Opening Session

Mayor Todd Gloria, Mayor, City of San Diego

On December 10, 2020, Todd Gloria was sworn in as the 37th Mayor of the City of San Diego – America’s eighth largest city. He is the first person-of-color and the first LGBTQ person to ever be elected the city’s Mayor. A third-generation San Diegan of Filipino, Dutch, Puerto Rican, and Native American descent, Mayor Gloria’s lifelong career in public service was inspired by a lesson his parents – a hotel maid and a gardener – taught him at a young age: if you care about something, then you should leave it better than you found it. That lesson continues to motivate Mayor Gloria to improve San Diego every single day.

Mayor Gloria has spent his entire professional life in service to the public, beginning his career at the County of San Diego’s Health and Human Services Agency. He then went on to serve as District Director to United States Congresswoman Susan A. Davis, whom he credits as his mentor.

In 2008, Mayor Gloria was elected to the San Diego City Council following Christine Kehoe and Toni Atkins in serving the Third District. In 2012, after serving his first term, Mayor Gloria’s colleagues on the City Council elected him as their City Council President. In 2013, he assumed the reigns of the City, beginning his time as Interim Mayor after the resignation of Bob Filner. During that time, Mayor Gloria is widely credited with restoring the public’s trust in city government. In 2016, Mayor Gloria was elected to the California State Assembly to represent the 78th Assembly District. He immediately rose to a leadership position in the Assembly serving first as Assistant Majority Whip and eventually Majority Whip.

During his time in the Assembly, Mayor Gloria passed legislation on many of the major issues San Diego is working to address including building more affordable housing, fighting gun violence, combatting climate change, and providing resources for those experiencing homelessness. As the 37th Mayor of San Diego, Mayor Gloria is committed to making San Diego a city of opportunity that invests in every neighborhood and every San Diegan. Mayor Gloria is a graduate of the University of San Diego and an enrolled member of the Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. He lives in the neighborhood of Mission Hills.

Betty Avila, Self Help Graphics & Art

Betty Avila’s (she/her) work has centered on the intersection of the arts and social justice, with particular focus on community building, public space, and youth empowerment. She grew up in the Northeast Los Angeles neighborhood of Cypress Park and has held positions with the Getty Research Institute, The Music Center and the Levitt Pavilion. Betty joined Self Help Graphics’ leadership in 2015, an organization with a 48-year nationally-recognized artistic legacy of empowering the Chicana/o and Latinx communities of Los Angeles through the arts. She is the Chair of the Latinx Arts Alliance, and sits on the boards of Arts for LA, the Center for Cultural Innovation, and was a founding board member of People for Mobility Justice. Betty is a passionate arts advocate, centering equity and justice, and she sat on the inaugural Advisory Committee for Los Angeles County's Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative as an appointee of Supervisor Hilda Solis. Betty has been invited to speak for the Ford Foundation, The Getty Foundation, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, California Association of Museums, Western Art Alliance and more. In 2017, Betty was named one of C-Suite Quarterly Magazine’s NextGen 10 in Philanthropy, Arts and Culture and an Impact-Maker to Watch by City Impact Labs. She received her B.A. in Literature at Pitzer College, has an M.A. in Arts Management from Claremont Graduate University, and is a 2008 Fulbright Fellow to Korea.

Jeff Chang, Vice President of Narrative, Arts and Culture for Race Forward

A national leader in narrative and cultural strategy, Jeff Chang helped to write the Cultural New Deal alongside a number of artists and culture bearers. He is an author whose books include Who We Be: A Cultural History of Race in Post Civil Rights America), We Gon' Be Alright: Notes On Race and Resegregation, and Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, named one of the best nonfiction books of the last quarter century. A revised Young Adult edition of the book—co-written with legendary hip-hop journalist Dave “Davey D” Cook—was published in 2021. Jeff co-founded CultureStr/ke and ColorLines, and serves as Senior Advisor at Race Forward.

