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<channel><title><![CDATA[Multicultural BRIDGE - Gala Bios]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios]]></link><description><![CDATA[Gala Bios]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2026 06:04:08 -0400</pubDate><generator>Weebly</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Special Guest: Gwendolyn VanSant]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-gwendolyn-vansant]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-gwendolyn-vansant#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Mon, 02 Oct 2023 19:03:53 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-gwendolyn-vansant</guid><description><![CDATA[           CEO and Founding Director of BRIDGE  An experienced organizational change consultant and coach who works at the intersection of diversity leadership, equity and inclusion, and strategic planning. She serves as a non-profit leader as the CEO and Founding Executive Director of BRIDGE and the principal &amp; owner of a consulting firm, Equity in Practice, LLC. A skilled community organizer, Gwendolyn is also a well-recognized thought leader on racial justice, reparations, gender equity a [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/uploads/1/1/7/3/117317192/gala-legacy-speaks-bio-gvs_orig.png" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div>  <!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div>  <h2 class="wsite-content-title" style="text-align:center;"><font size="3">CEO and Founding Director of BRIDGE</font></h2>  <div class="paragraph"><span>An experienced organizational change consultant and coach who works at the intersection of diversity leadership, equity and inclusion, and strategic planning. She serves as a non-profit leader as the CEO and Founding Executive Director of</span><a href="http://www.multiculturalbridge.org/" target="_blank"> BRIDGE</a><span> and the principal &amp; owner of a consulting firm, Equity in Practice, LLC. A skilled community organizer, Gwendolyn is also a well-recognized thought leader on racial justice, reparations, gender equity and anti-poverty work. She is a pioneer in integrating research-based positive psychology practices into her equity and inclusion approach.</span><br /><br /><span></span><span>In September 2021, Gwendolyn received national recognition as the Drum Major for Justice by the National Community Action Council Council for her anti-poverty mutual aid response at a community level to the negative impact of COVID on the most vulnerable communities and the design of the New Pathways program to provide education in equity and justice across all sectors in the forms of labs, talks, conferences and learning modules including speakers like Angela Davis and Dr. Beverly Tatum. In 2021, Gwendolyn also published a chapter for her IDEA approach in the textbook, "Diversity Matters: The Color, Shape and Tone of 21st Century Diversity.</span><br /><br /><span></span></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Special Guest: JeffREY ALAN Peck]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-jeffrey-alan-peck]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-jeffrey-alan-peck#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Mon, 02 Oct 2023 19:01:38 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-jeffrey-alan-peck</guid><description><![CDATA[           Descendant of Dr. W.E.B. DuBois  Jeffrey Alan Peck is the great-grandson of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, the famous African American sociologist and civil rights activist who was one of the earliest forefathers of Pan-Africanism, and was one of the co-founders of the NAACP.Jeffrey continues Dr. Du Bois' legacy by engaging in socio-political discourse, working closely with non-profit organizations that are involved in racial justice, equity, and empowerment, being an active member of Bishop Jam [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/uploads/1/1/7/3/117317192/gala-special-guest-jeffrey-allan-peck-bio_orig.png" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div>  <!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div>  <h2 class="wsite-content-title" style="text-align:center;"><font size="3">Descendant of Dr. W.E.B. DuBois</font></h2>  <div class="paragraph">Jeffrey Alan Peck is the great-grandson of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, the famous African American sociologist and civil rights activist who was one of the earliest forefathers of Pan-Africanism, and was one of the co-founders of the NAACP.<br /><br />Jeffrey continues Dr. Du Bois' legacy by engaging in socio-political discourse, working closely with non-profit organizations that are involved in racial justice, equity, and empowerment, being an active member of Bishop James Dixon's "Community of Faith" Church, and annually commemorating Dr. Du Bois' memory in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in February of each year. Jeffrey is a Houston native, who aspires to increase awareness and affinity for Dr. Du Bois throughout the South and within ignored black communities.<br /><br />Before devoting his time to fully focusing on Dr. Du Bois' legacy, he held employment with the US Post Office from 86-87, Brink's from 87-92, Baytown Fire Department from 92-96, Lyondell Petrochemical from 96-99, and Lubrizol Corp from 1999 to the present as a Lead A Operator. Currently, Jeffrey devotes his time to speaking at Universities and children's schools across the U.S. to educate about DuBois' legacy.