Tony Gapastione
BraveMaker, Redwood City, California
BraveMaker is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization that hosts an annual film festival each July, bringing filmmakers and storytellers from around the world to the San Francisco Bay Area. Throughout the year, BraveMaker provides community-art building experiences in the form of classes, film screenings and workshops.. Founded by Tony Gapastione, Bravemaker aspires to fund and produce new projects that amplify the voices of historically excluded artists, ensuring their stories are seen, heard, and celebrated.
Stephen Cue Jn-Marie
The Hip-Hop Smoothie Shop, a worker-owned co-op and social enterprise, provides living wage employment and employee ownership to residents of Skid Row in LA as well as providing nutritious food in a food desert. Stephen Cue Jn-Marie, a former Virgin Records rapper now known as Pastor Cue, founded the Hip Hop Smoothie Shop as a part of Creating Justice LA, a non-profit that advances justice through creative expression.
Nikole Lim
Nikole Lim, Freely in Hope, Berkeley, California
Freely in Hope is dedicated to equipping survivors and advocates to lead in ending sexual violence. Currently working in Zambia and Kenya, Freely in Hope is publishing a first children's book, promoting body automony and safety, which will be offered in the US along with a faith-based safe touch and body autonomy curriculum for churches and other organizations. Founder Nikole Lim is a survivor-advocate and educator on restorative storytelling and survivor-leadership models. Read more about Nikole Lim here.
Andre G. Brown
Andre G. Brown, Los Angeles, CA: A Soul Cleansing Documentary In a full-length documentary, filmmaker Andre Brown interviews lgbtq folk who have navigated the intersection of faith, sex, and sexuality after finding themselves on the margins of church.
A Soul Cleansing Documentary highlights the sins of hypocrisy that have had a long-standing reputation in some African American denominational churches, subsequently creating painful experiences for a large fraction of the Black queer and trans community. The documentary features interviews from lgbtq folk who have either left or remained in the church. A Soul Cleansing endeavors to bring justice, healing and reconciliation to the black church and all its members. Read more about Andre here.
Lizzy Case
Lizzy Case, San Diego, CA: Arrayed. Lizzy Case is the founder of Arrayed, a liberative people-first, planet-focused Christian apparel brand that aims to align the call for justice and wholistic flourishing found in Jesus’ life with the messages on and production of Christian t-shirts.
Partnered with TELAstory Collective, a Manila-based, worker-led community of designers, artisans, and seamstresses, Arrayed invests in its own supply chain to work towards equitable and sustainable long-term partnerships. The vision of Arrayed is to produce socially and environmentally conscious apparel while investing in organizations that further liberation of women and marginalized communities. Read more about Case here.