Maven Leadership Collective 2021 Impact Report

NEWforward WAY

BREAKING & REIMAGINING:

a

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Radical Support Where It Doesn’t Exist

Taking Up Space when Others Say to SHRINK

Your World, Our Lab

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FOUNDERS’ LETTER

T

We are all learners in this space.

hat is the gentle invitation we extend to participants when Maven Leadership Collective facilitates professional development sessions. We’ve been told the concept is simultaneously anxiety-inducing and liberating. While we can sometimes sense some apprehension about moving beyond the familiar, there is almost always a collective exhale; an indicator that we are now cleared for takeoff.

This is a tremendous moment of learning for all of us.

The kind that can be very humbling. Leaders often feel pressure to have all of the answers, but the uncertain circumstances of living and working in a global pandemic have made what has always been a charade even more ridiculous.

Those who we have seen thrive are vulnerable enough to question everything: our assumptions, biases, values, norms—hell, even our leadership. Now more than ever is a time for a reassessment of everything we once knew or thought we knew.

Maven collaborates with individuals and organizations to identify the solutions that will help them reach their full potential. That usually involves us asking others a lot of challenging questions. After four years of learning from so many talented QTPOC leaders and allies, we decided to ask ourselves: How best can we be an even more effective and accessible community resource?

No initiative or element of our operation was off limits.

The results of Maven’s work are evident in our thriving change-makers and communities in Florida and across the country. Yet, we still feel compelled to assess what more can come of the way we influence and move in the world.

2

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

Knowing that queer and trans communities of color are being disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and that resources are still not flowing sufficiently to us, how can Maven help meet those needs? We launched seven urgent pilot initiatives in 16 months that increase resilience and creative responses in our communities. Maven also invested nearly $150,000 to sustain and elevate the impact of our alumni with sponsorships and partnerships with QTPOC-led nonprofits, contractors and vendors because for far too many, the philanthropy cavalry and economic stimulus never arrived.

We are currently working with a group of the smartest people we know to posit a year-long series of questions that will allow us to be an even more reliable source of support for queer and trans social impact leaders of color and allies for years to come.

We recognize the tremendous privilege Maven has to activate such robust and lengthy capacity-building initiatives. However, creating strategies for improving effectiveness is the work of our mission. We can’t evangelize to others, if we are not living it ourselves.

Upon learning of our plans to reimagine and reassess our work, a program officer expressed disbelief—basically saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” She then declined to invest in our work around this reassessment. While we remain hopeful that this program officer may find the results of our work compelling, we were fortunate to align with funders who immediately recognized that change can’t wait, change needs to be resourced robustly and past our comfort zones.

The racial leadership gap remains largely unchanged over 20 years. The QTPOC community continues to see significant philanthropic investment for services in the South, but the long-term funding to make sure the work can be sustained is not sufficient. Blind trust and resources still rush faster and easier to white-led organizations and foundations where staff and boards also remain overwhelmingly white. The sector must move with greater urgency in shifting its culture if we want communities where everyone can thrive.

We’re inspired by so many Mavens, Creators and community partners who leaned into becoming more expansive even when faced with conditions that don’t support their growth. We’re equally inspired by artists who ground us and whose work reminds us to do better, undervalued caretakers who our communities depend on and the conduits and connectors that mobilize resources in “inconvenient” zip codes. We must also uplift the everyday innovators who would never claim that title for themselves.

Here’s to the small-but-mighty nonprofits that have been doing the work and that refuse to shrink. The ones who have been in the trenches of what for many are newly discovered fights for racial justice, empathetic service delivery and intersectional leadership.

Our commitment remains to queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) who were not previously factored into the equation, but are in fact the answer and continue to impact the world exponentially.

Forever Breaking & Reimagining,

We look forward to sharing more about our reimagining process, but for now we are learning that:

It is ok to diverge from spaces, norms, relationships and ways of doing things that were not created for our benefit.

We must take up space in a way that assists others to do the same unapologetically.

When everyone feels free to create and feels free to fail, it reflects a high-performing culture that prioritizes equity and belonging in organizations.

Training alone will not create more creative, equitable, and effective organizations.

Corey Davis

Danny Anzueto

Co-founder & Executive Director

Co-founder & Sr. Director of Talent Activation

(he | they)

(all pronouns)

New ways of achieving impact deserve new metrics. Simply because something is unfamiliar to “traditional” decisionmakers, does not mean the value is diminished.

2 0 2 1 I M PAC T R E P O RT

|

3

FOUNDERS’ LETTER

T

We are all learners in this space.

hat is the gentle invitation we extend to participants when Maven Leadership Collective facilitates professional development sessions. We’ve been told the concept is simultaneously anxiety-inducing and liberating. While we can sometimes sense some apprehension about moving beyond the familiar, there is almost always a collective exhale; an indicator that we are now cleared for takeoff.

This is a tremendous moment of learning for all of us.

The kind that can be very humbling. Leaders often feel pressure to have all of the answers, but the uncertain circumstances of living and working in a global pandemic have made what has always been a charade even more ridiculous.

Those who we have seen thrive are vulnerable enough to question everything: our assumptions, biases, values, norms—hell, even our leadership. Now more than ever is a time for a reassessment of everything we once knew or thought we knew.

Maven collaborates with individuals and organizations to identify the solutions that will help them reach their full potential. That usually involves us asking others a lot of challenging questions. After four years of learning from so many talented QTPOC leaders and allies, we decided to ask ourselves: How best can we be an even more effective and accessible community resource?

No initiative or element of our operation was off limits.

The results of Maven’s work are evident in our thriving change-makers and communities in Florida and across the country. Yet, we still feel compelled to assess what more can come of the way we influence and move in the world.

2

|

A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

Knowing that queer and trans communities of color are being disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and that resources are still not flowing sufficiently to us, how can Maven help meet those needs? We launched seven urgent pilot initiatives in 16 months that increase resilience and creative responses in our communities. Maven also invested nearly $150,000 to sustain and elevate the impact of our alumni with sponsorships and partnerships with QTPOC-led nonprofits, contractors and vendors because for far too many, the philanthropy cavalry and economic stimulus never arrived.

We are currently working with a group of the smartest people we know to posit a year-long series of questions that will allow us to be an even more reliable source of support for queer and trans social impact leaders of color and allies for years to come.

We recognize the tremendous privilege Maven has to activate such robust and lengthy capacity-building initiatives. However, creating strategies for improving effectiveness is the work of our mission. We can’t evangelize to others, if we are not living it ourselves.

Upon learning of our plans to reimagine and reassess our work, a program officer expressed disbelief—basically saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” She then declined to invest in our work around this reassessment. While we remain hopeful that this program officer may find the results of our work compelling, we were fortunate to align with funders who immediately recognized that change can’t wait, change needs to be resourced robustly and past our comfort zones.

The racial leadership gap remains largely unchanged over 20 years. The QTPOC community continues to see significant philanthropic investment for services in the South, but the long-term funding to make sure the work can be sustained is not sufficient. Blind trust and resources still rush faster and easier to white-led organizations and foundations where staff and boards also remain overwhelmingly white. The sector must move with greater urgency in shifting its culture if we want communities where everyone can thrive.

We’re inspired by so many Mavens, Creators and community partners who leaned into becoming more expansive even when faced with conditions that don’t support their growth. We’re equally inspired by artists who ground us and whose work reminds us to do better, undervalued caretakers who our communities depend on and the conduits and connectors that mobilize resources in “inconvenient” zip codes. We must also uplift the everyday innovators who would never claim that title for themselves.

Here’s to the small-but-mighty nonprofits that have been doing the work and that refuse to shrink. The ones who have been in the trenches of what for many are newly discovered fights for racial justice, empathetic service delivery and intersectional leadership.

Our commitment remains to queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) who were not previously factored into the equation, but are in fact the answer and continue to impact the world exponentially.

Forever Breaking & Reimagining,

We look forward to sharing more about our reimagining process, but for now we are learning that:

It is ok to diverge from spaces, norms, relationships and ways of doing things that were not created for our benefit.

We must take up space in a way that assists others to do the same unapologetically.

When everyone feels free to create and feels free to fail, it reflects a high-performing culture that prioritizes equity and belonging in organizations.

Training alone will not create more creative, equitable, and effective organizations.

Corey Davis

Danny Anzueto

Co-founder & Executive Director

Co-founder & Sr. Director of Talent Activation

(he | they)

(all pronouns)

New ways of achieving impact deserve new metrics. Simply because something is unfamiliar to “traditional” decisionmakers, does not mean the value is diminished.

2 0 2 1 I M PAC T R E P O RT

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3

BREAKING AND REIMAGINING “TRAINING”

Creators Studio

Radical Support where it doesn’t exist

Yasmin Flasterstein (she | her) founded Peer Support Space, a diverse peer-led community that uses the power of lived experiences to educate and provide free options for mental health wellness.

She created this much needed program for people who often are failed by traditional mental health “support” systems. This peer model worked so well, it started to grow— but at that pivotal moment when she needed support to then figure out scale and balance, she found few resources existed for QTPOC founders.