<br></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Special Guest: DR. CHAD EVERETTE LAWSON COOPER]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-dr-chad-everette-lawson-cooper]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-dr-chad-everette-lawson-cooper#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Mon, 02 Oct 2023 18:58:48 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-dr-chad-everette-lawson-cooper</guid><description><![CDATA[           FilMmaker &amp; Social Justice Activist  Chad Everette Lawson Cooper is an American Actor, Director, Screenwriter, Playwright, Producer, and Songwriter. Cooper, along with his wife wrote and produced the national stage play &ldquo;Churchmess&rdquo; the play that toured in over 100 US Cities. Coopers productions have earned over $ 30 Million in gross revenue. Cooper is an alumni of Florida A &amp; M University majoring in philosophy and religion, Cooper currently resides in downtown Br [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/uploads/1/1/7/3/117317192/special-guest-bio-dr-chad-cooper_orig.png" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div>  <!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div>  <h2 class="wsite-content-title" style="text-align:center;"><font size="3">FilMmaker &amp; Social Justice Activist</font></h2>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span>Chad Everette Lawson Cooper is an American Actor, Director, Screenwriter, Playwright, Producer, and Songwriter. Cooper, along with his wife wrote and produced the national stage play &ldquo;Churchmess&rdquo; the play that toured in over 100 US Cities. Coopers productions have earned over $ 30 Million in gross revenue. Cooper is an alumni of Florida A &amp; M University majoring in philosophy and religion, Cooper currently resides in downtown Brooklyn, NY and operates his offices (The Chad Cooper Company) on Broadway in Manhattan, NY.</span><br /><br /><span></span><span>Cooper has been married to national veteran actress Alicia Robinson Cooper for 28 years and together they have 3 beautiful children. Cooper was inspired to write his newest production &ldquo;Justice on Trial&rdquo; the trial of the life when we heard of the brutal murder of Philando Castile in Minnesota by a police officer.</span>&#8203;<br /><br /><span></span><span>This production features two civil-rights attorneys suing the US Justice Department for reparations for African Americans. While bringing back time traveler witnesses such as Harriet Tubman, Medgar Evers and Emmett Till. Then going into a powerful jury deliberation where a lot history is revealed.</span><br /><span></span></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Special Guest: STar NII]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-star-nii]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-star-nii#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Mon, 02 Oct 2023 18:55:05 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-star-nii</guid><description><![CDATA[           &#8203;International&nbsp;Master-Drummer &amp; Vocalist  Star Nii is a vocalist, percussionist, &amp; composer by profession. Born and raised in Accra, Ghana, he found himself drawn to the alluring power of sound and rhythm by age 9. Being born into an elite family of Ghanaian musical royalty, he has developed into a nimble, multi-instrumentalist! Star Nii is inspired by traditional African music and has had the opportunity to showcase his extraordinary talent, internationally, across [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/uploads/1/1/7/3/117317192/special-guest-bio-star-nii_orig.png" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div>  <!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div>  <h2 class="wsite-content-title" style="text-align:center;">&#8203;International&nbsp;<br />Master-Drummer &amp; Vocalist<br></h2>  <div class="paragraph"><span style="color:rgb(78, 26, 61)">Star Nii is a vocalist, percussionist, &amp; composer</span><span style="color:rgb(78, 26, 61)"> </span><span style="color:rgb(78, 26, 61)">by profession. Born and raised in Accra, Ghana, he found himself drawn to the alluring power of sound and rhythm by age 9. Being born into an elite family of Ghanaian musical royalty, he has developed into a nimble, multi-instrumentalist! Star Nii is inspired by traditional African music and has had the opportunity to showcase his extraordinary talent, internationally, across many grand stages. He currently shares his musical passion via international ceremonies, live performances, and workshops!</span></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Special Guest: IMANI UZURI]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-imani-uzuri]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-imani-uzuri#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Mon, 02 Oct 2023 18:53:01 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-imani-uzuri</guid><description><![CDATA[           Award-winning vocalist, composer, librettist, improviser and conceptual artist  Imani Uzuri is an award winning vocalist, composer and conceptual artist who creates, travels and performs internationally in venues such as Lincoln Center, NY Philharmonic, Villa La Pietra (Florence, Italy), Performa Biennial, Molde Jazz Festival (Norway), Museum of Modern Art and Carnegie Hall. She has been a Park Avenue Armory Artist in Residence, Harvard W. E. B. Du Bois Institute Hutchins Center Fello [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/uploads/1/1/7/3/117317192/special-guest-imani-uzuri-bio_orig.png" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div>  <!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div>  <h2 class="wsite-content-title" style="text-align:center;"><font size="3">Award-winning vocalist, composer, librettist, improviser and conceptual artist</font></h2>  <div class="paragraph"><span>Imani Uzuri is an award winning vocalist, composer and conceptual artist who creates, travels and performs internationally in venues such as Lincoln Center, NY Philharmonic, Villa La Pietra (Florence, Italy), Performa Biennial, Molde Jazz Festival (Norway), Museum of Modern Art and Carnegie Hall.