Leadership

ROBERT RABEN
Founder

KIM CALLINAN
Executive Director

ISISARA BEY
Artistic Director

OPAL HOPE BENNETT
Emerging & Student Filmmaker Competition Director
Team
- Producer: Leigh Davis
- GALA Consultants: Kimball Stroud Associates
- Marketing Lead: Mike Utaegbulam
- Finance Director: Ibonee Perry
- Operations Manager: Ralph Santora
Board of Trustees
The Festival is guided by a team of leaders across the entertainment, policy, and social justice arenas that ensures the success and execution of our vision.

Denielle Pemberton-Heard
President
Diversified Search Group

Craig Emanuel
Treasurer
Ryan Murphy Productions

Stephanie Gold
Secretary
Hogan Lovells

Vickee Jordan Adams
Finsbury Glover Hering

Victoria Bassetti
Brennan Center for Justice

Joyce Brayboy
Goldman Sachs

A'Lelia Bundles
Author

Samara Foxx
Attorney

Melissa Maxfield
Comcast

Joseph Olchefske
Educator & Entrepreneur

ROBERT RABEN
Founder

Joseph West
Duane Morris LLP
Press releases
Sinners and the Kongo Cosmogram
Of course I’m talking about the new Ryan Coogler film, Sinners. It’s the topic of the moment and an aesthetic roadmap for enduring these trying times. One of the many […]
March On! Fortifies Leadership for the Future: Names New Executive Director and Volunteer Board Chair to Help Lead Its Newest Chapter
Washington, D.C. — At a time when America’s civil rights legacy is being targeted and the presentation of facts is being censored, March On! is stepping boldly into its next […]
Jump and Shout: Remembering the May 2nd Birmingham Children’s Crusade
It was the 1960s, and AM radio provided the soundtrack that got the party started in parks, beaches, front stoops and backyards across the country. African American DJs, with their […]