BlackStar is building a liberatory world in which a vast spectrum of Black, Brown and Indigenous experiences are irresistibly celebrated in arts and culture. We create fertile spaces for ongoing imagination, learning and community building for artists of the global majority to have the resources, support and shine we need to create visionary work.
Watch our 2024 Year-In-Review video.
Photos in this report are by Daniel Jackson, Lendl Tellington, Mochi Robinson, Jiraurd Key/BFA.com, Deonté Lee/BFA.com, and Biak Tha Hlawn.
Board Letter
Sekou Campbell and Denise Beek
BlackStar Board of Directors, co-chairs
For time immemorial, human beings have gathered to learn, laugh, interpret the world, and discover a deeper truth through collective storytelling and listening. In ancient times, a fire served as a source of light and warmth — a central place for community, justice, and education. Today, film serves a similar function. BlackStar has sought to carry this illuminating tradition, one that all people throughout history and all over the world share, with an express purpose to make meaning and reimagine freedom. Film, like fire, requires a special spark and kindling. For the past 13 years, BlackStar has worked to brighten the shine of contemporary storytelling and storytellers of the global majority. It has fanned the flames of creativity, fueled by the courage, ingenuity, thoughtfulness and determination of BIPOC artists, world builders and visionaries.
2024 posed significant threats to BlackStar’s mission, with evergrowing dis- and misinformation, extreme levels of state-sanctioned and outright state violence, and cascades of harmful rhetoric. However, to quote last year’s William and Louise Greaves Seminar keynote speaker, Anisia Uzeyman, a “fragile expression of resistance [conducts] the transfer of power.” For BlackStar, such potency arises, not from militarism or colonialism, but from a story told freely and truthfully,
and from meeting the challenge of dominance at every turn with a joy and passion that can’t be extinguished.
As always, BlackStar’s unique approach to peoplecentered art and activism engenders a unity that binds us in the name of equity, care, and love. Filmmakers, critics, writers, and other industry and non-industry members attended public programming in record numbers, yet again. The organization deepened its relationships with academic and cultural institutions throughout the country, as well as with artists around the world. The organization showcased films and filmmakers that most other places either would not or could not present.
The stories that BlackStar present through films, articles, lectures, screenings, and exhibitions grow the capacity of every member of human society to live fully in their own mind, body, and soul, free from the shibboleths of oppression and colonialism. Storytellers continue to bring us together around light to restore faith and hope. Educators, critics, and advocates provide rigorous analysis and historical context from which we can reflect, dream, and evolve. And audiences, warmed by community and inspiration, light their own torches to warm the lives of even more.
Flames do not feed on air alone. The BlackStar Board is committed to garner more support for the work of the organization, beginning with you. As you take in the accomplishments of 2024, think about how you’ll bask in the brilliance of the 14th annual BlackStar Film Festival from July 31 to August 3, how you will celebrate with us at the third annual gala in the winter of 2025, and what you’ll do with the enlightenment offered by a year’s worth of exhibitions, screenings, and publications. Please also consider the investments required to do this work and be empowered in knowing that BlackStar only shines with the light from your flame.
In the seventh issue of our journal Seen, the multi-hyphenate filmmaker and artist Ja’Tovia Gary speaks to Dr. Joy James about creating “possibility in seemingly impossible conditions.” Published near the end of a year filled with dehumanizing threats and acts of genocide against our communities, the conversation culminates in a poignant and timely reflection from James: “Hope is struggle. It is love. It is resistance.”
Approaching 2025, BlackStar remains in pursuit of possibility. Over the past twelve months we’ve continued to shine a light on and create space for the artists who collectively help us to imagine more liberatory worlds. Amidst tragedy and an ever-shifting political landscape, I am as proud as ever of our brilliant team and what we’ve managed to accomplish together. Thank you also to our board, partners, donors, and others who collaborate on and support our work.
back the BlackStar Pitch (in partnership with Blackbird), we continued to find ways of engaging a global community of like-minded artists and supporters. In August we pulled off an unforgettable 13th film festival, with recordbreaking attendance and participation.
