Meet Slant’d, Fall 2025 Mockingbird Seed Grant Recipient
Krystie Yen, Slant’d Founder and Executive Director
Slant’d is a literary arts nonprofit that publishes magazines and books, and hosts creative programs that support inclusive storytelling. They are also the recipient of the Seed Grant from the Fall 2025 Mockingbird Nonprofit Incubator Program. Our team met with Krystie Yen, the Slant’d Founder and Executive Director, to discuss Slant’d’s roots and to talk about their experience participating in the Mockingbird Nonprofit Incubator Program.
How did Slant’d get started?
Slant’d started as an idea on a post-it note in my apartment in Brooklyn. My group of friends in New York City had a lot of casual conversations about our experiences growing up as Asian-Americans. As someone who grew up in Los Angeles—in an Asian community and a child of immigrants, my Asian-American experience was pretty one note. But, living in New York expanded my understanding of the Asian American narrative. We wanted to channel our energy for good and capture these diverse, nuanced stories about our community because if not us, then who? None of us had a background in publishing, but we all loved stories—hearing and sharing them. Through these conversations and energy, Slant’d was born.
The First Issue
We put out an open call to anyone interested in telling their story about what it means to be Asian-American. To promote our first issue in 2017, we filmed a few friends and contributors talking earnestly about why sharing their stories mattered as a way to combat erasure, find cultural empathy and celebrate the vastness of Asian-American culture. We launched our first Kickstarter campaign that summer and it was funded in 32 hours by our community. The final product ended up being way more than we imagined: instead of a humble zine, it was 120 beautiful pages of full color stories. We threw a launch party at the Museum of Chinese in America, and invited local contributors to share their story live. People were literally sitting on the floor and listening to these stories. It felt communal, and powerful. Slant’d has always been a community project: created by community, and funded by community for the community. What started as a creative outlet has since become a creative home for AAPIs in pursuit of their wildest dreams.
Becoming a Nonprofit
In 2022-2023, we took a pause as an organization to reflect and recharge. It had been five years since we had started Slant’d and a lot had changed in the world. We had a lot of questions: “What does our community need? What do we love doing? Is what we're building still serving our community?” We conducted a 6-month community research study to hear directly from our community about their experiences with publishing and storytelling. We learned about common creative challenges within the AAPI community, systemic barriers and challenges within the publishing industry, and more. Listening to the community allowed us to be clear about what we could provide and gave us the permission to think bigger about our mission and impact. We transitioned into a nonprofit and expanded our ambitions from a magazine to a publishing house, marking a new chapter for us and AAPI storytelling.
Creative Process
At Slant’d, we work with undiscovered writers and artists. We believe that everyone has a story worth sharing. Slant’d gives people a chance to experience creative expansion—that includes our team! One of our favorite rituals is our annual theme brainstorm for our literary magazine. We journal and discuss what's happening today in Asian America, then pick a theme based on what feels most resonant for us at that moment in time. We have an open call for submissions, with a focus on creative non-fiction, poetry, photography, and illustration. What makes our literary magazine unique is that we equally celebrate the writer and the artist. We pair our writers with artists to create a custom piece of art that really brings the story to life. We put a lot of care into pairing people up as creative partners. Each story team consists of a writer, an artist, a layout designer, and an editor. Every story is workshopped before it gets written. The story team gets to hear firsthand the heartbeat of the story, why it matters and what inspired it. Then, we spend 7-8 months bringing the story from idea to print. The writers are always so surprised when they see the final piece with the artwork. It’s a truly beautiful thing to witness. We don’t want to move away from print because these stories have weight to them, and to have something tangible in your hands makes the whole experience more human.
How did you learn about the Nonprofit Incubator?
We learned about the Nonprofit Incubator through Givebutter, who is a partner for the program, and our donor management platform. I saw Mockingbird’s Nonprofit Incubator program promoted in their newsletter. As a first-time Executive Director, I felt like there was a lot I could learn from this, so I applied. Slant’d has always been really resourceful as an organization and I am very fortunate and privileged to work with a lot of really incredible smart people on my team, but it was a huge help to get specialized support from the Mockingbird team.
What was your experience participating in the Nonprofit Incubator Program?
Building a nonprofit without traditional nonprofit experience has been really daunting. The Incubator Program provided the support we needed to help us build a foundation that we had been piecing together. Before this program, I had to figure things out on my own or with my team who was also still learning. I really resonated with the Mockingbird’s values and appreciated that those values came to life in the incubator through open conversations about the nonprofit industrial complex, the current philanthropy landscape, and building a nonprofit through a trauma-informed and culturally responsive lens. We also have a real board for the first time, so I'm really grateful for all of the information around board management and board governance. Being part of the incubator was like having an advisory board to help me think through how to properly set Slant'd up for success as a legitimate nonprofit.
Who is the Nonprofit Incubator for and how can they prepare?
I think the Incubator is for people who have decided that they are going to be a nonprofit. It's better for people who already have a clear sense of what they want their nonprofit to be. People who are past the idea phase and who have recently received a 501c3 designation. I don't think it's for mature non-profits because a lot of the work is foundational. It’s for people who are in the early stages but have a clear idea of who you are, what you stand for, and what you want to offer. The Incubator helps you clarify those things and think about how to actualize them. To prepare for the Incubator Program, honestly? It's like doing some soul searching and getting really, really clear with yourself (or your team, if you have one) about the organization and what the ambitions are for the next two years. A lot of the work you do in the Incubator Program is action planning for the next few years. If you don't have a sense of where you're trying to go, it's going to be really hard for you to sit in the weekly webinars and do the homework. You don't need everything figured out, perfect, or polished because the Incubator will help you do that. I also think that having a team helped me in a lot of ways, so I would recommend one or two teammates, even if they are volunteers. It helps you work through some of these things when you have someone to bounce ideas around with.
Favorite Nonprofit Resources
Mockingbird, they are a really big resource. Another resource is other nonprofit leaders who are also ED’s and are a person of color. Being able to connect with each other and be open about what we’re struggling with or talk about a lesson learned from failures. Information is power and being able to collaborate with each other has been such a big resource for me. But, I think that community is my biggest resource. Slant’d has always been such a community centered organization, and people are everything to us. The people we're serving and the people we get to work and collaborate with. We like to break down barriers of communication and embody the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats. Our success has been because of collaboration. We want to make the publishing space more accessible, equitable and joyful for Asian-Americans. We have to learn from each other, because we are all in this together.
What's next for Slant’d?
We're gearing up for our signature programs: Beyond the Page (our virtual storytelling program) and Blank Page Revival (our annual writing intensive, which will be in San Francisco this year). We're opening up for Issue 08 soon and preparing to publish our first two books, which come out this fall. We also want to get to a place of financial sustainability, which is why this grant is really meaningful to us. It is deeply affirming to receive this support because it shows that you believe in what we're building and the potential of our organization. We don't take that for granted
If you would like to learn more about Slant’d, visit their website, slantd.com. You can support their work by donating to their Givebutter page.