Tom DeCaigny, CA Alliance for Arts Education/CreateCA, Executive Director

Tom DeCaigny is a respected leader in the areas of arts education, cultural policy and community development. He is currently the Executive Director of the California Alliance for Arts Education – one of the premiere state-level arts education policy, advocacy and research organizations in the U.S. Most recently, DeCaigny served as the Director of Cultural Affairs at the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) where he oversaw a city department with an annual budget of $42 million and advanced space affordability, racial equity, and tripled San Francisco’s annual investment in the cultural sector. 

Prior to his tenure at SFAC, DeCaigny spent nine years as Executive Director of the Performing Arts Workshop, a nonprofit dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression and essential learning skills through the arts. He has held board leadership positions with a variety of organizations including the U.S. Urban Arts Federation and World Cities Culture Forum. He currently serves on the Leadership Council of Create CA and as a trustee of the San Francisco Community Investment Fund which distributes over $35 million annually in New Market Tax Credits.

Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Be An Arts Hero

Matthew-Lee Erlbach is a writer, actor, and illustrator from Chicago and New York. He has written for MASTERS OF SEX (Showtime), GYPSY (Netflix), WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS (Netflix), for WWE, MTV, and Nickelodeon; and is developing TV/Film projects with SONY, Killer Films, Cavalry, and Merman. As a playwright, his work has appeared Off-Bway, regionally, and at Steppenwolf, where his play The Doppelgänger (An International Farce) premiered, starring Rainn Wilson. A co-founder and Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for Be An Arts Hero and Arts Workers United, he has led multiple national efforts to make relief and recovery for Arts and Culture Workers an economic and legislative priority, including the DAWN Act; Revive & Rebuild; #ArtsAreMySuperpower; and a letter-writing campaign with America's playwrights. He has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Laurents/Hatcher Foundation, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, Puffin Foundation, and is a HUMANITAS New Voices recipient. Beyond his work with Habitat for Humanity and individuals who are houseless, he is a proponent of ethical AI and ethical transhumanism.

Victoria L. Hamilton, Arts and Culture Advocate, Co-chair, San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition

Victoria L. Hamilton serves as the President of the California Arts Advocate/Californians for the Arts. She was the founding director of the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture where she led this nationally recognized multi-million dollar local arts agency for 24 years. At the Commission, she achieved unanimous approval of a plan for 2% for public art in capital improvement and 1% in private development as well as for the Penny for the Arts Blueprint for increased arts and culture funding. With over 30 years in the field of arts administration, she is recognized for her pioneering leadership and work on public policy, cultural tourism, grantmaking and cultural diversity initiatives. Victoria has served as President of the United States Urban Arts Federation and California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies; been a panel member for the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council and on public policy committees at state and national levels. She also serves on the board of directors of the Balboa Park Conservancy and NTC Foundation, and is a member of the San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition Steering Committee and the San Diego State University Campanile Foundation Arts Committee. She has received numerous awards including the Ray Hanley Innovation Award given by the United States Urban Arts Federation for “outstanding individual contributions to arts and culture in American cities,” and the Americans for the Arts Selena Roberts Ottum Award “for outstanding contributions in the local arts agency field.”

Jenny Koons, Theater Director and Organizer

Jenny Koons is a theater director and organizer. Theater Projects: Now Becomes Then (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Men on Boats (Baltimore Center Stage), Speechless (New Blue Man Group North American Tour), A Midsummer Night's Dream (The Public Theater Mobile Unit), Burn All Night (American Repertory Theatre), Gimme Shelter (Why Not Theatre, 2015 Pan Am Games commission), A Sucker Emcee (National Black Theatre, LAByrinth Theater Company). Jenny was the 2017 curator of the Encores! Off-Center Lobby Project, co-curator of the 2016 ThisGen Conference, and co-founder of Artists 4 Change NYC (National Black Theatre). She has been a facilitator and educator in creating anti-racist spaces and engaging in conversations around race and equity for over a decade, in both non-profit and artistic spaces. She is a steering committee member of The Ghostlight Project, founded and leads Let's Talk About Hard Stuff, an AAPI anti-racist affinity space, and is co-author of the open letter to Biden/Harris demanding cabinet-level representation for Arts and Culture.

