CHICAGO, IL

Inspired by her experiences at Harvard Divinity School and the role of social impact in creating long-lasting change, Alexa Rice is a distinguished writer who uses her talents to help the private-sector lead meaningful initiatives.

CHICAGO, IL

Benedicta Badia Nordenstahl, is on the board of Argentina's Fundación Espigas. Nordenstahl saw a gap in the global contemporary art scene and now works philanthropically to bridge relationships across international art scenes, including in Latin Amerca, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

CHICAGO, IL

Blake-Anthony Johnson is a renowned cellist and the president and CEO of the Chicago Sinfonietta. Well-respected for his leadership, Johnson has worked to improve the Chicago Sinfonietta's community outreach and programming, and has helped to make the arts more equitable and accessible.

NEW ORLEANS, LA

Brandan “BMike” Odums is a New Orleans-based artist, speaker, and activist who uses his art and his voice to reflect and amplify the beauty and strength of Black people. He is a public artist engaged in a deeply thoughtful dialogue with the communities where he shows his work.

CHICAGO, IL

Brent is a Chicago-based videographer and photographer. His work focuses on basketball, and spans from community tournaments to the NBA.

NEW ORLEANS, LA

Bryce Fulton is an exhibiting artist at Eternal Seeds in New Orleans. Eternal Seeds centers its work around education, empowerment, and the preservation of New Orleans Black history and culture, with a focus on young and emerging artists. Eternal Seeds provides artists with tools they need to become the revolutionary leaders and shapers of a more just, equitable, and artful world. 

NEW ORLEANS, LA

Carter Maberry is a founding member of BElite Collective, a youth-led organization made up of Black artists in New Orleans. Maberry works as a muralist, videographer, and photographer, and is, most recently, a Youth Program Facilitator for Arts New Orleans.

UTAH

Chandler serves as Great Salt Lake Policy Associate and holds a deep belief in the urgency of place-based work. Chandler is driven to shift systems of power to reflect our interdependence with the living world by engaging communities in decisions around the ecosystems on which they rely.

CHICAGO, IL

Cortlyn is the director of partnerships at Gertie Chicago, a civic and cultural agency that works to increase investment in Chicago's arts and cultural scenes. She also created The Art Idiot, a contemporary art and film newsletter.

PHOENIX, AZ

Dean Kuest is on a life-long journey of discovering how loving Jesus and His teachings can best be used for leading other Evangelicals to be peacemakers in an increasingly polarized world and place their identity in Jesus above partisan and societal division.

CHICAGO, IL

Derek is a Chicago native and sports reporter. His work explores the intersection of professional sports and social media, and he currrently serves as a social media specialist with Wilson Sporting Goods.

PHOENIX, AZ

Since a young age, Diali saw first-hand the importance of building community, trust, and solidarity to work together towards dignity and respect. She believes in the power of storytelling to convey the shared future she sees for herself, her family, and her community.

PHOENIX, LA

Diego Lozano is a Phoenix-based artist who uses photography, design, and storytelling to explore identity, culture, and social justice. Through his work, he aims to challenge perceptions and create spaces for reflection, helping both himself and others move toward a more inclusive and understanding future.

CHICAGO, IL

Eddie is the founder and lead attorney at Protect & Collect LLC, a law firm that specializes in intellectual property and artist management. His mission is to protect and educate his clients in the ever-changing landscape of intellectual property law.

NEW ORLEANS, LA

Elizabeth LeFrere is committed to leveraging art as a vehicle for social change while empowering artists to sustain and thrive. She dedicates her work to cultivating spaces for creative expression and transformative collaboration.

CHICAGO, IL

Evangeline is an event producer with expertise in arts, entertainment, and social justice non-profits. Her work includes events for organizations including We Rise, Into Action, America's Black Holocaust Museum, and Many Rivers to Cross Festival.

YUMA, AZ

Fernie Quiroz is the Executive Director of Arizona Interagency Farm Worker Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing services to immigrants, and the Founder of the Yuma Arizona California Humanitarian Coalition, which provides critical humanitarian aid to migrant families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. For Mr. Quiroz, the American Dream is a vibrant idea, a reality worth the sacrifice that he takes great pride in helping others achieve.

SALT LAKE CITY, UT

Gavin serves as the “Arts, Advocacy, and Healing Program Lead” at INDIGENOUS LED and tries to advance love in all its forms to grow community health. His work encourages time spent nurturing our water, air, plants, animals, soils, and each other to create healing spaces.

PHOENIX, AZ

Giovana, a Mexican-born artist based in Arizona, blends fashion and art to explore themes of empowerment and community. With a deep commitment to arts education, she uplifts local artists and fosters meaningful dialogue across regional and international communities.

CHICAGO, IL

Glenn Willoughby is the co-founder of Englewood Arts Collective, an organization of artists that works to support artists and creative initiatives in the Englewood area.

NEW ORLEANS, LA

Hannah Wilson is an artist dedicated to reshaping the way we view mental health and beauty. Her goal is to destigmatize prioritizing mental health while fostering a supportive and uplifting community through art.

CHICAGO, IL

As an artist, Jalen Hamilton believes that his purpose is also to educate, and has used his position as photographer, educator, and poet to facilitate workshops such as to support mental wellness and students transitioning into college. Hamilton's plans are to initiate change in Chicago schools through the use of the arts and education.

