Featured Guests & Voices
W. Kamau Bell is a comedian, author, and filmmaker. His CNN docu-series "United Shades of America" won five Emmy awards, and he was awarded a Peabody for his docu-series "We Need To Talk About Cosby." He is most proud of his Emmy award-winning HBO Original documentary "1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed." Kamau is a NYT best-selling author, is on the board of Donors Choose, Live Free, and Back To The Start, and he is one of the ACLU's Celebrity Ambassadors for Racial Justice.
W. Kamau Bell
Award-winning author, speaker, and podcast host focused on courage and community.
Michelle MiJung Kim
Cava Menzies, Director, CO-LLAB Choir
CO-LLAB Choir Members: Allison Skylr, Clarice Janine, Candace Goodwin, Zoë Boston, and Marc Allen
CO-LLAB Choir is an Oakland-based contemporary vocal ensemble for adults that works with vocal artists and singer songwriters to bring their music to life in a vocal ensemble setting. The ensemble co-arranges and co-writes music together as well as collaborates with professional artists on studio recordings and performances. The choir has performed at venues and festivals such as the Superbowl 60,Outside Lands, the Oakland Coliseum, the Fox Theater, SFJazz, Shoreline Amphitheatre, Yoshis, Bandcamp Oakland, Empire Records, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, MOAD, Berkeley Rep, the Academy of Sciences, the Empress Theatre in Vallejo, the Paramount, and the Vermont in LA. Additionally, they have collaborated with a host of notable artists such as Asake, LaRussell, Sunday Service Choir, Twista, Montell Jordan, Goapele, Rexx Life Raj, Lyfe Jennings, Oakland Symphony Orchestra, Martin Luther, Kev Choice, Jennifer Johns, Pher, and Bandaloop. CO-LLAB Choir most recently recorded on the Bay Area musical CO-FOUNDERS’ soundtrack and also sang the opening number for Oakland Symphony Orchestra’s playlist for Angela Davis’ visit to the Paramount Theater.
Jim LeBrecht is an award-winning filmmaker, disability rights activist, and co-director of the groundbreaking documentary Crip Camp. A Netflix Original Documentary, Crip Camp, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, went on to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature and a Peabody Award.
Jim LeBrecht
Grace Porras is an Emmy Award-Winning Producer for the HBO Original Documentary “1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed,” Co-Founder of #MakeItBay and a freelance Creative Producer with over a decade of experience working across unscripted, scripted, branded content and live production.
Grace Porras
Based in Oakland, California, Smalls’ work studies the kaleidoscopic depth of Black and Brown skin through the layering of highly pigmented color. It celebrates the endless nuances of melanated womxn by amplifying and exaggerating the underlying tones in colored skins that are often depicted dulled down or neglected, much like the people who inhabit them. Smalls has been working as a gynocentric painter since 2012, and continues to do so out of her West Oakland studio.
Taylor Smalls
Niema Jordan is a writer, speaker, professor, and an award-winning filmmaker from Oakland, CA. She is passionate about character-driven stories, harnessing the power of media for positive community impact, and ensuring that future generations have an opportunity to thrive.
Her work has been published in ESSENCE, EBONY, and Glamour. Her documentary film "Oasis," which explores a struggling medical clinic's work with underserved populations battling Hepatitis C, earned her the Spike Lee Student Filmmaker Award at the Denver Film Festival in 2016. Her production credits include The Chosen Life, Bobby Kennedy for President, The Me You Can’t See, Eyes On The Prize: Hallowed Ground, and Bree Wayy: Promise, Witness, Remembrance.
She is an alumna of Northwestern University and UC Berkeley. She is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and serves on the board of Oakland Kids First.
Niema Jordan
Rafael Casal is a multi-talented American writer, rapper, actor, and showrunner known for his high-energy performances and deep roots in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is most widely recognized for co-writing and starring in the 2018 film Blindspotting alongside his long-time collaborator Daveed Diggs, which he later adapted into a critically acclaimed TV series for Starz.
Rafael Casal
Born and raised in the Philippines, Dev Heyrana is a Bay Area artist whose work celebrates Filipino heritage and the intergenerational stories found in nature. Working across large-scale paintings, murals, sculptures, and community-driven projects, her practice is rooted in connection, memory, and joy.
Her work has been exhibited at the de Young Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and has been featured in notable public spaces including a large-scale heart sculpture currently installed in San Francisco’s Union Square, the San Francisco Ferry Building, and the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC. She is also the creator of a best-selling children’s art kit with Kehinde Wiley for MAJO Ideas, expanding access to art for young people and families.
Recognized by the State of California for her role in restoring the historic mural Ang Lipi ni Lapu Lapu in San Francisco, Dev continues to use her work as a bridge between culture, community, and storytelling, creating spaces where people feel seen, connected, and reminded of their place within a larger story.
Dev Heyrana
Kendrick Sampson is an actor, storyteller, and producer who leverages his platform and storytelling to shift culture for good.
Growing up in Houston and Missouri City (Mo City), Texas, Kendrick was immersed in a unique and deeply rooted culture of music and art that continues to shape his work today.
His most acclaimed and notable roles include "Nathan" on HBO's Emmy-nominated comedy series Insecure, "Ethan" in Prime Video's Something from Tiffany's, and his personal favorite, the surrealist satire I Am a Virgo from Boots Riley. Next month, Kendrick takes on his most iconic role yet: Quincy Jones in the highly anticipated Michael biopic, releasing April 24th. It is the first portrayal of the legendary music producer since his passing, bringing to life Quincy's transformative partnership with Michael Jackson.
Beyond acting, Kendrick uses his platform to amplify transformational grassroots work in healing justice, including mental health, sexual health, liberation, and abolition. He co-founded BLD PWR, which encompasses a production company and a 501(c)(3) social impact arm dedicated to reimagining and realizing the liberated future we know our people deserve. Through BLD PWR, he works to organize Hollywood and shift culture, ensuring that nuanced Black, Indigenous, and marginalized voices, especially storytellers and their stories, are nourished, protected, and empowered.
Kendrick Simpson
Laura Geist is an experienced leader, currently serving as the General Manager of the Oakland Ballers. In this role, Laura is responsible for overseeing Operations and Community Development for the organization. Before joining the Ballers, Laura held key positions at major tech companies like Google, Meta, and Microsoft, where she gained expertise in managing large-scale programs and driving product optimization in the tech and advertising sectors. She is a third generation Oakland resident with a deep love for the city. She lives in Oakland with her family and is anxiously awaiting Opening Day on May 19th.
Laura Geist
Veronne Clark is a Social Impact Strategist in the sport and entertainment industry. Veronne has worked with the NBA, NFL, NBC Universal, Entercom, and Legends where she is an individual that has experience in programming, public speaking, and community engagement. Veronne is a dynamic communicator within the entertainment industry that has curated blueprints for high-end operations and social impact engagements, through operational strategies pertaining to partnerships and activations. She has an advanced understanding of objectives, strategies, and tactics within an organization to empower employees to find purpose in the workplace.
Veronne Clark
#MakeItBay Co-Founders - Grace Porras & Sam Bempong
#MakeItBay, a community-led movement to revitalize the Bay Area’s Film, Media, and screen sectors by investing in local talent, championing regional storytelling, and rebuilding the infrastructure needed to support production in the region.