Harini Krishnan, South Asians For Biden CA

Harini Krishnan, Indian-American Organizer and Activist who is passionate about Gender Equity, Civil Rights, Public Education and Arts.

A well known Indian Classical Vocalist & Cross Cultural Arts Education Lecturer in the Bay Area, Harini comes from a family of acclaimed Indian Classical Musicians. Harini currently serves as the Vice Chair of San Mateo County Arts Commission & had the honor of performing at the Inaugural Arts Advocacy Day at the CA State Capitol.

In addition to being an Arts Advocate, Harini is a passionate political organizer. She served as a Former Lead Volunteer Organizer in California for the Presidential Campaign of VP Kamala Harris, and as a National Grassroots Organizing Lead and State Director for South Asians for Biden. Harini is now helping to launch South Asians for America, a National South Asian Civic Engagement & Political Advocacy Organization with her SAB colleagues and will be leading the Community Organizing Campaigns and Training for this new organization.

Harini is active in CA state politics as an elected AD 22 Delegate and Platform Committee Member of the California Democratic Party, and is a Board Member of Fund Her, which elects progressive women to state legislatures nationwide, and Equal Access International, an International NGO which combines media programming with community mobilization to effect global change. A resident of the Town of Hillsborough in Northern California for 2 decades, Harini is the recipient of the 2020 Hillsborough Citizen of the Year Award.

María López De León, President and CEO, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures

María López De León is the President, CEO and board member of the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC). In January 2013, President Obama appointed Ms. De León to serve on the National Council on the Arts. In 2012 and 2013, Ms. De León was named among the nation’s Fifty Most Powerful and Influential People in the Nonprofit Arts.

Ms. De León has been with NALAC for twenty-two years and has served as President and CEO for four years and Executive Director for seventeen years. Ms. De León has been involved in all aspects of development and implementation of the NALAC programs and strategic initiatives. Under her leadership, NALAC developed and launched four grant programs including the NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA), a grant program for Latino artists and organizations; the Catalyst for Change, a grant program for artists whose work focuses on radical solutions to achieve racial justice; the Actos de Confianza, a pandemic emergency relief grant for artists and organizations; the Transnational Cultural Remittances (TCR), a grant program for artists and organizations in the U.S., Mexico and Central America; She has directed the continued development of twenty editions of the renowned annual Leadership Institute and ten convenings of the Advocacy Leadership Institute in Washington, DC; co- founded the Intercultural Leadership Institute; directed the convening of eight NALAC National Conferences and twenty-nine Regional Arts Training Workshops across the country.

Ms. De León is an arts administrator and cultural practitioner dedicated to strengthening communities through the arts and has multiple years of experience working with Latino artists and arts organizations.

She serves on multiple arts and culture policy panels and is a noted speaker and advocate for the arts, cultural equity, and social and economic justice. Ms. De León serves on the National Council on the Arts and on the boards of the First People’s Fund, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, the Performing Arts Alliance, the Lewis Prize for Music and the United States Department of Arts and Culture. She is an advisory council member of Women of Color in the Arts.

Casey Lowdermilk; Assistant General Manager, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium; Co-Founder San Francisco Venue Coalition and Niva CA Chapter

Casey Lowdermilk’s professional career has been guided by his passion for live music and has led him to his current position with Another Planet Entertainment. As part of the APE team since 2014, Casey is currently the Assistant General Manager at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. In this role he oversees the successful and efficient operation of concerts and events in this historic building located in the heart of downtown San Francisco. With the COVID-19 pandemic Casey has found himself as a newfound industry advocate actively engaging as a precinct captain for the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and co-founding the San Francisco Venue Coalition and NIVA California Chapter. While with APE he has previously managed the festival credentials department, operations at the Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley and more. Previously, Casey served as Ticketing & Marketing Director at High Sierra Music, a Berkeley-based festival production company.