At the same time, Maven Leadership Collective was creating an ecosystem to do just that and Flasterstein joined us on that journey.

Collective is making the support ecosystem to assist queer and trans people of color at their start and when they’re winning and growing. Given the environment that exists for QTPOC, we don’t want to hope for their success, we want to ensure it by supplementing instruction with coaching, financial investments and connecting leaders with longterm responsive networks—even when the classes and structured learning experience is over. That’s the key.

At Maven Leadership Collective, the social innovators we work with and support are largely queer or transgender people of color who are founders in social impact work, yet the investments to support their ideas are hard to come by. Self-funding for most Maven leaders is

Creators Studio is a space free to queer and transgender people of color and allies to experiment and design with fellow founders and professional coaches. We create an environment where leaders are encouraged to take risks in ways normally reserved for white folks, which is ultimately the privilege to be supported to create, possibly fail— or in preferred jargon “pivot”— and recreate again. It’s a place to develop ideas without immediately having to deliver a service, a space to really build out strategy.

From there, what happens when you go out into the world and that idea actually takes off?

Look around and...crickets. Again, for QTPOC who are founders in social impact work, the support is nearly non-existent even after they’ve built successful and impactful work, which is why we also created Maven Master Class.

Maven Master Class is an advanced learning and creating experience. You’ve been through the beginning and intermediate stages of your work, now what happens for professional development when you scale beyond the initial founding phase? When you’re blowing up? Over the course of our sessions we facilitate a culture of openness in structured group brainstorming for participants to fine-tune their why, explore business and revenue strategies and define methods for accelerating and expanding.

Participants also leave with strategies to scale their impact, generate earned income, develop a leadership succession plan, measure what matters and create more equitable spaces, all while having a new responsive network they can tap into anytime. They know that with Maven they are never moving on their own, but in community.

— Yasmin Flasterstein (she | her)

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

simply not a financial option and very little is given from traditional philanthropy to support creation and sustained growth.

Our work is rooted in the radical traditions of geniuses like author Toni Morrison who once said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” We firmly believe, just as Morrison did, that we will not and do not have to wait to be included. If it does not exist, we will make it ourselves. It is in that spirit that Maven launched these pilots.

WATC H

Maven Master Class

“ When you think, ‘support group,’ you think, ‘nice,’ but sometimes being nice is letting people know how it is. Most spaces won’t do that. That’s so necessary. It saves you time, it saves you money—that’s nice.”

It is time for something new. If organizations say they care about equity, the old ways that claim to “train” QTPOC leaders simply aren’t going to work—not that they ever really did. That is why Maven Leadership Collective is building out a new model of play, experimentation and holistic support because we understand that liberation is not coming from a single training.

Two of our new pilot programs, Creators Studio, a 6-week program, and Maven Master Class, a 4-month program, give social innovators the tools and real support they need from ideation to implementation and growth. Maven Leadership

Creators Marco Quiroga and Willie Beasley explore how to test their ideas with the skills shared in Creators Studio.

Impact In this past year, within this new support system, Creators Studio graduates received coaching, matching sponsorships, and the possibility to apply for the Maven Leadership Cohort among other resources. Maven Master Class graduates received a cadre of similar advanced resources and more than $42k in financial support.

We could certainly go on about what happens when queer and trans people of color are given the time and investments to create and grow, but we’d rather you hear directly from them, those who have participated in these two pilot programs.

This is their story to tell.

2 0 2 1 I M PAC T R E P O RT

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5

BREAKING AND REIMAGINING “TRAINING”

Creators Studio

Radical Support where it doesn’t exist

Yasmin Flasterstein (she | her) founded Peer Support Space, a diverse peer-led community that uses the power of lived experiences to educate and provide free options for mental health wellness.

She created this much needed program for people who often are failed by traditional mental health “support” systems. This peer model worked so well, it started to grow— but at that pivotal moment when she needed support to then figure out scale and balance, she found few resources existed for QTPOC founders.

At the same time, Maven Leadership Collective was creating an ecosystem to do just that and Flasterstein joined us on that journey.

Collective is making the support ecosystem to assist queer and trans people of color at their start and when they’re winning and growing. Given the environment that exists for QTPOC, we don’t want to hope for their success, we want to ensure it by supplementing instruction with coaching, financial investments and connecting leaders with longterm responsive networks—even when the classes and structured learning experience is over. That’s the key.

At Maven Leadership Collective, the social innovators we work with and support are largely queer or transgender people of color who are founders in social impact work, yet the investments to support their ideas are hard to come by. Self-funding for most Maven leaders is

Creators Studio is a space free to queer and transgender people of color and allies to experiment and design with fellow founders and professional coaches. We create an environment where leaders are encouraged to take risks in ways normally reserved for white folks, which is ultimately the privilege to be supported to create, possibly fail— or in preferred jargon “pivot”— and recreate again. It’s a place to develop ideas without immediately having to deliver a service, a space to really build out strategy.

From there, what happens when you go out into the world and that idea actually takes off?

Look around and...crickets. Again, for QTPOC who are founders in social impact work, the support is nearly non-existent even after they’ve built successful and impactful work, which is why we also created Maven Master Class.

Maven Master Class is an advanced learning and creating experience. You’ve been through the beginning and intermediate stages of your work, now what happens for professional development when you scale beyond the initial founding phase? When you’re blowing up? Over the course of our sessions we facilitate a culture of openness in structured group brainstorming for participants to fine-tune their why, explore business and revenue strategies and define methods for accelerating and expanding.

Participants also leave with strategies to scale their impact, generate earned income, develop a leadership succession plan, measure what matters and create more equitable spaces, all while having a new responsive network they can tap into anytime. They know that with Maven they are never moving on their own, but in community.

— Yasmin Flasterstein (she | her)

4

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

simply not a financial option and very little is given from traditional philanthropy to support creation and sustained growth.

Our work is rooted in the radical traditions of geniuses like author Toni Morrison who once said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” We firmly believe, just as Morrison did, that we will not and do not have to wait to be included. If it does not exist, we will make it ourselves. It is in that spirit that Maven launched these pilots.

WATC H

Maven Master Class

“ When you think, ‘support group,’ you think, ‘nice,’ but sometimes being nice is letting people know how it is. Most spaces won’t do that. That’s so necessary. It saves you time, it saves you money—that’s nice.”

It is time for something new. If organizations say they care about equity, the old ways that claim to “train” QTPOC leaders simply aren’t going to work—not that they ever really did. That is why Maven Leadership Collective is building out a new model of play, experimentation and holistic support because we understand that liberation is not coming from a single training.

Two of our new pilot programs, Creators Studio, a 6-week program, and Maven Master Class, a 4-month program, give social innovators the tools and real support they need from ideation to implementation and growth. Maven Leadership

Creators Marco Quiroga and Willie Beasley explore how to test their ideas with the skills shared in Creators Studio.

Impact In this past year, within this new support system, Creators Studio graduates received coaching, matching sponsorships, and the possibility to apply for the Maven Leadership Cohort among other resources. Maven Master Class graduates received a cadre of similar advanced resources and more than $42k in financial support.

We could certainly go on about what happens when queer and trans people of color are given the time and investments to create and grow, but we’d rather you hear directly from them, those who have participated in these two pilot programs.

This is their story to tell.

2 0 2 1 I M PAC T R E P O RT

|

5

“They Saw Me”

WATC H

Angela Zanieya Hunt (she | her) Project: Housing for folks who identify as trans and nonbinary C R E ATORS STUDIO

Everyone in the class understood my passion. I’m self educated, no college and they saw my passion and drive even if I didn’t know all the lingo. I get dismissed a lot because I don’t come from this type of world, but they saw me and said we can help you to get this done. The true honesty got me.

I’m also a very spiritual person. I was brought up in a group home and I had many struggles along the way with my sexuality, with what I wanted to do in life and I was taught to always take everything to God. For that reason, I always take everything to God and ask Him to manifest his spirit in me. I’m two and half years sober from a drug addiction, I’m no longer walking on the streets selling my body and when I showed up in my workshop as my spiritual self people didn’t back off and shy away like I’m used to. They didn’t back away from me. They said, “We think that will help you out.”

They encouraged me to stay focused, but they never told me I can’t do it. They did say, “If you do this, or if you set this goal this is how you will get there.” You don’t get many spaces like that. Being that I’m in “The City Beautiful” of Orlando, I thought Disney was the most magical place on earth, but going into the Maven Creators Studio, that was the real magical place.

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

Maven Adam Ropizar shares why seeing himself in wellness initiatives is crucial to his own wellbeing journey and how Maven wants to do that

for others.

“It Saves You Time, It Saves You Money” Yasmin Flasterstein (she | her) Founder of Peer Support Space

“A Future-Looking Framework” Adam Ropizar (he | they) Founder of Evolve Campus, inclusive college sexual education curriculum M AV E N M A ST E R C L A SS

I decided to join the Maven Master Class because I knew my idea was viable, but I needed the next steps.