This year we deepened our commitment to our now-established programs. From hosting the 4th William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar (in partnership with the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford), to curating programs throughout the United States and in Dakar, to assembling the third cohort of our Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, and bringing
Reflecting on all this I think of Anisia Uneyzma’s keynote at the 2024 Seminar, also published in Seen, in which she emphasizes “how refusals birth resourcefulness, how non-negotiable principles rooted in ancestral download give rise to new cinematic visions.” We hope that this report shows that BlackStar continues to meet the moment with rigor, care, and imagination — rooted in solidarity across the communities of the global majority.
Many Lumens, Maori
2024 At-a-Glance
250+
Number of BIPOC artists BSP paid in 2024 50k + Instagram followers @blackstarfest + @seen_journal
$1.3 Million + Amount of money paid to artists and cultural workers in 2024
60+ press mentions in outlets reaching an audience of over 4m worldwide
Including Designboom, Essence, Filmmaker, The Hollywood Reporter, Hyperallergic, IndieWire, Office, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Teen Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Variety
14.5k + Facebook followers
22k +
Others: TikTok, YouTube,Threads/X
20k + Newsletter Subscribers
BlackStar Film Festival 2024
• 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee - MovieMaker Magazine
• Top 5 Most Accessible Festivals in the World - FWD-Doc’s Accessibility Scorecard Impact Report
• Watch our 2024 Festival recap video.
The 13th annual BlackStar Film Festival took place August 1-4, 2024 and was attended by more than 17,000 people worldwide. The Festival included both virtual and in-person screenings of 96 genre-defying films, a central stage featuring interviews and panels, a filmmaker brunch and awards ceremony, and opening and closing night parties.
For the second time, BlackStar took over Broad street in downtown Philadelphia, activating three different venues — Perelman Theater at Kimmel Center, Suzanne Roberts Theater, and John and Richanda Rhoden Arts Center at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts — while continuing to increase accessibility.
“A vibrant tapestry of filmmakers, stars, writers, directors, and artists.” - Essence
The 2024 BlackStar Film Festival was presented in partnership with Open Society Foundation and Black Experience on Xfinity. The full list of sponsors can be found on our website.
BlackStar Film Festival 2024 — Awards
Juried Awards
Best Experimental Film
Two Refusals (Would We Recognize Ourselves Unbroken?)
Dir. Suneil Sanzgiri
Best Feature Documentary
Songs From the Hole
Dir. Contessa Gayles
Best Feature Narrative
After the Long Rains
Dir. Damien Hauser
Best Short Documentary And Still, It Remains
Dirs. Arwa Aburawa and Turab Shah
Best Short Narrative
Boat People
Dir. Al’Ikens Plancher
Philadelphia Filmmaker Award
Expanding Sanctuary
Dir. Kristal Sotomayor
Center for Cultural Power’s Climate Change Award
Bring Them Home
Dirs. Ivan MacDonald, Ivy MacDonald and Daniel Glick
Audience Awards
Favorite Feature Narrative
Inky Pinky Ponky – the Odd One Out
Dirs . Damon Fepule’ai & Ramon Te Wake
Favorite Feature Documentary You Don’t Have to Go Home, But…
Dir. Aidan Un
Favorite Short Narrative Burnt Milk
Dir. Joseph Douglas Elmhirst
Favorite Short Documentary
Planetwalker (A Symphony of Tiny Lights)
Dirs. Dominic Gill and Nadia Gill
Favorite Experimental Two Refusals (Would We Recognize Ourselves Unbroken?)
Dir. Suneil Sanzgiri
Shine Award
The Whites of Our Eyes
Dirs. Yaba Blay and Maame Adjei
BlackStar Pitch Winner Highways
Dir. Zeshawn Ali, produced by Aman Ali
Runner-up
Halal Bodies
Dir. Nausheen Dadabhoy, produced by Heba Elorbany
BlackStar Film Festival 2024
"BlackStar Film Festival is an outstanding international forum enthusiastically supported by Philadelphia's intergenerational community of artists, creatives and cultural workers."
- BSFF24 Filmmaker
“BlackStar feels like home. The space just opens me up to rediscovering parts of myself that I have lost touch with or want to reconnect with. The staff is incredible and so so welcoming! ”
- BSFF24 Attendee
Fellowships
Image: On set of Adamstown. Courtesy of director Andrew Bilindabagabo.
Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab
BlackStar’s Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab is a year-long fellowship for Black, Brown, and Indigenous filmmakers that provides selected fellows with resources, mentorship, and hands-on training and support to produce a short film. BlackStar acts as an executive producer on each short film created during the Lab and premieres the films at our annual film festival.
In 2024, BlackStar launched the third cohort of Lab fellows and their films will premiere at the 2025 BlackStar Film Festival. Since August 2024, the cohort has been filming and editing their projects as well as attending events and workshops.
BlackStar's Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab is made possible with generous support from Black Experience on Xfinity, Independence Public Media Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and Wyncote Foundation.
Image: On set of Las Cosas Que Brillan. Courtesy of director Kristal Sotomayor.
Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab — 2024-2025 Cohort
Adamstown
Andrew Bilindabagabo is a Rwandan-born filmmaker and educator and co-founder of INGOMA Films.
Las Cosas Que Brillan
Kristal Sotomayor is a Peruvian American director, producer, journalist and curator.
African I American Chisom Chieke is a Nigerian-American multimedia artist and second-generation storyteller with a lifelong passion for narrative.
The Voyagers
Walé Oyéjidé is a Nigerian-American filmmaker and designer who dispels bias with beauty.
Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab — 2024-2025 Cohort
“This lab is the difference between shooting the third draft of your script and shooting the eighteenth draft, honed down to its core and what’s on your heart. It’s the difference between aiming achievably-low and aiming for something that you believe will leave viewers different than you found them. We can’t diversify film without investing in the time that it takes for artists to self-actualize. So thank you, BlackStar, for the gift of time to make something that means something. I’m making the best use of this time.”
“The small group and limited number of projects allows for building camaraderie among fellow filmmakers and giving deep attention to each project within the cohort… As a burgeoning filmmaker, this Lab has proved to be invaluable in allowing me the space and community to further develop my voice in a nurturing environment. My learnings here will positively impact my perspective and methodology as I venture forth in my directing career.”
—
Walé (2024-2025 Lab Fellow)
— Andrew (2024-2025 Lab Fellow)
North Star Fellowship
In 2024 BlackStar partnered with Points North Institute for the first time to launch the North Star Fellowship, which supports four innovative Black, Brown and Indigenous media artists and filmmakers who are developing projects that span the latitudes of creative nonfiction. The Fellows were announced at the 2024 BlackStar Film Festival, and convened at the 2024 Camden International Film Festival in September, with plans for a final gathering at the 2025 William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar.
North Start fellows Imani Dennison and Rea Tajiri pose at the 2024 Festival with Zeshawn Ali, Points North's Artist Programs Manager, and Heidi Saman, BlackStar's Program Director.
2024 North Star Fellows:
Zac Manuel, The Instrument — An aging jazz singer uses artificial intelligence to resurrect the voice of his late father, a mesmerizing vocalist he regrets never recording.
Rea Tajiri, Non-Alien — A hybrid documentary and speculative biography of Nikkei journalist and photographer Vince Tajiri, best known as the founding photo editor of Playboy.
Imani Dennison, Mississippi Mud in Spring — A multimedia project that explores Black interiority, encompassing film, sound, installation, and photography.
Lokotah Sanborn, Old Growth — A man's lingering questions from childhood hold deeper implications about the history of colonialism within the state of Maine.
2024 North Star Mentors:
Jessica Beshir - Filmmaker
Nicolás Pereda - Filmmaker
Alex Hannibal - Senior Creative Executive, A24
Seen is our journal of film, art, and visual culture. The journal presents critical cultural discourse from Black, Brown, and Indigenous perspectives to a wider audience of tastemakers, academics, funders, critics, and film enthusiasts.
We released Issue 007, featuring celebrated experimental filmmaker, Ja’Tovia Gary, as both the cover star and guest editor. The issue is our fastestselling issue to date.
Our Seen Advisory Board saw the departure of Elizabeth Méndez Berry, Tarana Burke, John Jackson Jr, and Zaheer Ali, and the addition of Negar Azimi (Bidoun) and in October 2025, author and professor Margo Jefferson. We also contracted Camille Acker as an editor for Seen’s features, studio visits, and reviews. Camille joins section editors Kavita Rajanna and Dr. Yasmine Espert.
Issue 007 was celebrated with a launch event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art featuring a conversation between new Seen Editor-in-Chief, Heidi Saman, and issue contributor Bridgett M.
