Founding Director, The Black Donors Project

I am pleased to submit for consideration an application for the National Leaders of Color Fellowship. I am an equitable fundraising practitioner and cultural worker with 20+ years in nonprofit management. My work is designed to shape organizational equity in nonprofit sectors with a focus on implementing new frameworks that optimize collective and inherent strengths.

From 2002 to 2016, I served as the executive director for Rennie Harris Puremovement, the world’s first and longest-running Hip Hop dance company to perform on national and international concert stages. I have watched the symbiotic relationship between Hip Hop culture and Black philanthropy grow, and it has shaped my work to include discourse regarding the art of Hip Hop, its impact on Black philanthropy, and its contributions to the arts ecosystem.

In late 2022, I created The Black Donors Project (www.theblackdonorsproject.org). The initiative is a participatory action research project that employs disciplined inquiry utilizing surveys, focus groups, and individual interviews to examine and highlight the relationship between the community, Black donors, Black artists, and Black-led arts organizations. My goal is to fill a void within the fundraising field that fails to investigate the capacity and willingness of communities of color to support the arts and dispel the mythology that drives racial disparities in and across the universe of giving and philanthropy.

Arts And Culture Coordinator, Latino Network

Discipline: Folklife/Traditional Arts

Jessica Harned has been fortunate to begin her career in Boise, Idaho. She first became a member of the Boise Philharmonic in 2016, and since, has performed with most local professional ensembles, including Mariachi Sol de Acapulco, who won the Governor’s Award for Musical Excellence in 2018.

To Jessica, education is of the utmost importance. In 2020, Jessica received her Masters degree from Boise State, after having won the Boise Philharmonic Graduate Quartet Fellowship. This experience emboldened her to speak up about the life and experiences of the BIPOC community within classical music. Since then, she has spent her time fostering conversation about representation in classical music, on the radio, in the classroom, and within her own work, all while participating in music in inventive and diverse spaces.

Understanding that her career is multi-faceted, and being very proud of that, Jessica believes that this diverse path has helped her become the musician and person she is today.

Discipline: Theatre

Jessyca Valdez is an aspiring photographer from Toluca, Mexico. She began pursuing photography 5 years ago when she moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and her passion is to shed light on the untold stories of the immigrant experience. She has completed advanced photography coursework through UNAVID: Escuela de Fotografía in Toluca, Mexico. Jessyca is a Community Mobilizer for Voices JH, and also works as a housekeeper.

Discipline: Humanities

H. Larry Raigetal is from Lamotrek atoll in Yap state. He is a Pairourou (Pwo) traditional navigator of Weiyeng school and from the lineage of Haboilol in Polowat. His teachers include Petrus Pakamai, Serphin Ochaitir, Baskas Mark and Edward Rainam. Raigetal teaches at the University of Guam as an assistant professor for MARC.

Program Assistant, Osage Nation Musuem

Hello, my name is John HorseChief. I am from the Osage, Pawnee, Blackfeet, Potawatomi and Irish people. I live in Oklahoma and work at the Osage Nation Museum.I am a father and a grandfather. I am the Program Assistant at the museum, my main focus is digital archives and the digitization of cultural material. I am also a beadworker, moccasin maker, and a lodge builder within my community on the Osage reservation. I enjoy doing both technological work and traditional crafts. Preserving and sharing my plains culture and specifically my Osage culture gives me a sense of well being. Before working at the Osage Nation Museum I was employed with the Wahzhazhe (Osage) Cultural Center. During my time there I was part of a team that developed the Wahzhazhe Digital Preservation Project. The project aims to digitize and archive all media related to Osage language, culture and history. We currently have over 10 terabytes of data in our project. This exposure to media has made me aware of Indigenous and Osage people’s representation and the importance of telling our own stories through the media. Whenever you google Image search “”Osage people”” you mostly see black and white photos. I want our search to show us as we are today; vibrant and alive. Indigenous people have had a long struggle with other people telling their stories. I would like to learn to be a better storyteller and museum worker. Thank you for your consideration.

Discipline: Music

Johnny Sablan is a proud son of Agat, Guam and singer of Guam’s greeting song, “Hafa Adai, Todo Mauleg How Are You”. He released the first Chamorro recording album in 1968, named Dalai Nene, and subsequently released 15 original Chamorro music albums. With the goal of keeping culture alive through music, he opened a recording studio and helped local artists throughout the Marianas record their music.

He spent decades perpetuating Chamorro culture, and served in various cultural roles in the Government of Guam, notably leading the department that opened the Guam Museum in 2016. Johnny Sablan looks to continue to keep the Chamorro culture alive, and nurture the next generation of Chamorro artists.

Discipline: Multidisciplinary

Jonathan Rai Sablan is a filmmaker from the island of Guam. His passion lies in capturing authentic Chamorro cultural stories and preserving them through film, with hope that it can be shared with future generations. Having worked in the film industry, he learned that Guam has just as much talent and great stories to tell the world. He is excited to continue his filmmaking journey through cultural documentaries that inspire and connect us all.

Jordan Tate, born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a multi-talented individual with a passion for both basketball and art. Growing up as a hooper and an artist, he discovered his love for creative expression early on. Recognizing the potential of merging his artistic talent with a professional career, Jordan pursued a degree in graphic design at Colorado State University.

