Dakota has passion for social justice and is dedicated to highlighting marginalized voices in the work she does. She has a collaborative spirit and her greatest strength lies in building strong relationships, whether on a coffee shop floor or a bustling film set. Dakota is always hungry to learn and work hard as she believes no job is too small and and has an unwavering "the show must go on" attitude.

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Recently Dakota has been getting her feet wet in the directing world. In April of 2022, she was brought on as Assistant Director under her professor Dr. Cecilia Pang ,where she worked on the premiere production of the musical, "Say My Name," written and directed by Pang Yuan Yuan. The musical tells the story of the trials and tribulations Asian women experience in obtaining their U.S. citizenship. This was her first experience working not only as an Assistant Director, but for a diversity focused theatre company- Insight Colab Theatre. Interning for Dr. Pang was an eye opening experience as she has 60 plus directing credits is the founder of Insight Colab Theatre.

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Dakota has always been curious about creating art and telling stories cross culturally. In 2017, Dakota toured with Denver School of the Arts to perform in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland for the two week run of the original musical "Wall," written by Jake Brasch. Here she was exposed to incredible artists and performers from all over the world while getting the opportunity to act in the genre of theatre for social change. Last spring, Dakota directed a live news segment entirely in Spanish while studying abroad in Seville, Spain. This international experience elevated her Spanish communication skills, aligning with her aspiration to become a global citizen. 

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Dakota has acted in a variety of on stage plays and musicals from Moliére to Jaclyn Backhaus. She has acted in various short films, spec ads, and starred in a music video for the upcoming singer songwriter, Ella Luna (featured on NPR, 303 Magazine, Shoutout LA). Dakota is credited as an additional crew member on the feature length documentary "JazzTown" (2021), directed by her father Benjamin Makinen, which won best director at the San Diego Movie Awards, best picture at the Rome Movie Awards and best soundtrack at the New Orleans Second Line Film Festival.

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