CHICAGO, IL

Jordan Mozer is the founder and principal of Jordan Mozer & Associates.

NEW ORLEANS, LA

Julian Gosin is a performing artist from New Orleans who creates art for the world and aims to touch souls with her music.

DETROIT, MI

Kaitlyn works in maternal health research studying how a mom's environment affects her pregnancy. She is passionate about community organizing and advocating for minority communities by having necessary conversations and fostering meaningful connections between communities.

NEW ORLEANS, LA

Kevin is a lifelong native of the city of New Orleans, a loving husband and father of three wonderful children. As an artist, Kevin has made some great strides in his career as an Organizer, media specialist, and a designer and craftsman.

CHICAGO, IL

Kristy is a graphic designer and illustrator. She is a senior designer at the Chicago Sky WNBA.

CHICAGO, IL

Krystal is a Chicago native and creative, specializing in video production and editing. Her work explores the intersection of storytelling and sports, and she currently serves as a producer with the Chicago Sky.

CHICAGO, IL

Lena is a digital content producer and marketing assistant for the Chicago Sky WNBA.

CHICAGO, IL

Leslé Honoré is the CEO of Urban Gateways, and a Blaxican author and activist. She works to empower youth and marginalized communities through the arts to inspire social change.

PHOENIX, AZ

Luis Avila, founder of Iconico Campaigns, empowers communities by driving public engagement and advocacy through technology. An immigrant from Mexico, he has led campaigns across the US since 2004 and now fosters global collaboration, including climate adaptation in the Sonoran Desert.

WHITE MESA, UT

Malcolm Lehi is Tribal Councilman for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe representing White Mesa, Utah. The Warm Springs near downtown Salt Lake City are sacred to Ute People, but few Utahns are aware that these sites, or thousands of Ute Tribal members are still here.

NEW ORLEANS, LA

Malik Bartholomew is a historian and founder of KnowNOLA Tours. Bartholomew focuses on showing New Orleans's rich culture, specializing in Black heritage and culture. His objective is to show the "real" New Orleans to locals and tourists, alike.

SALT LAKE CITY, UT

Writer, playwright, and activist Mary Dickson is an internationally recognized advocate for survivors of nuclear weapons testing and production. She has worked tirelessly for four decades for the end of nuclear testing; for justice and compensation for its victims, and for a nuclear-free world moving forward.

CHICAGO, IL

Michal Dzitko is fascinated with the tangible physicalities of sound and building technology products that help artists live and make a living.

SALT LAKE CITY, UT

Michael is a professional visual artist and enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Michael is undergoing dialysis for diabetes and is awaiting a kidney donor. In Michael's words, “art helps me with everything!”

CHICAGO, IL

Paige is the founder and creative director of League of Their Own Chicago, an organization that develops and coordinates bi-weekly community activations with focus on sports & wellness.

NEW ORLEANS, LA

Pharez Scott is a multidisciplinary artist who roots his work in community and understanding and engages with whoever he can whenever he can when creating. Scott understands that collaboration, community, and partnership are the foundation of our forward mobility.

NEW ORLEANS, LA

Sarah is an artist who loves to laugh! She uses kindness and compassion to help us move into a better future.

CHICAGO, IL

Stephanie is currently a partner lead at Google, and volunteers at Seeds of Peace, an organization working to raise new leaders across the world to create change. As an Alumni & Young Professionals Committee Member, Rivkin helps the organization with programming, community-building, and fundraising efforts.

CHICAGO, IL

Symone is a Product Manager at Cameo, and is a member of the 25th Ward Independent Political Organization–an anti-capitalist organization which focuses on a multitude of issues, including housing and education justice, getting candidates elected into office, and supporting local movements in Chicago.

SALT LAKE CITY, UT

Farther Tyler is Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Mark and a published poet and avid reader. Father Tyler enjoys hiking, birding, and whacking golf balls at the driving range. St. Mark's is a welcoming and inclusive church community, founded in the Episcopal tradition with a long history in the state of Utah.

DETROIT, MI

Veronica fights so that immigrant communities in Michigan have access to a driver's license regardless of immigration status.

CHICAGO, IL

Vic is a founding member of Gertie Chicago, a civic and cultural agency that works to increase investment in Chicago's arts and cultural scenes. Gertie uses gatherings and digital storytelling to encourage creative and cultural growth in the city and to connect creative and corporate communities.

CHICAGO, IL

Victor is the co-founder of Fat Tiger Workshop, a streetwear retail destination and creative hub in Chicago.

CHICAGO, IL

Vinod is the Director of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Advocate Children's Hospital and is the Board Chair of The Wabash Lights. Havalad is a supporter of Chicago's equitable economic development and believes in using technology, education, and the arts to empower the city's youth.

SOUTHFIELD, MI

Vonetta Sanders works to help states adopt a rent stabilization for renters and expand renter rights.

CHICAGO, IL

Ximena N. Beltran Quan Kiu currently works as a writer exploring her Mexican-Chinese identity. As the founder of C1 Revolution, Ximena and her team of writers and community activists help brands and organizations communicate their own stories and skills in a more impactful way.

CHICAGO, IL

Zbigniew Kruczalak is the owner of D&Z House of Books, a Polish bookstore that has been in Chicago since 1994.