The overall goal of Evolve Campus is to redefine the sexual violence curriculum on college campuses. After my assault in college, I realized how bad the program was on campus. I tried to make appointments with the university to make a report. It took them two months to get back to me. At the local police station they said it wasn’t their jurisdiction and for me to go back to campus. I tried on-campus therapy, they said I had to wait at least one month to get an appointment. I went to find resources where I can take an STD test—I kept hitting barrier after barrier and the more you have to explain it, the more traumatizing it can become when you don’t have the resources available to you. I didn’t even report. I had to prioritize my healing. I could not spend all my effort fighting these barriers that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

Master Class gave me the support and the framework on how to start my organization. I learned how to start my 501(c)(3) and they also helped me create a future-looking framework for Evolve and its sustainability. We had a great workshop on succession planning where the main framework was that no one organization can rest on the shoulders of one person. You need a team. That’s a really big lesson.

M AV E N M A ST E R C L A SS

I came to the Master Class because I really wanted to focus on measuring outcomes that matter. That’s what attracted me because in the Maven Leadership Cohort I started Peer Support Space. I knew I was onto something, but I was scared that I was growing in such an exponential way. I really needed to build capacity because I was starting to feel burned out. I needed help.

The business coach they set me up with was very helpful, she helped me with the actual ask. When you don’t ask for money, you don’t get it.

Also, the pitch deck was really helpful in redefining my pitch a year and a half after launching.

I’ve learned so much about not talking in the jargon that I knew. The session we went through where people said they hated my pitch deck because it didn’t register with them, that was needed. They let me crash and burn there so I didn’t do that out in the world.

Some people don’t have anyone who can tell you in a real and honest way and who also knows what they’re talking about in the social justice space. Maven genuinely wants me to succeed and that’s really felt. It’s important to have this group for queer and trans people of color because this nonprofit world was not made for us.

WATC H

Maven Yasmin Flasterstein reflects on her journey of scaling her impact through Maven Master Class.

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7

“They Saw Me”

WATC H

Angela Zanieya Hunt (she | her) Project: Housing for folks who identify as trans and nonbinary C R E ATORS STUDIO

Everyone in the class understood my passion. I’m self educated, no college and they saw my passion and drive even if I didn’t know all the lingo. I get dismissed a lot because I don’t come from this type of world, but they saw me and said we can help you to get this done. The true honesty got me.

I’m also a very spiritual person. I was brought up in a group home and I had many struggles along the way with my sexuality, with what I wanted to do in life and I was taught to always take everything to God. For that reason, I always take everything to God and ask Him to manifest his spirit in me. I’m two and half years sober from a drug addiction, I’m no longer walking on the streets selling my body and when I showed up in my workshop as my spiritual self people didn’t back off and shy away like I’m used to. They didn’t back away from me. They said, “We think that will help you out.”

They encouraged me to stay focused, but they never told me I can’t do it. They did say, “If you do this, or if you set this goal this is how you will get there.” You don’t get many spaces like that. Being that I’m in “The City Beautiful” of Orlando, I thought Disney was the most magical place on earth, but going into the Maven Creators Studio, that was the real magical place.

6

|

A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

Maven Adam Ropizar shares why seeing himself in wellness initiatives is crucial to his own wellbeing journey and how Maven wants to do that

for others.

“It Saves You Time, It Saves You Money” Yasmin Flasterstein (she | her) Founder of Peer Support Space

“A Future-Looking Framework” Adam Ropizar (he | they) Founder of Evolve Campus, inclusive college sexual education curriculum M AV E N M A ST E R C L A SS

I decided to join the Maven Master Class because I knew my idea was viable, but I needed the next steps.

The overall goal of Evolve Campus is to redefine the sexual violence curriculum on college campuses. After my assault in college, I realized how bad the program was on campus. I tried to make appointments with the university to make a report. It took them two months to get back to me. At the local police station they said it wasn’t their jurisdiction and for me to go back to campus. I tried on-campus therapy, they said I had to wait at least one month to get an appointment. I went to find resources where I can take an STD test—I kept hitting barrier after barrier and the more you have to explain it, the more traumatizing it can become when you don’t have the resources available to you. I didn’t even report. I had to prioritize my healing. I could not spend all my effort fighting these barriers that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

Master Class gave me the support and the framework on how to start my organization. I learned how to start my 501(c)(3) and they also helped me create a future-looking framework for Evolve and its sustainability. We had a great workshop on succession planning where the main framework was that no one organization can rest on the shoulders of one person. You need a team. That’s a really big lesson.

M AV E N M A ST E R C L A SS

I came to the Master Class because I really wanted to focus on measuring outcomes that matter. That’s what attracted me because in the Maven Leadership Cohort I started Peer Support Space. I knew I was onto something, but I was scared that I was growing in such an exponential way. I really needed to build capacity because I was starting to feel burned out. I needed help.

The business coach they set me up with was very helpful, she helped me with the actual ask. When you don’t ask for money, you don’t get it.

Also, the pitch deck was really helpful in redefining my pitch a year and a half after launching.

I’ve learned so much about not talking in the jargon that I knew. The session we went through where people said they hated my pitch deck because it didn’t register with them, that was needed. They let me crash and burn there so I didn’t do that out in the world.

Some people don’t have anyone who can tell you in a real and honest way and who also knows what they’re talking about in the social justice space. Maven genuinely wants me to succeed and that’s really felt. It’s important to have this group for queer and trans people of color because this nonprofit world was not made for us.

WATC H

Maven Yasmin Flasterstein reflects on her journey of scaling her impact through Maven Master Class.

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7

“It’s Ok To Change Your Mind” Rebecca Desir (she | her) Project: Black Joy Festival C R E ATORS STUDIO

The experience has opened up my mind a lot about ideas, the process to hash out an idea and see how it will work. We aren’t going to talk about funding and all that first, we’re just going to spend time talking about the idea.

It made me ask, “Why is joy important to people? Why should they care about my event? How do I exude joy to get people interested in joy?

My first video sucked. I think it didn’t exude joy. One of the critiques I got was that I wasn’t even smiling in the video and here I am trying to promote a Black Joy Festival.

I think the biggest moment for me was although we came in with an idea, some people’s ideas really changed. It was ok for us to say, “I know I came in with this idea, but there are other ways to fulfill this without going forward with this particular idea.” We were super honest. I learned it’s ok to change your mind about an idea.

I didn’t realize just how important it is to create spaces to bounce off ideas with people who bring in their full selves and allow us to really ask questions of each other with different perspectives and not just your friend who thinks like you. It pushes you out of your comfort zone.

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

“It’s Like I Had Shackles on My Feet” WATC H

Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet (he | him) Project: Consulting to build power in the South C R E ATORS STUDIO

Creator Rebecca Desir shares a glimpse into the Black Joy Festival, an idea she tested during Creators Studio’s pilot program.

I came into Creators Studio with a critique. Philanthropy does not invest in leaders and organizations in the South.

We get a lot of money poured into strategic states for election cycles, but it doesn’t build power and it burns people out. It’s not pushing for more progressive spaces here. I want to change that.

I try to bring myself fully into a space— as a former undocumented person, as a queer person, but to be honest with you I was afraid. I was afraid of risk and I brought with me a lot of self doubt.

What I got out of the workshops was clarity. Clarity on what I truly believe and what I want to achieve, which

is really changing the way philanthropy works and pushing for long-term investments. That clarity, I did not have that when I first arrived in the program.

It pushed me to do a lot of self reflection of what I was truly afraid about. Was I afraid of failure of not knowing what to do? But what it came down to is I was hurt. Growing up in the US as a queer immigrant there are so many narratives about what’s wrong with you and your only value is your labor. You’re here as a guest. This is not your country. You’re illegal. You’re in the shadows.

All of these things deeply harmed me.

I didn’t know it was such a hindrance that hurt my own success. Creators Studio pushed us to ask, “Why, why, why, why?”

When you ask “why” you get to the core. We also were with a diverse group— in identity and also the ideas they were bringing into the space. By listening to people’s experiences sometimes you find nuggets about you in their narratives. It’s like I had shackles on my feet that I didn’t quite know were there and if I dont’ know it’s there, how do I try to break out?

“Aha Moment” Anthony Sis (they | them) Founder of Cultura Shift, consulting company focusing on transformative race, justice and diversity training M AV E N M A ST E R C L A SS

The first time I proposed the name Cultura Shift [Cultura is pronounced in Spanish] it was pretty well received and there were a few people in my Master Class who questioned combining the two languages. It really was an aha moment of recognizing everyone doesn’t have to get it if you can explain why you stand by it. I didn’t have to change the name. That propelled my confidence.

It was scary to be challenged. You launch an idea and you have to be able to talk about your ideas and receive feedback.

It was a good launching pad with people I trust and can get critical feedback from.

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9

“It’s Ok To Change Your Mind” Rebecca Desir (she | her) Project: Black Joy Festival C R E ATORS STUDIO

The experience has opened up my mind a lot about ideas, the process to hash out an idea and see how it will work. We aren’t going to talk about funding and all that first, we’re just going to spend time talking about the idea.

It made me ask, “Why is joy important to people? Why should they care about my event? How do I exude joy to get people interested in joy?

My first video sucked. I think it didn’t exude joy. One of the critiques I got was that I wasn’t even smiling in the video and here I am trying to promote a Black Joy Festival.