Davis, writer and director of the landmark 1996 film, Naked Acts. The event welcomed 100 visitors who engaged in a Q&A following the conversation, and a reception.
In partnership with Critical Minded — a grantmaking and learning initiative that supports cultural critics of color in the U.S. — we also hosted an exciting panel at the 2024 BlackStar Film Festival, titled “On Critics and Criticism.” Featuring Angelica
Jade Bastién, Beandra July, Jason L. Asenap, and Jason England as speakers, with Bedatri D. Choudhury as a moderator. The panel illuminated the social and political power of criticism and the importance of diversity in the field. Seen is presented with support from Critical Minded.
2024 Stats:
• 27 writers, illustrators, and photographers commissioned
• 19 articles in print and online
• Available in 22 museums, galleries, bookshops, library collections, and other retailers worldwide
at American Grammar, a coffee shop and bookstore in Philadelphia
Seen — Current Stockists
Philadelphia
American Grammar
Omoi Zakka
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Barnes Foundation
Uncle Bobbie's YOWIE
Ulises
Maryland Good Neighbor
United Kingdom
magCulture
Detroit Periodicals
Los Angeles
Reparations Club
Skylight Books
Vidiots
Toronto Issues Magazine Shop
Portland
Chess Club
Seen is also carried in academic libraries at the following institutions:
Cornell University
Haverford College
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Rhode Island School of Design
The University of Pennsylvania
University of the Arts
The Wexner Center at Ohio State University
William and Louise Greaves Seminar
The William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar is an annual, three-day gathering for Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists working in cinematic realms. The 2024 Seminar, hosted for the first time in California at Stanford University, was presented in collaboration with the university’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts. The fourth edition of the seminar welcomed 112 participants from 17 states for three days of programming consisting of workshops, screenings, and other enriching learning experiences. Highlights included a keynote speech by Anisia Uzeyman titled “Film Resistance: Third Eye Cinema Praxis”, a director’s commentary by Raven Jackson on her film All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, and an in-process presentation with filmmaker Jason Fitzroy Jeffers on his forthcoming documentary The First Plantation.
The William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar is presented with the Wyncote Foundation.
William and Louise Greaves Seminar
“[The Seminar] was incredibly focused on solidarity, and radical imagination. Instead of just focusing on professional development and how as BIPOC we can assimilate into the current film industry, we focused on build[ing] a film industry that is about us, by us, for us.” - 2024 Seminar Attendee
“There was also a deepness - a level of intellectual discourse that I have not seen at any other event in my 30+ years as a filmmaker.” - 2024 Seminar Attendee
Curatorial Projects
In 2024, we hosted and co-hosted additional screenings, events, talks, and other programming throughout the year. These included:
• Short Film Showcase + Revival! program at the Portland Art Museum Center for an Untold Tomorrow (PAM CUT) in Portland, OR.
• BlackStar Selects, a screening of curated selections of festival films, at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY.
• Six Short Films: Works by BlackStar and Sundance Filmmaker Iyabo Kwayana, a short film screening and artist talk in collaboration with the Emory University’s Department of Film and Media and Rollins School of Public Health and the Off the Wall outdoor screen in Atlanta.
• A special selection of environmentallyfocused short films, curated by BlackStar, for Confluence: Earthly Films for Philadelphia.
• An exclusive advance screening of POWER at the Barnes Foundation, followed by a panel discussion with Amistad Law Project and filmmaker Yance Ford and an audience Q&A.
• A curated a film program as a part of the “off” Dakar Biennale installation SLEEP IS PRAYER in Dakar, Senegal.
• For the second year in a row, BlackStar participated in Palestine Cinema Days, FilmLab Palestine’s annual festival taking place in cities around the globe, with a screening of Infiltrators directed by Khaled Jarrar.
BLACKSTAR LOVE + TIME
A series of curated screenings co-presented with the Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, taking place across both venues between November 2024 and January 2025.
• Mickalene Thomas: All About Love. A threepart film series in conjunction with the Barnes Foundation’s latest exhibition, curated by BlackStar’s founder and CEAO Maori Karmael Holmes, with each screening exploring a theme reflected in the show—kinship, femininity, and desire. Featured filmmakers included Mickalene Thomas, Ja’Tovia Gary, Adepero Oduye, and Nefertite Nguvu.