After graduating, Jordan embarked on a career journey that led him to the vibrant world of media. He found a home at iHeart Media in Northern Colorado, where he honed his skills and made significant contributions. It was during this time that he met his future wife, prompting a move back to his hometown of Albuquerque.

In Albuquerque, Jordan seized the opportunity to establish his own creative agency, aptly named Creative Duke. Here, he channels his artistic prowess into helping businesses and individuals bring their visions to life through innovative design and branding solutions. Jordan Tate’s story is a testament to the power of passion, skill, and the pursuit of one’s creative dreams.

Deputy Director, Indigo Arts Alliance

Jordia Benjamin is a community engagement specialist, art educator and curator with a passion for creating compelling programs, cultivating and curating creative environments for artists and communities to thrive using art as the mechanism for change. With over a decade in the art sector, and a background in museum education, she embodies a commitment to equity, inclusion, empowerment and advocacy for communities of color. Benjamin has worked for national and international museums; overseeing their education departments ie. the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas as the Education Officer and again oversaw Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine public and community engagement programs along with being on the ground floor of the launch of the Lunder Institute for American Art.
In her role as Deputy Director at Indigo Arts Alliance, Jordia co-leads with the Executive Director/Co-Founder the organization’s day-to-day operations along with ensuring that the quality and impact of Indigo Arts Alliance’s activities and programs directly support its’ mission. A highly effective collaborator, manager, relationship builder, and communicator, she guides and refines the artist residency program, developing related programming that connects our local, national and international communities. She currently serves as a board member to the Museum Education Roundtable and MassAction Anti-Racism Think Tank committee. Jordia is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated.

Managing Director, Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts, Northwestern University

Prior to joining Northwestern University as the Managing Director for The Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts, Jorge Silva was the Managing Director for the renowned experimental collective, The Neo-Futurists, leading the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic utilizing revitalized infrastructure. Before The Neos, he was the Producing Coordinator for the Goodman Theatre serving as the producing liaison for community engagement projects and the curator for artistic programming

While based in Washington, DC, Silva was a performer and administrator for the Smithsonian Institution’s Discovery Theater and a founding teaching artist for their DCPS in-school arts education program, ‘Tools of Discovery.’ Much of Silva’s work, however, is identified with The Neo-Futurists beginning as a 2016 recipient of the Artists of Color Scholarship; he is also an artistic affiliate with Teatro Travieso (Wooster, OH).

Outside of theatre, Silva has worked with the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund and The Posse Foundation: Chicago in their respective student mentoring programs. He was also a Lecturer and graduate projects advisor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Writing Program. Notably, Silva was a featured speaker at Latinos Progresando’s flagship community event, MEX talks, and remains a member of the event’s Host Committee.

Josephy Center for Arts and Culture

Josh Taira is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Missoula, Montana. His work is inspired by both classic and contemporary manga and anime. Themes in his art often include his experiences as a first-generation Asian American growing up in a rural part of the United States, Japanese folklore, and modern trends in American and Japanese media.

Taira currently serves as the art director at the Roxy Theater in Missoula and takes on occasional freelance illustration and design projects.

Joyce Torres (Guåhan) is a Chamorro and Filipino actor, director, playwright and filmmaker whose work explores art as a pathway to healing, activism and belonging. As artistic director and board member of Breaking Wave Theatre Company, she develops original work rooted in community, identity and justice.

Her credits include directing “Comfort,” based on Filipina “comfort woman” Maria Rosa Henson, which premiered in Los Angeles and Guam, and co-creating “Unspoken: A Mental Health Anthology,” a workshop series using performance to open dialogue around mental health and substance abuse. Recently, she directed “We Will Not Go Silent,” an award-winning performance exploring Guam’s climate crisis through ancestral knowledge and poetry.

Torres holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a concentration in theater and a minor in political science from the University of Guam, and trained at the Stella Adler Art of Acting Studio in Los Angeles.

JU-EH is a Las Vegas based visionary, community leader, and operatic vocalist. As a conceptual curator, JU-EH has initiated projects that defy genre, period, or easy categorization. JU-EH self-produced the musical drama The Living Dying Opera based on the story of their life addressing a racist experience as an Asian queer male in the opera industry; They also brought worldwide attention to the episodic audio opera Asian Casta Diva on the social media platform Clubhouse responding to the #StopAsianHate Movement.

JU-EH has collaborated with numerous non profit organizations to raise awareness of safe and caring environments for people of color artists and employees.

The brand new business the Milk Tea Opera House was recently launched as a pioneering concept combining performing arts and beverages as a placemaking act for the daily life of Nevadans. JU-EH would like to cultivate a creative space to meet where people are at, and to invite people who do not have professional training to interpret how art makings do not have prerequisites. MTOH aims to engage local residents in finding their own creative voice, and expand the connection of our voice to be the place to meet who we truly are as the new definition of the opera house for the next 100 years.

Mr., The Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning

Col. JC McPherson, Kentucky Colonel Goodwill Ambassador, has a background in writing, electricity, and general troubleshooting. During his time at the Carnegie Center, he has worn many hats. Currently he is an agent for the Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative, Creative Writing Instructor, Rental Staff, and Staff Support. He is the author of On My Mind (blacoetry press), Jupiter’s Child (Winged City Chapbooks), and Hey Batta Batta (Lefthanded JuJu). In his spare time, he likes to cook, explore nature, garden, and listen to music.

Judith Cultural Committee, Inc.