I think the biggest moment for me was although we came in with an idea, some people’s ideas really changed. It was ok for us to say, “I know I came in with this idea, but there are other ways to fulfill this without going forward with this particular idea.” We were super honest. I learned it’s ok to change your mind about an idea.

I didn’t realize just how important it is to create spaces to bounce off ideas with people who bring in their full selves and allow us to really ask questions of each other with different perspectives and not just your friend who thinks like you. It pushes you out of your comfort zone.

8

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

“It’s Like I Had Shackles on My Feet” WATC H

Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet (he | him) Project: Consulting to build power in the South C R E ATORS STUDIO

Creator Rebecca Desir shares a glimpse into the Black Joy Festival, an idea she tested during Creators Studio’s pilot program.

I came into Creators Studio with a critique. Philanthropy does not invest in leaders and organizations in the South.

We get a lot of money poured into strategic states for election cycles, but it doesn’t build power and it burns people out. It’s not pushing for more progressive spaces here. I want to change that.

I try to bring myself fully into a space— as a former undocumented person, as a queer person, but to be honest with you I was afraid. I was afraid of risk and I brought with me a lot of self doubt.

What I got out of the workshops was clarity. Clarity on what I truly believe and what I want to achieve, which

is really changing the way philanthropy works and pushing for long-term investments. That clarity, I did not have that when I first arrived in the program.

It pushed me to do a lot of self reflection of what I was truly afraid about. Was I afraid of failure of not knowing what to do? But what it came down to is I was hurt. Growing up in the US as a queer immigrant there are so many narratives about what’s wrong with you and your only value is your labor. You’re here as a guest. This is not your country. You’re illegal. You’re in the shadows.

All of these things deeply harmed me.

I didn’t know it was such a hindrance that hurt my own success. Creators Studio pushed us to ask, “Why, why, why, why?”

When you ask “why” you get to the core. We also were with a diverse group— in identity and also the ideas they were bringing into the space. By listening to people’s experiences sometimes you find nuggets about you in their narratives. It’s like I had shackles on my feet that I didn’t quite know were there and if I dont’ know it’s there, how do I try to break out?

“Aha Moment” Anthony Sis (they | them) Founder of Cultura Shift, consulting company focusing on transformative race, justice and diversity training M AV E N M A ST E R C L A SS

The first time I proposed the name Cultura Shift [Cultura is pronounced in Spanish] it was pretty well received and there were a few people in my Master Class who questioned combining the two languages. It really was an aha moment of recognizing everyone doesn’t have to get it if you can explain why you stand by it. I didn’t have to change the name. That propelled my confidence.

It was scary to be challenged. You launch an idea and you have to be able to talk about your ideas and receive feedback.

It was a good launching pad with people I trust and can get critical feedback from.

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9

space Taking Up

7

$150k

WATC H

Maven Anthony Sis integrates identities into their DEI consulting to create authentic spaces for equity and inclusion.

when others say to

Maven Master Class

Creators Studio Orlando

We like to say Maven provides the lift for social impact leaders to fly.

The freedom to take risks, experiment, and yes, even fail is essential to that lift. But, it’s not enough to say it, we have to model it too—even when flying into headwinds.

So of course, we decided to launch seven pilot initiatives during a global pandemic because we recognized that timely information, technical assistance, and funding were not cascading to queer and trans communities of color. Demand for our support increased at a time where funding for the work we do diminished in favor of traditional service agencies almost immediately. And then, we embarked on a year-long process to learn from the ongoing pandemic and continued fight against systemic racism to reimagine the ways we make change. We are making every effort to ensure that Maven is a credible and useful resource for our community for many more years to come.

10

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

2020

Jan 2021

WATC H

Sept 2020

May 2021

In a time where QTPOC were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, clearly we needed to increase access to physical and mental health activities and resources. Adapting our popular in-person yoga and meditation series to a digital platform allowed us to share it with people in the comfort of their homes.

Maven Camp

Linkages/ Enlaces

Headwinds From April 2020 to October 2021 Maven put its money where its mouth is—we invested more than $150,000 in catalytic project sponsorships for Mavens & Creators and partnerships with QTPOC-led nonprofits, contracts, and vendors.

We are just getting started.

Nearly half (46%) of Black-led organizations reported a loss in grant revenue, with less than a quarter (23%) experiencing an increase.

On the Frontlines | Building Movement Project | 2020

Organizations led by people of color win less grant money and are trusted less to make decisions about how to spend those funds than groups with white leaders, according to a new report by researchers at Bridgespan and Echoing Green.

Chronicle of Philanthropy | May 7, 2020

May

Possibilities Clinic

We resisted talk of a “return to normal” or even preparing for an ambiguous “new normal.” We provided individual coaching clinics and developed on-demand skill-builder videos, and information that increased access to recovery resources for QTPOC community leaders in Central Florida.

June 2021

Reimagining Maven

We have learned so much since we launched in 2016, especially in the last year. We are taking a year to test our assumptions, critique our practice, and build new and better—even for our best known initiatives.

July

WATC H

2021

What if we cocooned a group of people at the top of their game in various fields and prioritized rest and the exchange of big ideas? What could we build together?

Maven Andres Acosta explores the impact of the Linkages/Enlaces program on participants and organizations.

There are forgotten identities in equity discussions, even in progressive spaces. People living with HIV are one. Linkages/Enlaces expands this policy-oriented discussion for changemakers who are in a wide-range of issue areas, not just health.

2021

Maven Digital Wellness Hub

months during a pandemic

April

Fifty percent of executive decisions fail. Those stakes are too high for QTPOC leaders. Maven designed a rigorous 6-week virtual intensive that fosters learning, experimentation, collaboration, and creativity.

VISIT

16

into the hands of Black and brown folks

We welcomed a select group of Mavens back to the nest for advanced lessons on scaling and sustaining their initiatives.

shrink

Pilot Initiatives

Sept 2021

Creators Studio Miami

Creators Kynthia Arrington and Yasmin Andre discuss the learning process in Creators Studio.

Foundation boards remain white — and there is a relationship between a board’s racial diversity and a foundation’s likelihood to undertake a number of practices, including supporting organizations most affected by the crisis of 2020. Yet, few foundation leaders mention increasing the racial diversity of their board as a priority.

Foundations Respond to Crisis: Towards Equity?

Center For Effective Philanthropy | 2021

Across Echoing Green’s 2019 applicant pool alone, in the United States there is a $20 million racial funding gap between Black-led and white-led early-stage organizations.

Black Funding Denied | National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy | 2020

The unrestricted net assets of Black-led organizations are 76 percent less than their white-led counterparts.

Racial Equity in Philanthropy | Echoing Green & The Bridgespan Group | 2020

2 0 2 1 I M PAC T R E P O RT

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11

space Taking Up

7

$150k

WATC H

Maven Anthony Sis integrates identities into their DEI consulting to create authentic spaces for equity and inclusion.

when others say to

Maven Master Class

Creators Studio Orlando

We like to say Maven provides the lift for social impact leaders to fly.

The freedom to take risks, experiment, and yes, even fail is essential to that lift. But, it’s not enough to say it, we have to model it too—even when flying into headwinds.

So of course, we decided to launch seven pilot initiatives during a global pandemic because we recognized that timely information, technical assistance, and funding were not cascading to queer and trans communities of color. Demand for our support increased at a time where funding for the work we do diminished in favor of traditional service agencies almost immediately. And then, we embarked on a year-long process to learn from the ongoing pandemic and continued fight against systemic racism to reimagine the ways we make change. We are making every effort to ensure that Maven is a credible and useful resource for our community for many more years to come.

10

|

A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

2020

Jan 2021

WATC H

Sept 2020

May 2021

In a time where QTPOC were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, clearly we needed to increase access to physical and mental health activities and resources. Adapting our popular in-person yoga and meditation series to a digital platform allowed us to share it with people in the comfort of their homes.

Maven Camp

Linkages/ Enlaces

Headwinds From April 2020 to October 2021 Maven put its money where its mouth is—we invested more than $150,000 in catalytic project sponsorships for Mavens & Creators and partnerships with QTPOC-led nonprofits, contracts, and vendors.

We are just getting started.

Nearly half (46%) of Black-led organizations reported a loss in grant revenue, with less than a quarter (23%) experiencing an increase.

On the Frontlines | Building Movement Project | 2020

Organizations led by people of color win less grant money and are trusted less to make decisions about how to spend those funds than groups with white leaders, according to a new report by researchers at Bridgespan and Echoing Green.

Chronicle of Philanthropy | May 7, 2020

May

Possibilities Clinic

We resisted talk of a “return to normal” or even preparing for an ambiguous “new normal.” We provided individual coaching clinics and developed on-demand skill-builder videos, and information that increased access to recovery resources for QTPOC community leaders in Central Florida.

June 2021

Reimagining Maven

We have learned so much since we launched in 2016, especially in the last year. We are taking a year to test our assumptions, critique our practice, and build new and better—even for our best known initiatives.

July

WATC H

2021

What if we cocooned a group of people at the top of their game in various fields and prioritized rest and the exchange of big ideas? What could we build together?