• The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure In conjunction with the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s expansive exhibition, BlackStar presented a three-part film series examining how we fill in the gaps of history and offer opportunities for completion. Featured filmmakers included Titus Kaphar, Bridgette M. Davis, Hank Willis Thomas, and Damon Davis.
BLACKSTAR LUMINARY GALA
BlackStar Luminary Gala
BlackStar hosted its second annual Luminary Gala — a celestial evening of celebration, entertainment, dancing, and the presentation of the 2024 Luminary Awards. The Luminary Gala, BlackStar’s premiere fundraising event, raises crucial resources to further support our suite of year-round programming that provides Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists working in the moving image with the resources and support they need to thrive.
This year’s gala took place at The Switch House in Philadelphia and honored New Negress Film Society, a collective of Black women and non-binary filmmakers who create community and films that reimagine cultural productions, Tourmaline, an artist amplifying Black, trans, and queer histories, Louis Massiah, a documentary filmmaker and the founder of Scribe Video Center, and Annemarie Jacir, a filmmaker preserving and uplifting Palestinian narratives and the founder of Philistine Films.
The Luminary Gala was sponsored by Open Society Foundations, with additional sponsorship support from Forman Arts Initiative, The Ogilvie Family Foundation, Sessions College, The Free Library Foundation, Hon. Frederica Massiah-Jackson, Rebecca O’Leary Art Advisory, and in-kind support from Dream World Bakes and Philadelphia Distilling.
The 2024 Luminary Gala Host Committee also supported the event, they are as listed below: Adjoa Jones de Almeida, Andre D. Carroll, André Robert Lee, Bill Adair, Dana Gills Mycoo, Deesha Philyaw, Ernest Owens, Irit Reinheimer, James Claiborne, Jenny Raskin, Kyle Easley, Lauren Jane Holland, Marcel Pratt, Sen. Nikil Saval, Noura Erakat, Nuala Cabral, Rachel Branson, Rakia Reynolds, Raymond Perkins, Reginald M. Browne, and Tina Farris.
BlackStar Luminary Gala
Sponsored Projects
BlackStar provided both comprehensive and one-time grant sponsorship for the following artist-led projects in 2024.
Comprehensive: Spirits Up!
Project Lead: Sudan Green
Grant Specific
The Nile Splits
Project Lead: Zuff Shoya
Love Jawns: A Writers Room
Project Lead: Yolanda Wisher
Lavender Boy
Project Lead: Vernon Jordan, III
The Dolla Party
Project Lead: Sherean Jones
The Land Alchemists
Project Lead: E Morales-Williams Tonada Menguante
Project Lead: Luis Arnias Without Vision
Project Lead: Patrice Worthy
Wellness & Accessibility
BlackStar is committed to centering access in our internal policies, collective culture and our programmatic offerings to artists and the public. Examples of our work at the 2024 Festival included enhanced access in the following manner:
• ASL interpretation was available at all in-person panels and Q&As.
• For the first time, we had a fully open captioned festival.
• Audio descriptions were available to audiences with low or no vision for select in-person and online film programs.
• We distributed an accessibility guide both digitally and in our printed festival takeaway, allowing us to communicate accessibility accommodations to a wider audience.
• With the support of an external consultant, we are also completing a comprehensive accessibility audit to inform future festival and event planning.
Additionally, we worked with our venue partners so that each site was accessible in the following ways:
• All festival venues are wheelchair accessible.
• Restrooms were gender neutral.
• Parent rooms (also known as lactation rooms) were available.
• Childcare for participating filmmakers and panelists were available upon request.
• A sensory-friendly room/ quiet space was available to all attendees.
• Masks were required at all times indoors, including during film screenings.
