Lisa Factora-Borchers

Lisa Factora-Borchers is a Filipinx American author, editor, and activist. Lisa is the editor of Dear Sister: Letters from Survivors of Sexual Violence (AK Press, 2014), and her work can be found Guernica, The Millions, Adroit Journal, The Independent (UK), Refinery 29, In The Fray, TruthOut, The Feminist Wire, The International Examiner, Mutha, and Ano Ba magazines. She has contributed to anthologies Burn It Down (Seal Press, 2019), Feminisms in Motion: Voices for Justice, Liberation, and Transformation (AK Press, 2018), Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Frontlines (PM Press, 2016), Verses Typhoon Yolanda: A Storm of Filipino Poets (Pawa Press, 2014).

Lisa is a 2025 grant awardee from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund in nonfiction, and is a three time recipient of the Greater Columbus Arts Council artist grant. Lisa was awarded a creative writing residency at the Sundress Academy of the Arts and served as a memoir fellow at Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation (VONA). Lisa is also the founder of The End Writers Collective, a decolonizing-in-practice community space for BIPOC writers finishing their literary manuscripts.

Formerly, Lisa served as publisher for Guernica magazine and editorial director at Bitch Media. She has also served in editorial capacities at The Rumpus, Catapult, make/shift, and Literary Mama magazines. Lisa is the book editor for the Amazon best-selling book Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice (Arsenal Press, 2018) and The Future is Disabled (Arsenal Press, Fall 2022), both by by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, and the seismic book Healing Justice Lineages: Dreaming at the Crossroads of Liberation Collective Care & Safety (North Atlantic Press, Spring 2023) by Cara Page and Erica Woodland. Also, Lisa was the editor of the column “The Pleasure Dome” by adrienne maree brown which later became the New York Times best-selling book Pleasure Activism (AK Press, 2019).

In her leadership and activism, Lisa has been recognized by Re.Wire magazine as one of five revolutionary activists who have led the fight for reproductive freedom, body autonomy, and gender equity and her activist work has also highlighted by the Florida Access Network. In Spring 2024, Lisa and her daughter, Rosario, were featured in the micro-documentary, Ohio is in the Heart, directed by Sonia Desai Ray as part of Asian American Documentary Network’s 2024 American Storytelling Initiative that explores local governance, grassroots organizing, and youth civic engagement. Ohio is in the Heart celebrates intergenerational activism, family, lineage, immigration, and storytelling.

Lisa was the Director of Operations and Communications for OPAWL: Building AAPI Feminist Leadership where she also cofounded and cofacilitated “Feminist Grounding,” a program for AAPI women, GNC, and nonbinary people to reflect upon the intersecting points of identity, trauma, and liberation. She has served as a board member for Zora’s House, an entrepreneurial think tank and haven for women of color.

Lisa received a BA in English from Xavier University; a joint masters degree in Counseling Psychology and Pastoral Ministry from Boston College; and an MFA in Literary Nonfiction Creative Writing from Columbia University. Most recently, Lisa completed the Spiritual Director program at the Liberated Together school to deepen her skills in providing individual and group spiritual care. She is a seasoned facilitator and has led workshops, retreats, and forums centralizing race, feminism, political consciousness, spirituality, transformative listening, and sustainable, everyday activism.

Lisa is currently working on her next book, a literary memoir about political consciousness and diasporic faith in middle America.