Maven Andres Acosta explores the impact of the Linkages/Enlaces program on participants and organizations.

There are forgotten identities in equity discussions, even in progressive spaces. People living with HIV are one. Linkages/Enlaces expands this policy-oriented discussion for changemakers who are in a wide-range of issue areas, not just health.

2021

Maven Digital Wellness Hub

months during a pandemic

April

Fifty percent of executive decisions fail. Those stakes are too high for QTPOC leaders. Maven designed a rigorous 6-week virtual intensive that fosters learning, experimentation, collaboration, and creativity.

VISIT

16

into the hands of Black and brown folks

We welcomed a select group of Mavens back to the nest for advanced lessons on scaling and sustaining their initiatives.

shrink

Pilot Initiatives

Sept 2021

Creators Studio Miami

Creators Kynthia Arrington and Yasmin Andre discuss the learning process in Creators Studio.

Foundation boards remain white — and there is a relationship between a board’s racial diversity and a foundation’s likelihood to undertake a number of practices, including supporting organizations most affected by the crisis of 2020. Yet, few foundation leaders mention increasing the racial diversity of their board as a priority.

Foundations Respond to Crisis: Towards Equity?

Center For Effective Philanthropy | 2021

Across Echoing Green’s 2019 applicant pool alone, in the United States there is a $20 million racial funding gap between Black-led and white-led early-stage organizations.

Black Funding Denied | National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy | 2020

The unrestricted net assets of Black-led organizations are 76 percent less than their white-led counterparts.

Racial Equity in Philanthropy | Echoing Green & The Bridgespan Group | 2020

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11

Your World, Our Lab Did you know?

Detroit Boulder Los Angeles

Toronto

London

Berlin

Maven’s reach goes far beyond our bases in Miami and Orlando. From our network of Maven alums to Maven consulting work, our impact and influence goes the distance.

New York City

Dallas Orlando Palm Beach Ft. Lauderdale Miami

Lagos

Johannesburg

12

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

2 0 2 1 I M PAC T R E P O RT

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13

Your World, Our Lab Did you know?

Detroit Boulder Los Angeles

Toronto

London

Berlin

Maven’s reach goes far beyond our bases in Miami and Orlando. From our network of Maven alums to Maven consulting work, our impact and influence goes the distance.

New York City

Dallas Orlando Miami Palm Beach Ft. Lauderdale Lagos

Johannesburg

12

|

A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

2 0 2 1 I M PAC T R E P O RT

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13

W H AT I T M E A N S TO BE A

Social

IMPACT IDEAS LAB

A

n incoming participant once asked a Maven alumnx for advice on the program. The alumnx replied, “Get everything you can out of this moment because it is like no other leadership experience you have ever had.” And with a laugh added, “And be on time!”

What happens in our labs is not really visible from the outside because of the way Maven prioritizes and focuses on participants and clients in closed-door sessions.

However, the results are very much visible. The rigor of our approach and the emphasis on preparation for moments of opportunity are the reasons our folks stay ready—because if you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.

We create conditions that allow the most talented practitioners to lose themselves in the experimentation, improvisation, and collaboration necessary to access their full range—whether they’re executive level or still exploring possibilities.

We support the work that is done and continues when others aren’t looking because that work is most important.

14

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

Here, Maven Kunya Rowley (he | him), founder of Hued Songs, a performance series that celebrates and explores Black culture through Black music and Black artists, underscores this type of leadership and model of creation.

Maven Kunya Rowley, Tenor; Wilkie Ferguson (he | him), III, Baritone; Leo Williams (he | him), Tenor; Thando Mamba (he | him), Bass-Baritone at The Historic Hampton House in Miami for a forthcoming commission. Hued Songs was launched with a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and gained its incorporation and tax-exempt status with support of Maven Leadership Collective in partnership with Akerman.

2 0 2 1 I M PAC T R E P O RT

| 15

W H AT I T M E A N S TO BE A

Social

IMPACT IDEAS LAB

A

n incoming participant once asked a Maven alumnx for advice on the program. The alumnx replied, “Get everything you can out of this moment because it is like no other leadership experience you have ever had.” And with a laugh added, “And be on time!”

What happens in our labs is not really visible from the outside because of the way Maven prioritizes and focuses on participants and clients in closed-door sessions.

However, the results are very much visible. The rigor of our approach and the emphasis on preparation for moments of opportunity are the reasons our folks stay ready—because if you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.

We create conditions that allow the most talented practitioners to lose themselves in the experimentation, improvisation, and collaboration necessary to access their full range—whether they’re executive level or still exploring possibilities.

We support the work that is done and continues when others aren’t looking because that work is most important.

14

|

A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

Here, Maven Kunya Rowley (he | him), founder of Hued Songs, a performance series that celebrates and explores Black culture through Black music and Black artists, underscores this type of leadership and model of creation.

Maven Kunya Rowley, Tenor; Wilkie Ferguson (he | him), III, Baritone; Leo Williams (he | him), Tenor; Thando Mamba (he | him), Bass-Baritone at The Historic Hampton House in Miami for a forthcoming commission. Hued Songs was launched with a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and gained its incorporation and tax-exempt status with support of Maven Leadership Collective in partnership with Akerman.

2 0 2 1 I M PAC T R E P O RT

| 15

HIV

Acosta recently sat down with us to discuss his work.

NOT PREACHING TO THE CHOIR:

Q When it comes to equity, many

times those working in social justice spaces think of race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and class. Those living with HIV are left out of the conversation. Why is it necessary to broaden the scope and include people living with HIV?

Activism

OUTSIDE OF TRADITIONAL HEALTH SPACES A

Maven Program Manager Andrés Acosta launched the nonprofit’s Linkages/Enlaces program in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program gives training for social justice organizations and social service agencies that normally work outside of the HIV field on how to be inclusive of those living with HIV. For Acosta, who is an alumnx of the Maven program, this work hits close to home. He’s a veteran living with HIV. He calls his work with Linkages life-changing and rewarding.

“It’s shown me that I can bring value to an institution as a leader. It helps me feel less tokenized, and it helped me broaden my view of what I can actually achieve.”

— Andrés Acosta (he | him) The training through Linkages/Enlaces, which is provided in English and Spanish, is designed to provide policies and initiatives that will benefit people living with HIV. During the pilot program, 10 organizations that directly impact more than 805,000 people went through the training supported by Maven.

Grants from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and support from Contingo Fund and Our Fund Foundation makes the program possible.

16

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

As organizers and people that work in the community, when we take into account things such as being HIV positive, what we’re able to do is really grow the impact of our work. It also creates this conversation where HIV is no longer seen as this unspeakable disease. It makes it into something that is just a part of who people are. It is a lifelong condition.

Q This is personal to you as someone

who is living with HIV. How does your experience influence your work with this program?

A

It makes me very close to the subject, and sometimes I feel like it makes it harder to do because when people aren’t receptive to the training, or when people aren’t receptive to the message, it almost feels like it doesn’t really matter to them, like we’re not a priority. It makes me push harder, but some days it just makes me feel even more defeated. It makes me feel like I’m trying to get this out there, but if people don’t care, then maybe I just think it’s important because it’s affecting me. That’s a hard realization to have— that maybe what I’m trying to give to people isn’t what they want, and maybe meaningful involvement of people with HIV is not a priority for everyone.

Q What causes you to push on with your work despite

feeling discouraged sometimes?

A It’s the commitment that I have to myself and to oth-

ers in the community. It’s the commitment I have to Maven because I feel like Maven gave me a chance when other people wouldn’t, and to even think of this idea as possibly failing means that I’m failing Maven.

To me, it feels like I would be failing my community.

Q There are still so many misconceptions about HIV

and stigma surrounding those who are positive. How does equity training for social justice groups and social service agencies work to counter this?

of the highest numbers for people living with HIV in our communities. And so, if we want to really get into Black and brown communities, we have to speak the language. That’s why the hope for the future is to be able to translate everything into Haitian Kreyòl, so that we can really make it even more inclusive.

Q What is involved in the training with Linkages/Enlaces?

A We start by giving you a breakdown of HIV and AIDS

because if you want to be more inclusive you have to have that baseline knowledge. We really dive into cultural differences and what is it that has made this epidemic not only run rampant in the LGBT community, but in Black and brown communities so that people understand the context.

The way it really makes a difference at large is whenever we get organizations outside the After that, we go into workplace protections for sphere of influence of HIV to actupeople living with HIV, and then we go into ally say the word HIV, to actualorganizational capacity building. So we ly fight this stigma. We make talk about what is it that your orgamore progress than when it’s nization is doing right now and then just our HIV organizations we look at it from a lens of how alone. One of the hardest can we make this more inclusive things about this program with people living with HIV in a is that sometimes you go way that makes sense for you. to organizations that have I understand that trainings are nothing to do with HIV and ineffective when you just come WATC H when you propose to them in and say, ‘Here’s the informaLinkages/Enlaces provides non-HIV this training, they’re like, organizations with skills and resources tion. Adapt it.’ So what we did was to better serve people living with HIV. ‘Oh, HIV, we shouldn’t care create a training where we actually about that.’ And that in itself is walk you through a plan of how are you a misconception because if you’re going to implement this training and how serving any Black or brown commucan we make it as easy as possible, so that you nities here in Florida, then you should care. come out with a tangible goal that you want to set for There’s a reason why our numbers keep going up, and your organization that makes sense and is achievable. the more organizations think, ‘That is not my problem,’ the more we’re going to see it get worse and Q How will you know that your work has been a success? worse and worse before it gets better.