Supporters
Foundation Supporters
Critical Minded
Ford Foundation
Independence Public Media Foundation
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation
McLean Contributionship
Mellon Foundation
Nathan Cummings Foundation
The Ogilvie Family Foundation
Perspective Fund
The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage
Philadelphia Cultural Treasures
PopCulture Collaborative
Ruth Foundation for the Arts
Samuel S. Fels Fund
Surdna Foundation
Wallace Foundation
William Penn Foundation
Wyncote Foundation
Government Grants
National Endowment for the Arts
PA Department of Community & Economic Development
Nonprofit Supporters
American Documentary/POV
American Friends Service Committee
Annenberg School for Communication
Black Public Media
Blackbird
The Center for Cultural Power
Color Congress
Documentary.org
Drexel Westphal College of Media Arts
Firelight Media
Forman Arts Initiative
Free Library Foundation
The Gotham Film & Media Institute
Impact Partners
International Documentary Association
ITVS
Kashif
Peace is Loud
Penn Cinema Studies
Philadelphia Foundation
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Points North Institute
Sessions College
StoryCorps
Temple University School of Theater,
Film and Media Arts
WORLD
Corporate Supporters
Andscape
Creative Artists Agency
Black Experience on XFinity
Eventive
Indego
NEON
Open Society Foundations
PECO Powering the Arts
PNC Arts Alive
Rebecca O’Leary Art Advisory
Runway
Soho House
Win Win Coffee
Visit Philly
Individual Supporters
Anonymous (9)
Aarati Kasturirangan
Abigail Allard
Adam Lingo
Adenrele Ojo
Adjoa Jones de Almeida
Aisha Lewis
Aishah Simmons
Aja Davis
Akua Maat
Alexandra Leigh
Allison Acevedo
Allison Budschalow
Almaz Kinder
Amanda Branson Gill & Ben Weinberg
André Robert Lee
Andrew Bilindabagabo
Angela
Annabelle Jellinek
Anne
Anne
Anne
Aronte
Ayinke F Bahia
Bailey Dodds
Bernadine Mellis
Beth Jellinek
Bill Adair
Blondell Reynolds-Brown
Brandi Kilgore
Bridget Longcrier
Camile
Caren Hosansky
Carlo
Carol Mejia
Catherine
Cécile Gouffrant
Charlene
Cheyenne
Ira
Irit
Iyabo
Jon
Jonai
Jordan
Jordan
Joyce
Judilee
Judith
Julia
Julian
Kai
Kaila
Karen
Karen
Reema
Reimi
Kathleen
Katie
Kavita
Kevin
Kia
Romain Vakilitabar
Ronnetta Rideout
Rosalind Ray
Tania
Tanya
Tayyib
Thomasin
Tina
Tina
Tourmaline
Staff and Consultants
BlackStar Projects Staff
Imran Siddiquee
Chief Communications Officer
Akili Davis
Senior Program Associate
Akua Maat
Operations Manager
Alia Ayman
Interim Festival Director
Amber Hunnicutt
Program Manager
Amina Ibrahim
Digital Content Assistant
Autumn F. Valdez
Business Director
Catherine Lee
Chief Operations Officer
Heidi Saman Program Director
Jess Garz
Development Consultant
Lendl Tellington
Technical Director
Leo Brooks
Creative Director
Maori Karmael Holmes
Chief Executive & Artistic Officer
Mariam Dembele
Marketing Manager
Michele Pierson
Development Manager
Nehad Khader
Festival Director
Nile Shareef-Trudeau Program Coordinator
Nyla Daniel Program Manager
Pablo Alarcon, Jr. Design Manager
Swabreen Bakr Marketing & Engagement Director
Sydney Alicia Rodriguez Program Manager
Terri Hall
People & Culture Director
Xenia Matthews
Communications Coordinator
Zendra Shareef
Administrative Coordinator
Zoë Greggs Development Manager
Business Team
Accounting Services Firm
Sutro Li
Auditor
Wegner CPAs
Legal Counsel
Anjali Kumar
Media Relations
ALMA Communications
Board of Directors
Denise C. Beek
VP of Original Storytelling, Represent Justice
Co-Chair
Sekou Campbell
Partner, Pierson Ferdinand LLP
Co-Chair
Amanda Branson Gill
Co-Founder, Kilo Films
Treasurer
Tayyib Smith
Principal,
Little Giant, Smith & Roller, Pipeline Philly
Secretary
Eric Bai
Strategic Partnerships Manager, Airwallex
Jamila Farwell
Producer
Judilee Reed
Chief Executive Officer, United States Artists
Maori Karmael Holmes
Chief Executive & Artistic Officer, BlackStar
Sunanda Ghosh
Associate Executive Director, Forman Arts Initiative
