Upisode 42: Ian interviews Gabriel Bello Diaz, founder of Efficio Custom Products and the new Hyena Culture maker space collaborative. They discuss “the east coast grind,” their shared Puerto Rican heritage, and the challenge of being technical in two languages. Gabriel shares his thoughts on using tech to make a city better, not just richer, including diffusing policy conflict, standing up maker spaces for actual makers (not just tinkerers), and introducing creative engineering in public schools.
About Gabriel Bello Diaz
Born in London, raised in New Jersey and North Carolina, with stints in Germany and Barcelona, Gabriel Bello Diaz is now a longtime Seattle resident, artist, designer, educator, and organizer. Gabriel is the founder and Principle Owner of Efficio, a multidisciplinary design studio focused on the collaboration between hand-craftsmanship and digital fabrication. He is a longtime public school teacher for 6th-12th grade, focusing on entrepreneurship within multi-industrial engineering. Through partnerships with Amplifier, Impact Hub Seattle, and Makerologist, for which Gabriel leads education makerology efforts, he has placed a deep focus on using common resources to allow young artists of color to launch commercial products early in their business arc.
Recently, Gabriel has been spearheading “Hyena Culture,” a pack of artists of color using their talents and strength to empower and support their communities. Pack members include Seattle luminaries such as Soohye Jang, David Rue, Imani Sims, Zende Jacobs and more.