Q The name of this program is bilingual, Linkages/

Enlaces. Why?

A When we look at the statistics for white [American]

males who have sex with males, you have a one in 12 chance of contracting HIV over your lifetime. For Hispanic males that have sex with males, it’s one in four, and for Black males that have sex with males, it’s one in two. When we said we wanted to approach this as something that was all-inclusive, we thought

A Changes in the community. And that’s the hardest

piece because sometimes those changes are hard to come by. It’s easy to give trainings and sometimes feel like well, ‘People walked away and they liked the training. Yay, I succeeded!’ But then it’s the follow-up piece. That’s the most important piece, which is why we added it to the training component because I want to be able to go back to this organization and say, ‘Were you able to implement something? Were you able to make something happen?’

2 0 2 1 I M PAC T R E P O RT

|

17

HIV

Acosta recently sat down with us to discuss his work.

NOT PREACHING TO THE CHOIR:

Q When it comes to equity, many

times those working in social justice spaces think of race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and class. Those living with HIV are left out of the conversation. Why is it necessary to broaden the scope and include people living with HIV?

Activism

OUTSIDE OF TRADITIONAL HEALTH SPACES A

Maven Program Manager Andrés Acosta launched the nonprofit’s Linkages/Enlaces program in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program gives training for social justice organizations and social service agencies that normally work outside of the HIV field on how to be inclusive of those living with HIV. For Acosta, who is an alumnx of the Maven program, this work hits close to home. He’s a veteran living with HIV. He calls his work with Linkages life-changing and rewarding.

“It’s shown me that I can bring value to an institution as a leader. It helps me feel less tokenized, and it helped me broaden my view of what I can actually achieve.”

— Andrés Acosta (he | him) The training through Linkages/Enlaces, which is provided in English and Spanish, is designed to provide policies and initiatives that will benefit people living with HIV. During the pilot program, 10 organizations that directly impact more than 805,000 people went through the training supported by Maven.

Grants from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and support from Contingo Fund and Our Fund Foundation makes the program possible.

16

|

A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

As organizers and people that work in the community, when we take into account things such as being HIV positive, what we’re able to do is really grow the impact of our work. It also creates this conversation where HIV is no longer seen as this unspeakable disease. It makes it into something that is just a part of who people are. It is a lifelong condition.

Q This is personal to you as someone

who is living with HIV. How does your experience influence your work with this program?

A

It makes me very close to the subject, and sometimes I feel like it makes it harder to do because when people aren’t receptive to the training, or when people aren’t receptive to the message, it almost feels like it doesn’t really matter to them, like we’re not a priority. It makes me push harder, but some days it just makes me feel even more defeated. It makes me feel like I’m trying to get this out there, but if people don’t care, then maybe I just think it’s important because it’s affecting me. That’s a hard realization to have— that maybe what I’m trying to give to people isn’t what they want, and maybe meaningful involvement of people with HIV is not a priority for everyone.

Q What causes you to push on with your work despite

feeling discouraged sometimes?

A It’s the commitment that I have to myself and to oth-

ers in the community. It’s the commitment I have to Maven because I feel like Maven gave me a chance when other people wouldn’t, and to even think of this idea as possibly failing means that I’m failing Maven.

To me, it feels like I would be failing my community.

Q There are still so many misconceptions about HIV

and stigma surrounding those who are positive. How does equity training for social justice groups and social service agencies work to counter this?

of the highest numbers for people living with HIV in our communities. And so, if we want to really get into Black and brown communities, we have to speak the language. That’s why the hope for the future is to be able to translate everything into Haitian Kreyòl, so that we can really make it even more inclusive.

Q What is involved in the training with Linkages/Enlaces?

A We start by giving you a breakdown of HIV and AIDS

because if you want to be more inclusive you have to have that baseline knowledge. We really dive into cultural differences and what is it that has made this epidemic not only run rampant in the LGBT community, but in Black and brown communities so that people understand the context.

The way it really makes a difference at large is whenever we get organizations outside the After that, we go into workplace protections for sphere of influence of HIV to actupeople living with HIV, and then we go into ally say the word HIV, to actualorganizational capacity building. So we ly fight this stigma. We make talk about what is it that your orgamore progress than when it’s nization is doing right now and then just our HIV organizations we look at it from a lens of how alone. One of the hardest can we make this more inclusive things about this program with people living with HIV in a is that sometimes you go way that makes sense for you. to organizations that have I understand that trainings are nothing to do with HIV and ineffective when you just come WATC H when you propose to them in and say, ‘Here’s the informaLinkages/Enlaces provides non-HIV this training, they’re like, organizations with skills and resources tion. Adapt it.’ So what we did was to better serve people living with HIV. ‘Oh, HIV, we shouldn’t care create a training where we actually about that.’ And that in itself is walk you through a plan of how are you a misconception because if you’re going to implement this training and how serving any Black or brown commucan we make it as easy as possible, so that you nities here in Florida, then you should care. come out with a tangible goal that you want to set for There’s a reason why our numbers keep going up, and your organization that makes sense and is achievable. the more organizations think, ‘That is not my problem,’ the more we’re going to see it get worse and Q How will you know that your work has been a success? worse and worse before it gets better.

Q The name of this program is bilingual, Linkages/

Enlaces. Why?

A When we look at the statistics for white [American]

males who have sex with males, you have a one in 12 chance of contracting HIV over your lifetime. For Hispanic males that have sex with males, it’s one in four, and for Black males that have sex with males, it’s one in two. When we said we wanted to approach this as something that was all-inclusive, we thought

A Changes in the community. And that’s the hardest

piece because sometimes those changes are hard to come by. It’s easy to give trainings and sometimes feel like well, ‘People walked away and they liked the training. Yay, I succeeded!’ But then it’s the follow-up piece. That’s the most important piece, which is why we added it to the training component because I want to be able to go back to this organization and say, ‘Were you able to implement something? Were you able to make something happen?’

2 0 2 1 I M PAC T R E P O RT

|

17

Grind Culture is

VIOLENT: N

“ As a lot of us are queer and trans people of color, we are taught to martyr ourselves and just work, work, work.

So, sometimes self care is a radical act. As you go out there and do this work it shows that we are doing it with care.”

centering rest + wellness

zingah Oniwosan (she | her) greets you with a smile. Her head is beautifully wrapped with an Ankara-print African head wrap.

She’s seated on a black yoga mat, behind her you can see the serene blue bay through the windows on a sunny Miami day.

“I’m really excited to share this restorative practice with you today. It’s one of my favorite types of yoga” says the Haitian-American yoga instructor.

She proceeds to guide you into a 45-minute journey that prioritizes going slow and gentle with your body and mind.

Nzingah is one of several wellness instructors you can find on the free online Wellness Hub by Maven Leadership Collective. Classes include Chair Yoga, Tai Chi, Yin Yoga, sound and guided meditations.

Adam Ropizar, research and logistics lead at Maven was instrumental in building out the online platform. He said the Wellness Hub was designed out of conversations and complaints participants with Maven had expressed in the past—that is, when it comes to using wellness tools in digital platforms, they lacked diversity and often costs made them inaccessible.

First, Ropizar said it had to be free. Second, the people teaching the classes had to come from Black and brown communities too.

18

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

“When you search for these types of videos, it’s usually skinny white women teaching. This hub was created as a place where queer and trans people of color can see themselves,” he said. “We make sure all of our instructors also embody the values we care about.”

Rest and quiet is something Maven stresses that queer and trans people of color deserve in a world that seeks to profit and benefit from their labor with little to no deliberate care. And to be clear, Ropizar said, this is not another tool to make people more productive as executive director Corey Davis emphasized in staff meetings.

“You deserve to breathe deeply, you deserve oxygen without any other expectations put on top of that,” said Ropizar. Deserving to be well for you is front and center in this 24-hour accessible digital wellness hub.

Maven also hosts “Your Black Matters,” a monthly digital community gathering facilitated by Peer Support Space, an organization run by Maven alumnx Yasmin Flasterstein. This convening allows Black people a recurring space to talk to other Black people about mental health and support needs.

When it comes to mental health care, Maven also thinks deeply about how people show up in work spaces and how to better make room for collective care while working.

For example, all Maven workshops and learning spaces are created to be sensory-friendly. At sit-down style workshops, attendees are provided access to fidget spinners, coloring pages and other tactile objects and gadgets. Maven also encourages movement for participants who need to stand and stretch at any point.

— Yasmin Flasterstein (she | her)

VISIT

“Workshops can be really scary and daunting and that causes a lot of anxiety,” said Flasterstein, co-founder and executive director of Peer Support Space who helped design sensory friendly and collective care models for Maven.

“While you’re learning about creating a board or finances for your organization, just having sensory objects like a coloring book or fidget spinners can help people to learn more efficiently and focus better to absorb more information,” she said.

