Marissa believes in uplifting Asian communities through sharing: as the founder of Nine Winters, a bakery in Cambridge, she has used food as a way to bring people together and build connection. From creating nourishment as a tool to demonstrate the nuance of the Asian-American culture to exploring personal growth through identity and belonging, Marissa believes in demystifying culture and welcoming it into the American dream. Not quite diaspora, not quite American: the line is thin and she believes in carving more space for the in between.