Ana-Maria Garcia
Ana Maria Garcia, Chairperson, Puerto Rican/Dominican, Ana-María García has over 40 years experience in community development, leadership training and social and racial justice. She has managed budgets in excess of $100 million and known for her budgetary prowess. In 1995, a day (Nov 30) was named after her for her previous five years’ body of work which included creation of a specialized project named Project Start; development of training programs for general assistance clients; development of two comprehensive youth centers and creation of a coordinated system of human services. She went on to work for the Census Bureau to familiarize herself with data gathering. She has a Juris Doctorate from Temple University.
Anjanette Levert
Anjanette Levert, Treasurer, African-American with a sprinkle of Dominican, Anjanette Levert is a documentary filmmaker, producer, curator, coach and professor. She is the former Director of Spelman College’s Documentary Filmmaking Program. She is the 2022 Recipient of the Presidential Teaching Award at Spelman College. An invited panelist at the Sundance Producer Summit and a member of the Sundance Producers Intensive. She is the 2022 Recipient of the Presidential Teaching Award at Spelman College. An invited panelist at the Sundance Producer Summit and a member of the Sundance Producers Intensive. She is the Peabody Award recipient for The Only Doctor by Matthew Hashiguchi which made its World Premiere at Toronto’s Hot Docs International Film Festival in 2023. She is a board member for Jezebel Productions and Atlanta’s MINT Gallery.
Melissa “MelimeL” Lauradin
Melissa “MelimeL” Lauradin, Secretary, Dominican, Melissa “MelimeL” Lauradin is a creative artist and mompreneur. She is CEO and Lead Graphic Designer of MelimeL Digital Art Design. Her published works as a writer and poet include Beneath the Deep Surface which was re-released for print and e-book in July 2022. Aside from designing and writing, MelimeL enjoys travel, photography, performing, and is an aspiring DJ. She hosted an Annual Women Empowerment Event during Women’s History Month for ten years from 2013-2022 and is currently developing a documentary film about the event. In 2015 and 2019 respectively, MelimeL launched The sisSTAR Loop, a platform for women-owned business and professionals and The Empowerment Network, a digital magazine, with its 10th issue currently in production. Through her creative works she hopes to empower others to excel in their personal and professional lives.
Advisory and Festival Committee
Bianca Mońa
Bianca Mońa (pronounced Mo-nay) Black, Faculty/Lecturer, Interdisciplinary Studies and Arts, St. Francis College, Bianca Mońa is a lover of the arts. As an artist, curator, educator, and advocate, she has initiated a number of projects at institutions such as Studio Museum in Harlem (New York, NY) and The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, DC), and Market Photo Workshop (Johannesburg, SA). All of her artistic endeavors center on a greater understanding of contemporary Africa and her Diaspora. As an oral historian and sound artist she has received commissions from The Laundromat Project, Initiatives of Change USA, and Culture Push. Ms. Mońa holds a bachelor’s degree in arts administration from Dillard University, two master’s degrees (art education and interdisciplinary studies) from San Jose State University and Teachers College, Columbia University. She is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados.
Ashley Torres Carrasquillo
Ashley Torres Carrasquillo (they/she ella/elle) is a transnational community organizer, a transdisciplinary and collaborative researcher, and an art-based educator; whose work focuses on supporting and documenting anti-racist and anti-colonial community-based projects with adult and youth organizers in the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Puerto Rico. Originally from Santurce, Puerto Rico, Ashley holds an M.S. in critical ethnic and community studies, and a BA in women’s, gender, and sexualities studies, from the University of Massachusetts. They are the former coordinator and co-facilitator of the Muñecas Negras project with the Dominicans Love Haitians Movement. They are also the recipient of several grants including the 2022 small grant program from the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation and the 2021 Soros Justice Fellow from the Open Society Foundation, where they co-develop a violence intervention program with youth and adult community organizers. Ashley currently works as the Political Education Coordinator for Mijente, and is an Instructor at the University of Colorado Boulder, Ethnic Studies Department.