Media Bio

Named 1 of 13 People Magazine “Women Changing the World 2021”, 1 of 9 women leaders “reimagining sport" for the adidas International Women's Day Campaign 2020, and listed on InStyle Magazine Badass 50 2021, Marisa Hamamoto is a stroke survivor who lives with PTSD, speaker, dancer, proud 4th Generation Japanese American, and founder of Infinite Flow, a nonprofit and professional dance company that employs dancers with and without disabilities with a mission to use dance as a catalyst to dismantle biases and promote inclusion. Since 2015, Marisa has led Infinite Flow’s dancers to perform at over 140 events, from school assemblies to corporate events with Apple, Facebook, Red Bull, Porsche, Farmer’s Insurance, International Monetary Fund, Kaiser Permanente, among others. Her videos have been viewed by over 75 Million people on Facebook alone with Sheryl Sandberg and George Takei being amongst the public figures that have shared her work, and she has been featured on NBC Today, ABC Good Morning America, among other national and international media outlets. Marisa and wheelchair dancer Piotr Iwanicki made history becoming the first dancers to perform at Apple’s Steve Jobs Theater with CEO Tim Cook in the audience. As a social entrepreneur, she’s been a fellow with Red Bull Amaphiko and Facebook Community Leadership Program. Most recently, People Magazine named Marisa 1 of 13 “Women Changing the World 2021” next to Vanessa Bryant, Camila Cabello, Stacey Abrahams, Amanda Gorman, Naomi Osaka, and past recipients Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris, Sheryl Sandberg, Brene Brown, among others. She is the first professional dancer and dance company director to receive this recognition. During the 2020 pandemic, Marisa was featured on Marie TV / Marie Forleo Podcast, and along with Infinite Flow, launched Scoops of Inclusion, a 47 min short film celebrating diversity and empowering kids to take an active role in creating a more inclusive world where we each feel we belong. Marisa is a leader, artist, and speaker on the rise looking to empower people through dance and storytelling, to think outside the box, disable bias, build new connections, and rise to a higher purpose. She is a graduate of Idyllwild Arts Academy and completed her BA and MA at Keio University in Tokyo.