Michael T. Strickland, Live Events Coalition

Michael T. Strickland grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee where at age 12 he started what would become his lifelong passion, Bandit Lites. In 1999 CNN USA Today named Michael as Entrepreneur of the Year. Over the years Bandit Lites has won 26 Lighting Company of the Year Awards.  In 2020 Pollstar Magazine named Michael as an Impact 50 Award winner as one of the top 50 most impactful people in live entertainment.

Since March of 2020 Michael has worked nonstop as an advocate for the Live Event Industry on Capitol Hill. What began as a couple of articles in trade magazines transformed into a full-blown lobbying effort with an industry e-mail chain of 1.3 million people. Michael began advising many industry groups, speaking on Zoom calls, and helping to educate the industry. Working with Senators Lamar Alexander and Marsha Blackburn, the circle expanded to over 60 Senators and Representatives. Michael helped craft the CARES Act, PPP and was a fierce advocate for the RESTART Act. Michael, along with two others, set up We Make Events and illuminated over 2,500 buildings nationwide September 1, 2020 to call attention to the plight of the industry.

Michael is a regular guest on several national news shows on television including CNBC, MSNBC, WGN America, and others. December the 15th Michael was invited to testify before the Senate about the state of the live event industry. Michael is currently working to assure that everyone in need is allowed access to the Save Our Stages funding. Michael and other industry people established COV-AID to join the Live Events Industry with the political and medical communities to deliver vaccines as rapidly and safely as possible across the US. Lastly, Michael is working with two groups on the forward-looking issue of Liability Indemnity for the Live Events Industry.

Nina Ozlo Tunceli; Chief Counsel of Government and Public Affairs, Americans for the Arts; Executive Director, Americans for the Arts Action Fund

Nina Ozlu Tunceli is both Chief Counsel of Government and Public Affairs at Americans for the Arts as well as the Executive Director of the Americans for the Arts Action Fund. For 27 years, Nina has served as the chief policy, political, and advocacy strategist for the organization, mobilizing more than 450,000 arts activist members in advancing arts in America. After securing several arts funding provisions in the recently passed CARES Act, Nina now provides weekly Zoom Office Hours to provide technical assistance to thousands of artists and arts organizations in successfully tapping billions of dollars in pandemic relief aid. She also spearheads the ArtsVote: Make Your Vote Campaign with customized state voter factsheets and social media ads to educate voters on all the new rules and deadlines to vote this year because of the pandemic. Everyone is encouraged to join the Arts Action Fund for free at www.ArtsActionFund.org/Join

Cat Willis; Founder and Executive Director, Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center; Founding Director, Black Health Matters Initiative

Cat Willis is the Founder and Executive Director of the Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center located in Santa Cruz/San Francisco Bay Area. She is originally from Rochester, N.Y., where she began her dance education with Garth Fagan Dance, with whom she studied extensively for six years. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance from SUNY Brockport. Cat has served on the Arts Council of Santa Cruz Grants Advisory Committee, the Arts Council of Santa Cruz grants panel, and County Park Friends Advisory Committee. She received the 2014 Gail Rich Award for her excellence in arts leadership in Santa Cruz County. Her cross cultural studies and work in the dance arts have led her to West Africa, and Jamaica where she lectures at the Edna Manley School of Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston.

Cat's dedication to Racial Justice and Equity spans a lifetime of education, community organizing, and activism through the platform of arts and culture. She was the 418 Project’s 2009 Artist in Residence and the Theatre Bay Area’s CA$H grant recipient in dance for her evening-length dance production Diaspora, Food for Thought: Roots, Ritual, Re-imagined; an exploration of ancestral wisdom, racial trauma, and a re-imagined Black Diaspora in the American experience. She is a founding member of the Santa Cruz County Black Coalition for Justice and Racial Equity and is founding director of the Black Health Matters Initiative alongside community partners; County Park Friends, United Way of, NAACP Santa Cruz Chapter, Blended Bridge, and the SCC Black Coalition for Justice and Racial Equity. She currently sits on the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County RISE Together leadership circle and the Santa Cruz County's Commission on Anti-Racism, Economic & Social (CARES) Justice.