Maven also creates calming rooms where participants at events can retreat for a more relaxing and quiet environment.

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Grind Culture is

VIOLENT: N

“ As a lot of us are queer and trans people of color, we are taught to martyr ourselves and just work, work, work.

So, sometimes self care is a radical act. As you go out there and do this work it shows that we are doing it with care.”

centering rest + wellness

zingah Oniwosan (she | her) greets you with a smile. Her head is beautifully wrapped with an Ankara-print African head wrap.

She’s seated on a black yoga mat, behind her you can see the serene blue bay through the windows on a sunny Miami day.

“I’m really excited to share this restorative practice with you today. It’s one of my favorite types of yoga” says the Haitian-American yoga instructor.

She proceeds to guide you into a 45-minute journey that prioritizes going slow and gentle with your body and mind.

Nzingah is one of several wellness instructors you can find on the free online Wellness Hub by Maven Leadership Collective. Classes include Chair Yoga, Tai Chi, Yin Yoga, sound and guided meditations.

Adam Ropizar, research and logistics lead at Maven was instrumental in building out the online platform. He said the Wellness Hub was designed out of conversations and complaints participants with Maven had expressed in the past—that is, when it comes to using wellness tools in digital platforms, they lacked diversity and often costs made them inaccessible.

First, Ropizar said it had to be free. Second, the people teaching the classes had to come from Black and brown communities too.

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“When you search for these types of videos, it’s usually skinny white women teaching. This hub was created as a place where queer and trans people of color can see themselves,” he said. “We make sure all of our instructors also embody the values we care about.”

Rest and quiet is something Maven stresses that queer and trans people of color deserve in a world that seeks to profit and benefit from their labor with little to no deliberate care. And to be clear, Ropizar said, this is not another tool to make people more productive as executive director Corey Davis emphasized in staff meetings.

“You deserve to breathe deeply, you deserve oxygen without any other expectations put on top of that,” said Ropizar. Deserving to be well for you is front and center in this 24-hour accessible digital wellness hub.

Maven also hosts “Your Black Matters,” a monthly digital community gathering facilitated by Peer Support Space, an organization run by Maven alumnx Yasmin Flasterstein. This convening allows Black people a recurring space to talk to other Black people about mental health and support needs.

When it comes to mental health care, Maven also thinks deeply about how people show up in work spaces and how to better make room for collective care while working.

For example, all Maven workshops and learning spaces are created to be sensory-friendly. At sit-down style workshops, attendees are provided access to fidget spinners, coloring pages and other tactile objects and gadgets. Maven also encourages movement for participants who need to stand and stretch at any point.

— Yasmin Flasterstein (she | her)

VISIT

“Workshops can be really scary and daunting and that causes a lot of anxiety,” said Flasterstein, co-founder and executive director of Peer Support Space who helped design sensory friendly and collective care models for Maven.

“While you’re learning about creating a board or finances for your organization, just having sensory objects like a coloring book or fidget spinners can help people to learn more efficiently and focus better to absorb more information,” she said.

Maven also creates calming rooms where participants at events can retreat for a more relaxing and quiet environment.

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WHEN IT COMES TO POLITICS ...

THE

LGBTQ+ South

has something to say “Let’s get down to the nitty gritty of what scares you about being an LGBTQ person running for office.” That’s how Jasmen Rogers (she | her), a Maven alumnx and consultant, started a workshop for QTPOC people interested in seeking higher office in Florida.

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Rogers, who ran for Florida House of Representatives District 95, said the candidate training, “Out of the Closet and Into the Seat” sponsored by Maven Leadership Collective, gave a much more expansive overview of the ins and outs of running for office in Florida and power building that is not typically found in candidate trainings.

Guest speakers included Florida state representatives Michele Rayner (D), Carlos Guillermo Smith (D), who are openly queer and Anna Eskamani (D), who is an ally.

“I want people to think strategically about how they run, what they are passionate about and where they fit. Where can you have the most impact,” said Rogers who works on local and national campaigns. From access to capital, fundraising and the political attacks that can be very specific to being in queer relationships, the training unpacked what it all could mean for aspiring candidates.

“The South is getting scarier with legislation we’re seeing that is being passed. We have to mount a defense that isn’t just election, but year round education around these systems,” she said. “Not only is it about elected office, it’s about educating people that these conditions are coming from an elected office, which ones they’re coming from and that we can control the outcome.”

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“ I want people to think strategically about how they run, what they are passionate about and where they fit.

Where can you have the most impact.”

— Jasmen Rogers (she | her)

WATC H

Maven Jasmen Rogers discusses coming out to her family and embracing her queer identity in our BARE series.

Rogers added, while running for office typically gets the most attention, what candidates and their supporters do in between elections is just as important.

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WHEN IT COMES TO POLITICS ...

THE

LGBTQ+ South

has something to say “Let’s get down to the nitty gritty of what scares you about being an LGBTQ person running for office.” That’s how Jasmen Rogers (she | her), a Maven alumnx and consultant, started a workshop for QTPOC people interested in seeking higher office in Florida.

20

Rogers, who ran for Florida House of Representatives District 95, said the candidate training, “Out of the Closet and Into the Seat” sponsored by Maven Leadership Collective, gave a much more expansive overview of the ins and outs of running for office in Florida and power building that is not typically found in candidate trainings.

Guest speakers included Florida state representatives Michele Rayner (D), Carlos Guillermo Smith (D), who are openly queer and Anna Eskamani (D), who is an ally.

“I want people to think strategically about how they run, what they are passionate about and where they fit. Where can you have the most impact,” said Rogers who works on local and national campaigns. From access to capital, fundraising and the political attacks that can be very specific to being in queer relationships, the training unpacked what it all could mean for aspiring candidates.

“The South is getting scarier with legislation we’re seeing that is being passed. We have to mount a defense that isn’t just election, but year round education around these systems,” she said. “Not only is it about elected office, it’s about educating people that these conditions are coming from an elected office, which ones they’re coming from and that we can control the outcome.”

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

“ I want people to think strategically about how they run, what they are passionate about and where they fit.

Where can you have the most impact.”

— Jasmen Rogers (she | her)

WATC H

Maven Jasmen Rogers discusses coming out to her family and embracing her queer identity in our BARE series.

Rogers added, while running for office typically gets the most attention, what candidates and their supporters do in between elections is just as important.

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if it weren’t for

Maven…

I’m Danny Anzueto (all pronouns), Maven’s co-founder and lead coach, and I have a front row seat to see our Mavens in action. I get chills thinking about how lucky I am to work with them and be a part of their journey. They never cease to amaze me.

I work with our Mavens at some of the most critical moments in their career when they are persisting through obstacles and thinking through extraordinary new ideas. My job is to help create the conditions for them to truly thrive. Our support transcends the classroom walls and continues long after Mavens complete the program. I am lucky because I learn so much from them. If it weren’t for Maven, I would not have fully understood the true power of holding this special space for others to grow and succeed. I spoke to past participants who filled in the sentence “If it weren’t for Maven…”

Here is what they said: I wouldn’t have had the confidence to take the leap into starting my own organization.

Yasmin Flasterstein (she | her) Co-founder & Executive Director, Peer Support Space | Maven Leadership Cohort 1 Central Florida, Maven Master Class

I wouldn’t think the right support system exists for and by people like us.

Juan Francisco Hidalgo (he | him) Program Director, Community Purchasing Alliance | Maven Leadership Cohort 3 South Florida

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I wouldn’t have started my own business and achieved half of the success I have already achieved thus far in my professional career.

Anthony Sis (they | them) Founder, Cultura Shift | Maven Leadership Cohort 1 South Florida, Maven Master class

I would still be stagnant and unsure of my worth.

Adam Ropizar (he | they) Founder & Executive Director, Evolve Campus | Maven Leadership Cohort 3 South Florida, Maven Master Class

I would have had a much lonelier and tougher first year in Miami without a trusted community of peers sharing authentically and providing moral support to me as I was building a new nonprofit.

Linda Cheung (she | her) Founder & Creative Director, Before It’s Too Late (BITL) | Maven Leadership Cohort 1 South Florida

I would still be working to make someone else’s dream come true. I’d still be waiting for my time to begin.

Kim Murphy (she | her) Founder & Artist, Painting Change | Maven Leadership Cohort 2 Central Florida, Creators Studio 1

I wouldn’t have the first date of my film tour locked down without the network and skills Maven provided.

Octavia Yearwood (she|they) Artist, Speaker, Author | Maven Leadership Cohort 3 South Florida

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if it weren’t for

Maven…

I’m Danny Anzueto (all pronouns), Maven’s co-founder and lead coach, and I have a front row seat to see our Mavens in action. I get chills thinking about how lucky I am to work with them and be a part of their journey. They never cease to amaze me.

I work with our Mavens at some of the most critical moments in their career when they are persisting through obstacles and thinking through extraordinary new ideas. My job is to help create the conditions for them to truly thrive. Our support transcends the classroom walls and continues long after Mavens complete the program. I am lucky because I learn so much from them. If it weren’t for Maven, I would not have fully understood the true power of holding this special space for others to grow and succeed. I spoke to past participants who filled in the sentence “If it weren’t for Maven…”

Here is what they said: I wouldn’t have had the confidence to take the leap into starting my own organization.

