arts & culture journalist

highlighting the undeniability of AAPI and LGBTQ+ creativity through narrative, visual, and human-first storytelling.

meet the writer!

Cass Guinto (they/them/siya) is a Filipina/x journalist, poet, and community organizer based in the New York metropolitan area. They currently study at The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, where they specialize in arts and culture reporting. Outside of pursuing their master's degree, Cass serves as Culture Editor at EnVi Media covering independent businesses, fandom, and underrepresented topics across the Asian diaspora. Their work has also been featured on Polyester, where they dove into the Filipino American student pageantry scene in the northeastern United States.

Before becoming a journalist, Cass spent years in youth nonprofit leadership through the Filipino student-led organization FIND Inc., where they organized and hosted MX — an intercollegiate and gender-inclusive pageant that raised over $3,000 across various LGBTQ+ foundations and mutual aids. Now, they channel their passion for culture, community, and storytelling into their reporting.

"Meaning is not something you stumble across or what someone gives you; you build it through every choice you make, the commitments you choose, the people you love, and the values you hold dear."

Maria Ressa, How to Stand Up to a Dictator

EnVi highlights!

EnVi Media • 11 October 2025

Humanity Prevails in Ruchira Gupta’s “The Freedom Seeker”

What do you do when it feels like the world is ending?“ Build communities of kindness rather than communities of hate,” says renowned activist and author Ruchira Gupta. “Make decisions based on hope rather than fear. If you plan based on fear, you will shrink your world and go inwards. Ultimately, you’ll go so inwards that your space will be like a prison.”

EnVi Media • 27 July 2025

Ricky Sim Comes Out With Gaysian Coming-of-Age Comedy Show

What do you get when you cross sexuality, humor, and mortality? As it turns out, comedian Ricky Sim has the answer. Originally from Malaysia, Ricky is a New York City-based lawyer-turned-comic whose stand-up has taken him across the globe. His recent work taking the world by storm, "Coming Out to Dead People," is an autobiographical stand-up comedy show about navigating self-discovery amid grief and cultural expectations. At the center of it all, Ricky grapples with two things: his decision to come...

EnVi Media • 27 July 2025

Inside the Red Pavilion, NYC’s Asian Neo-Noir Nightclub Where Fantasy Becomes Reality

Shien Lee has never been one to shy away from possibility. With a raw Brooklyn warehouse before them, they envisioned a safe space for Asian culture and artistry to flourish without bounds. It was a combination of things: their love for nightlife, a team of creative visionaries, and the surge of anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic that brought this possibility to life. Two years ago, they opened its doors, unleashing the Red Pavilion into New York City’s nightlife scene.To call i...

EnVi Media • 10 May 2025

Mina Ikemoto Ghosh Gives Us Hell in "Hyo the Hellmaker"

In Mina Ikemoto Ghosh’s new illustrated fantasy novel "Hyo the Hellmaker," gods don’t float above the clouds — they live just down the street. On the island of Onogoro, the world’s most powerful entities live among mortals, make bargains, and unfortunately, commit crimes. The story follows the protagonist Hakai Hyo, whose control over “unluck” allows her to create artisan hells for her clients. After her village is destroyed by a demon, she flees to Onogoro with her brother, Mansaku. However, with...

let's chat!

General Inbox: cass.guinto05@journalism.cuny.edu
EnVi: cass.envimedia@gmail.com

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