Sage Crump, Paola Mendoza, and Zahra Noorbakhsh.

Dear Friends,

We are happy to announce the launch of our Creative Change Innovation Fellowship, a pilot program to support three leading-edge storytellers as they develop content and campaigns that help advance the efforts of artists and activists working for a more just and equal society. The fellows will work with us from September 2020 until February 2021 to amplify their projects while also building collaborative spaces to connect their work back to social justice struggles.

The Creative Change Innovation Fellows are:

• Sage Crump is an artist, culture strategist, and facilitator who expands and deepens the work of cultural workers/arts organizations in social justice organizing and supports social justice organizations in understanding the role art and culture can play in movement building. Based in New Orleans but working nationally, Sage believes in leveraging art, creative practice, and the cultural sector to transform systemic oppression.
• Paola Mendoza is a film director, activist, author and artist working at the leading-edge of human rights. A co-founder of The Women’s March, she served as its Artistic Director and co-authored The New York Times best-seller, Together We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard around the World. Paola’s most recent book, Sanctuary, was released by Penguin earlier this month.
• Zahra Noorbakhsh is a Feminist Muslim, Iranian-American, award-winning comedian, podcaster, and writer. Her essays have been featured in The New York Times and NPR’s Fresh Air. In addition to her two sold-out performances of her stand-up comedy special, “On Behalf of All Muslims,” at the Golden Thread Theater in San Francisco, her solo performance of “All Atheists are Muslim: A Romantic Comedy” was originally directed by CNN’s W. Kamau Bell. She was the co-host of the award-winning podcast #GoodMuslimBadMuslim.

Learn more about the Creative Change Innovation Fellowship on our website.

We hope you will follow us as we continue to engage with and share the innovative work that our fellows are doing over the coming year. We will be sure to send updates and engagement opportunities along the way.

Sincerely,

Betsy Richards
Director of Cultural Strategies
The Opportunity Agenda