food, my dog Rizzo, Seattle, family, and my work.You can find me everywhere @cechohawk—come say hi!