</span><span> </span><br /><br /><span></span><span>She has been a Park Avenue Armory Artist in Residence, Harvard W. E. B. Du Bois Institute Hutchins Center Fellow and is recently a UPenn Center for Experimental Ethnography Visiting Scholar. During her tenure as a Jerome Foundation Composer/Sound Artist Fellow and Camargo Foundation (Cassis, France) Composer-In-Residence, Uzuri traveled and researched for an upcoming large music work celebrating the iconography of the holy Black Madonna. Uzuri is currently composing a new chamber opera Hush Arbor. She has recently returned from a sojourn to Ethiopia's holy city of Lalibela.</span><br /><span></span></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Special Guest: Saidiya Hartman]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-saidiya-hartman]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-saidiya-hartman#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Mon, 02 Oct 2023 18:49:40 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-saidiya-hartman</guid><description><![CDATA[           McArthur FellowAuthor of (Litany of Grieving Sisters)  &#8203;Saidiya Hartman is the author of Scenes of Subjection: Terror, Slavery, and Self-Making in Nineteenth-Century America (1997; Norton, 2022); Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route (Farrar, Straus &amp;amp; Giroux, 2007) and Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments (Norton, 2019), which received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism, and the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction, the M [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/uploads/1/1/7/3/117317192/special-guest-saidiya-hartman-bio_orig.png" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div>  <!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div>  <h2 class="wsite-content-title" style="text-align:center;"><font size="2">McArthur Fellow<br />Author of (Litany of Grieving Sisters)</font></h2>  <div class="paragraph">&#8203;<span style="color:rgb(78, 26, 61)">Saidiya Hartman is the author of Scenes of Subjection: Terror, Slavery, and Self-Making in Nineteenth-Century America (1997; Norton, 2022); Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route (Farrar, Straus &amp;amp; Giroux, 2007) and Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments (Norton, 2019), which received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism, and the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction, the Mary Nickliss Prize from the Organization of American Historians, the Judy Grahn Prize for Lesbian Nonfiction, and the John Hope Franklin Prize from the American Studies Association. She received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2019 and was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2022. She is a member of the Royal Society of Literature and University Professor at Columbia University.</span></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Special Guest: OKWUI OKPOKWASILI]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-okwui-okpokwasili]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-okwui-okpokwasili#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Mon, 02 Oct 2023 18:43:54 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/gala-bios/special-guest-okwui-okpokwasili</guid><description><![CDATA[           MacArthur Fellow  Dance Artist, Writer, and ChoreographeR  Okwui Okpokwasili is a Brooklyn based performer, choreographer and writer creating multidisciplinary performance pieces. The child of immigrants from Nigeria, Okpokwasili was born and raised in the Bronx, and the histories of these places and the girls and women who inhabit them feature prominently in much of her work. Her highly experimental productions include "Bessie" Award-winning Pent-Up: A Revenge Dance, "Bessie" Award w [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.multiculturalbridge.org/uploads/1/1/7/3/117317192/special-guest-okwui-okpokwasili-bio_orig.png" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div>  <!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div>  <h2 class="wsite-content-title" style="text-align:center;"><font size="2">MacArthur Fellow <br /> Dance Artist, Writer, and ChoreographeR</font></h2>  <div class="paragraph"><span style="color:rgb(78, 26, 61)">Okwui Okpokwasili is a Brooklyn based performer, choreographer and writer creating multidisciplinary performance pieces. The child of immigrants from Nigeria, Okpokwasili was born and raised in the Bronx, and the histories of these places and the girls and women who inhabit them feature prominently in much of her work. Her highly experimental productions include "Bessie" Award-winning Pent-Up: A Revenge Dance, "Bessie" Award winning Bronx Gothic, Poor People's TV Room, When I Return Who Will Receive Me, and Adaku's Revolt. Recent works include installations in the exhibitions: &ldquo;Grief and Grievance, Art and Mourning in America&rdquo; at the New Museum, &ldquo;Witchhunt&rdquo; at The Hammer Museum in LA, and &ldquo;Sex Ecologies&rdquo; at Kunsthall Trondheim in Norway. Commissions include the performance On the way, undone at the Highline in New York City and at Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn as part of FIAF&rsquo;s Crossing the Line Festival, the film Returning for Danspace Project, and the site specific performance Swallow the Moon at Jacob&rsquo;s Pillow. She has worked with film and theater directors: Carrie Mae Weems, Ralph Lemon, Arthur Jafa, Terence Nance, Josephine Decker, Mika Rottenberg, Mahyad Tousi, Charlotte Brathwaite, Jim Findlay, Annie Dorsen and Peter Born. Okpokwasili was a 2018 Princeton University Hodder Fellow, a 2018 Herb Alpert Awardee in Dance, an Antonyo Awardee, a 2018 Doris Duke Artist Awardee, and a 2018 MacArthur Fellow. She was the inaugural artist for the Kravis Studio Residency program at MOMA in 2022.</span></div>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>