Marisa A. Zapata is a researcher, educator and planner. She is the Director of Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative and Associate Professor of Land-use Planning at Portland State University. She holds a doctorate in Regional Planning, a master’s in Urban Planning and a bachelor’s in Anthropology. When not working, you may find her playing flute, reading a book, taking a long walk or playing a board game. In January, Dr. Zapata will take to the TEDxSalem stage to address how we can solve homelessness by rethinking who has a right to housing.
What was your first TED experience? My first TED experience was probably “illegal” because it was a TED “style” talk but not officially through TED. One of my friends from college was doing a talk about health care issues that she was studying as a medical doctor. It was wonderful to see her, a person I had known for awhile, being on a stage and sharing her knowledge. I learned a lot from the talk!
Do you have a favorite TED Talk? How has it impacted your life or perspective? My current fave is by Gabby Rivera who talked about creating the first queer Latina superhero. I didn’t grow up reading graphic novels, though my dad talked about his favorite superhero — Spiderman. Like many things I have only realized as an adult, my lack of interest in a particular thing was partly driven by not seeing people like me. I know a lot of people say representation matters, but it really goes further than an image or a language. It’s also about ideas and conversation styles 
and characters who are like your family members. For me, superheroes are about imaging different types of futures. A superverse with white men and hypersexualized white women could never be a future for me. But a Latina? That’s a super I can believe in. I also loved Gabby’s delivery. Like Gabby, I grew up learning to tell stories and for me, humor was a big part of that. Seeing her laugh on stage is a great reminder that humor can be such an important part of talks on serious topics.
What does this year’s theme “Vision” mean to you? I love this year’s theme. Vision can mean so many different things, but I think all of those things involved how we share our thoughts, ideas, fears, and hopes. Whether through literal shared sight or through language, we cultivate how we live in community with one another. For my work, I think about how to envision just futures, and create pathways to move us in those directions while preparing for uncertainty. A lot of this work is about foresight — trying to think about how our futures might play out based on our presents. I think this is especially important when thinking about homelessness. We have what can feel like an overwhelming set of tasks in front of us, and list of possible options. Envisioning futures allows us to structure the work and the options.
Tell us something about yourself we could never tell from looking at you. My health prevents me from working out as hard or often as I want. I’d love to be doing one hour of spinning or jogging or biking to work, but my physical health doesn’t match that. I’ve come to appreciate a long walk, but also, I just want to go jump on a trampoline for an hour!
What is the scariest thing you have ever done for fun? I rappelled down a 28-story building for a Big Brother/Big Sister fundraiser with my Little Sis from the program. It was for “fun.” It wasn’t really all that fun.
Favorite books? And why.
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. The story of a young boy caught between two cultures as a young Latino living in the Southwest resonated with me as a culturally mixed Mexican American from Texas. This book was the first time I read something where magical realism was integrated into the story, and one of the first times I had seen my culture described in a fictional story.
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. It’s hard to explain too much about the book without giving it away! Maybe I can leave it with — it’s my world view. We all may come from similar places and see and experience our communities in radically different ways.
Go-to karaoke song? Fancy by Reba McEntire
Chunky or smooth peanut butter? Chunky. All the way.
A random fact: A fire ant bite could kill me!
TEDxSalem VII
TEDxSalem VII is an all-day event featuring talks, performances, refreshments, lunch and swag. It takes place from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020, at the Salem Convention Center. Click here for tickets. Follow us on Facebook for the most up-to-date news from our community, and check our website regularly for new information. You can also reach us at info@tedxsalem.com