Claude Bunny Massassa is a contemporary artist from Gabon. She created Bunny Studio in 2016, a start-up dedicated to photography production, which became DWABI Studio in 2021. As an artist, she has represented Gabon in many international exhibitions in Senegal, Uganda, France, the United States, and Italy. In her art, she denounces social stigmas around issues of identity and mental health, and explores themes of traditions and myths.
Executive Director Kimberly Aceves- Iñiguez has been passionately committed for over 20 years to social justice organizing and advocacy efforts that bring voice and power to youth, LGBTQ people, people of color, and working-class communities in the Bay Area. Before coming on as the Executive Director for RYSE, Kimberly served as the Executive Director for Youth Together, the founding organization of the RYSE Center.
Kanwarpal Dhaliwal is one of the co-founders of RYSE and currently acts as the Associate Director. She supports and guides the implementation and integration of healing-centered practices, grounded in racial justice and liberation, and also develops, promotes, and advocates for policies, investments, practices, and research that enliven healing, justice, and liberation. Kanwarpal believes that the purpose of her work and life is to contribute to movements, communities, and legacies of liberation that honor the ancestors who fought for her existence and survival, and to forge a world that is just and gentle for future generations.
Sagal Ali is the founder and executive director of SAF. After a few years in her career in heritage protection in the cultural sector, she decided to develop the initiative to directly support young creatives in Somalia by launching her own foundation. She hopes to bridge the social gaps and inequalities women face in Somalia, both in society and in the arts scene.
Co-founders Catherine Dunga and Marleen Palmaers created Kitambo to bridge the gap between the African diaspora in Colombia and the narratives from the continent. From Kinshasa and Antwerp respectively, they work to connect African artists from the continent and their peers from the Colombian diaspora.
Martha Kazungu is a curator, art Historian and Founder of Njabala Foundation, an organization that curates periodic exhibitions and organizes a public program of activities to create a safe space for female artists to thrive and blossom.
Alicia Hansen is a photographer and teacher from New York. She founded NYC SALT in 2008 and, beyond teaching valuable creative skills to her students, has developed a long-term support system to uplift them through school and into their early artistic careers.
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CAN CREATIVITY CHANGE THE WORLD?
Watch a short documentary produced by The Big Think starring some of the protagonists of the Creativity Pioneers Fund
CREATIVITY PIONEERS THROUGH THE DATA
Discover a new visual data language better able to represent the nature and impact of the work of the Creativity Pioneers. Browse the Creativity Pioneers through:
- The Countries where they operate
- The Challenges addressed through their unconventional interventions
- Their audiences
- The Activities to develop creative skills in their audiences
- Their highly intersectional nature
A Global and Diverse Coalition Supporting Creativity for Social Change
We aim to catalyse transformational social change by supporting, connecting, and championing cultural and creative organisations that advance bold and unconventional practices for building a more just, inclusive, and equitable world. This vision is shared among a coalition of organisations investing resources, skills, and imagination in the Creativity for Social Change field. If you share this vision and you see your organisation as an ambassador for creativity for social change, JOIN US!
THE COALITION
The Creativity Pioneers Fund is supported by a global coalition of Foundations, Institutions and Companies from the private sectors, investing and advancing the Creativity for Social Change agenda.
The partner logos shown below are in chronological order, depending on the date they joined the Creativity Pioneers Fund.
Funding Partners
Learning partners
Network Partners