Yasmin Flasterstein (she | her) Co-founder & Executive Director, Peer Support Space | Maven Leadership Cohort 1 Central Florida, Maven Master Class

I wouldn’t think the right support system exists for and by people like us.

Juan Francisco Hidalgo (he | him) Program Director, Community Purchasing Alliance | Maven Leadership Cohort 3 South Florida

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A N E W WAY F O R WA R D

I wouldn’t have started my own business and achieved half of the success I have already achieved thus far in my professional career.

Anthony Sis (they | them) Founder, Cultura Shift | Maven Leadership Cohort 1 South Florida, Maven Master class

I would still be stagnant and unsure of my worth.

Adam Ropizar (he | they) Founder & Executive Director, Evolve Campus | Maven Leadership Cohort 3 South Florida, Maven Master Class

I would have had a much lonelier and tougher first year in Miami without a trusted community of peers sharing authentically and providing moral support to me as I was building a new nonprofit.

Linda Cheung (she | her) Founder & Creative Director, Before It’s Too Late (BITL) | Maven Leadership Cohort 1 South Florida

I would still be working to make someone else’s dream come true. I’d still be waiting for my time to begin.

Kim Murphy (she | her) Founder & Artist, Painting Change | Maven Leadership Cohort 2 Central Florida, Creators Studio 1

I wouldn’t have the first date of my film tour locked down without the network and skills Maven provided.

Octavia Yearwood (she|they) Artist, Speaker, Author | Maven Leadership Cohort 3 South Florida

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Donors

I am a Philanthropist

Philanthropist. It may not be a word that immediately brings to mind images of queer and trans people of color, but just as Maven expands the notion of what leaders look like, we are spotlighting QTPOC and POC donors to offer a more expansive view of what a philanthropist is—because our community has always been givers and investors too.

QTPOC folks have always drawn from deep historical traditions of giving in support of collective action, mutual aid and building power. Maven has benefited from these impactful giving traditions since we launched.

We invite you to join and continue in that tradition by making a donation to Maven here.

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Corporation & Foundations

Maven Leadership Collective’s work is made possible through the generous support of change-makers who believe we are all made better when queer and transgender people of color have the freedom and resources to maximize our potential.

Individual Donors Andrés Acosta Christopher Adamo Brett Amron Daniel Anzueto Roxana Azuaje Yolanda Barnes Jaime Bayo Kristie Behling Ummarino Veronica Black Sarah Bob Aaron Bos-Lun David M Braswell Jr Tiffany Brave Rashan Briggs Randy Brown Shekeria Brown Casey Bruce-White Leigh-Ann Buchanan Michael Buick Chris Caines Karen Camara Dejha Carrington Courtney Casci Thomas Catlaw Dimitry Chamy Linda Cheung Kindra Cooper Naomi Crawford Rachel Cryer Saul

Christopher J. Cuevas Scott Cunningham Sarah Cury Corey Davis Gail Davis Gary Davis Melody Davis Jordan De Leon Hugh Deaner William Delp Ashwin Dharmadhikari Daphne Dilbert Lance Dixon Colleen Dougherty Michele Drucker Nicole Elinoff Shavon Etan Suzanne Fallender Victoria Fear Rebecca Fishman Lipsey Yasmin Flasterstein Pam Forbes Krystina Francois Tamara Francois Liebe & Seth Gadinsky Jodi Geller Levine Diana Gerson Iris Gonzalez Vicky Goodin

Stephanie Gordon Robyn Grabel-Ludy Alana Greer Betsy Gwinn Andria Haley Juan Francisco Hidalgo Joel Hoffman Mina Hosseini Clint Jackson Tremaine Jones Dorian Jumper-Perez Joél Junior Moralez Joseph Kaminski Jennifer Knauss Kevin Kruger Michelle Kucharczyk Colleen Lubin Adrian Madriz Rebecca Mandelman Alissa Marguiles Britney Matthews Pamela McCarthy Elizabeth McInerney Charles McSorley Nicolas Meade Rachelle Metcalfe Kathryn Mikesell Rebekah Monson Tracy Montgomery Schoenberg

Walker Moseley Guiselle Norris Cecilia O’Reilly Octavia Oestricher Pamela Oestricher Adriana Oliva Beppy & Borron Owen Doris Parent Melba Pearson Ellen Peer Daniel Perez Lisa Phillip Magdalena Pire Schmidt Todd Michael Porter Rachel Prestipino Dana Quick Joseph Quinones Alfredo Reynoso Lynare Robbins Jasmen Rogers Adam Ropizar Alex Rosales Kunya Rowley Alex Sanchez Michael Sarasti Tim Sarrantonio Stephen Seo Alina Serrano Francisco Seyler

Asa Shaw Andrew Sherry Marte Siebenhar Anthony Sis Ashley Snow Valerie Solomon Susan Spatafora Elizabeth Stack Wayne Stephens Kareem Tabsch Robin Tisdah Amanda Titus Lien Tran John Tribuna Whitney Untiedt Kristin Untiedt-Barnett Rodrigo Vazquez Nathan Victoria Anika Warner Patricia Warner Denise Wheeless Elliot Williams Pioneer Winter Nancy Wolcott Holly Woodbury Octavia Yearwood Suzan Zeder Ariel Zirulnick

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Donors

I am a Philanthropist

Philanthropist. It may not be a word that immediately brings to mind images of queer and trans people of color, but just as Maven expands the notion of what leaders look like, we are spotlighting QTPOC and POC donors to offer a more expansive view of what a philanthropist is—because our community has always been givers and investors too.

QTPOC folks have always drawn from deep historical traditions of giving in support of collective action, mutual aid and building power. Maven has benefited from these impactful giving traditions since we launched.

We invite you to join and continue in that tradition by making a donation to Maven here.

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Corporation & Foundations

Maven Leadership Collective’s work is made possible through the generous support of change-makers who believe we are all made better when queer and transgender people of color have the freedom and resources to maximize our potential.

Individual Donors Andrés Acosta Christopher Adamo Brett Amron Daniel Anzueto Roxana Azuaje Yolanda Barnes Jaime Bayo Kristie Behling Ummarino Veronica Black Sarah Bob Aaron Bos-Lun David M Braswell Jr Tiffany Brave Rashan Briggs Randy Brown Shekeria Brown Casey Bruce-White Leigh-Ann Buchanan Michael Buick Chris Caines Karen Camara Dejha Carrington Courtney Casci Thomas Catlaw Dimitry Chamy Linda Cheung Kindra Cooper Naomi Crawford Rachel Cryer Saul

Christopher J. Cuevas Scott Cunningham Sarah Cury Corey Davis Gail Davis Gary Davis Melody Davis Jordan De Leon Hugh Deaner William Delp Ashwin Dharmadhikari Daphne Dilbert Lance Dixon Colleen Dougherty Michele Drucker Nicole Elinoff Shavon Etan Suzanne Fallender Victoria Fear Rebecca Fishman Lipsey Yasmin Flasterstein Pam Forbes Krystina Francois Tamara Francois Liebe & Seth Gadinsky Jodi Geller Levine Diana Gerson Iris Gonzalez Vicky Goodin

Stephanie Gordon Robyn Grabel-Ludy Alana Greer Betsy Gwinn Andria Haley Juan Francisco Hidalgo Joel Hoffman Mina Hosseini Clint Jackson Tremaine Jones Dorian Jumper-Perez Joél Junior Moralez Joseph Kaminski Jennifer Knauss Kevin Kruger Michelle Kucharczyk Colleen Lubin Adrian Madriz Rebecca Mandelman Alissa Marguiles Britney Matthews Pamela McCarthy Elizabeth McInerney Charles McSorley Nicolas Meade Rachelle Metcalfe Kathryn Mikesell Rebekah Monson Tracy Montgomery Schoenberg

Walker Moseley Guiselle Norris Cecilia O’Reilly Octavia Oestricher Pamela Oestricher Adriana Oliva Beppy & Borron Owen Doris Parent Melba Pearson Ellen Peer Daniel Perez Lisa Phillip Magdalena Pire Schmidt Todd Michael Porter Rachel Prestipino Dana Quick Joseph Quinones Alfredo Reynoso Lynare Robbins Jasmen Rogers Adam Ropizar Alex Rosales Kunya Rowley Alex Sanchez Michael Sarasti Tim Sarrantonio Stephen Seo Alina Serrano Francisco Seyler

Asa Shaw Andrew Sherry Marte Siebenhar Anthony Sis Ashley Snow Valerie Solomon Susan Spatafora Elizabeth Stack Wayne Stephens Kareem Tabsch Robin Tisdah Amanda Titus Lien Tran John Tribuna Whitney Untiedt Kristin Untiedt-Barnett Rodrigo Vazquez Nathan Victoria Anika Warner Patricia Warner Denise Wheeless Elliot Williams Pioneer Winter Nancy Wolcott Holly Woodbury Octavia Yearwood Suzan Zeder Ariel Zirulnick

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