🎉Exciting News:
A Chance to Double Your Impact!🎉
We’re overjoyed by the success of this year’s Santa Fe Gala! Thanks to your incredible support, we are already more than halfway toward our goal of $50,000!
MCN Foundation has generously stepped forward to match any donations that come in between October 20th and 31st, up to $10,000! This means your gift will have twice the impact, helping us reach our goal even faster.
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No amount is too small or too large - every dollar counts, and together, we can make a difference. Consider a one-time donation today to help us meet our goal and support the vital mission of Hero Women Rising!
Host
EMMY & PEABODY AWARD WINNING FILMMAKER PAUL FREEDMAN
We are honored to welcome Emmy and Peabody Award-winning director, producer, writer, and editor Paul Freedman as our host for the evening. His passion is human rights and his mission is to give a voice to those who have none.​
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“Rwanda—Do Scars Ever Fade?” about the genocide and its painful aftermath, won a Peabody Award and was nominated for two Emmys. “Sand and Sorrow”, executive produced and narrated by George Clooney, was broadcast on HBO and raised awareness about the genocide in Darfur, while “Halfway Home”, about American servicemen and women coping with combat PTSD, brought attention to the plight of suffering vets here at home. “One Last Hug -Three Days at Grief Camp”, an HBO film about children coping with the death of a parent, was awarded a Primetime Emmy. “Mercí, Congo” explored the work of human rights activists in the U.S. and in the troubled Democratic Republic of Congo. It was released in 2016 and aired on Viceland. His new film, “The Dirty Divide” is an intimate look into the lives of houseless people living in L.A.’s Skid Row.
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Join us Friday night, October 18th for a private showing of this extraordinary and compelling documentary. More details are forthcoming.
SPECIAL PERFORMANCES
MUISI-KONGO MALONGA
Muisi-kongo Malonga is a dancer and culture bearer whose arts practice is steeped in a staunch Bay Area legacy of cultural preservation, social justice, and service through art. She is one of the foremost keepers of Congolese dance traditions in the U.S. and is dedicated to preserving culture and cultivating the healing power of African arts traditions. As Artistic Director she continues the pioneering cultural preservation work begun in 1977 by her parents, Malonga Casquelourd (Founder/Director) and Dr. Faye McNair-Knox (Dancer/Founding Member). As founder of grassroots arts presenting organization BottleTree Culture, she seeks to reanimate the presence of African cultural arts as healer and change agent in her native East Palo Alto, CA.
While she is passionate about serving in the above roles, at her core, Muisi-kongo is a gifted dancemaker who aims to transmit the sacred, translate the ancient and create works that are anchored in tradition. She has received numerous awards and professional honors including a 2017-18 Emerging Arts Professional Fellowship, several posts as Guest Lecturer in Stanford University’s Theater and Performance Studies Department (Dance Division) and a 2014 commissioning of her original solo work Kimpa Vita!
ARIANA FRANCESCA
Ariana Francesca is a Black poet of the Deep South, born and raised in Jonesboro, Georgia. Her work explores the positions, reflections, and interconnectedness of Black motherhood, womanhood, spirit, and epic memory. Ariana enjoys partnering with non-profits and organizations, in order to use poetry and language to share their stories and amplify conscious messages.
With roots as a performance poet, Ariana’s work has been featured at The Kennedy Center, The Verizon Center, The National Black Arts Festival, America's Next Top Model, The HistoryMakers, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and other international stages, recordings and compilations. She recently was awarded Honorable Mention for Auburn University's Witness Poetry Prize.
Ariana is also a Queens University of Charlotte MFA, Poetry graduate and Watering Hole Poetry Fellow. Her work is published in Netflix's Strong Black Lead, Southern Humanities Review, Burrow Press, Jelly Bucket Magazine, and elsewhere.
FUA DIA KONGO
Fua Dia Kongo (Fua) is a nonprofit cultural arts organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Kongolese cultural legacies worldwide. Founded in 1977, by the late world-renowned master artist (Ta) Malonga Casquelourd, Fua’s artmaking is centered in the traditions of descendants of the Kongo Kingdom (modern-day Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola). With a renewed focus on global ambassadorship, research and cultural restoration, Fua Dia Kongo serves as a unifying force, safeguarding traditional art forms and reconnecting the descendants of the Kongo Kingdom across the globe.​
award winning caterer
We're excited to announce that our event caterer is award winning, renowned Chef Ahmed Obo and Jambo Cafe.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
