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Art and culture surround us all the time. Culture shapes our identity, our values, and forges our collective imagination. Why is art so critical in today’s age of climate crisis, gender inequality and economic disparity? How can art challenge the status quo and promote ideas centered on openness, joy, forgiveness and sustainability? Artist and activist, Favianna Rodriguez, discusses how art can inspire, mobilize, and help spur the imagination. She will share images from her expansive body of work and from her most recent project about the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project.

About Favianna

Favianna is an interdisciplinary artist, cultural strategist, and entrepreneur based in Oakland, California.

Her art and praxis address migration, gender justice, climate change, racial equity, and sexual freedom. Her work centers joy and healing, while challenging entrenched myths and dominant cultural practices. 

Through her poignant speeches, she has inspired audiences around the world, including at the United Nations Climate Summit, Sundance Film Festival, Smithsonian, Google and Lush Cosmetics.

To read more about her work, .

About Brandon Leake

With his unique blend of poetry and storytelling, Leake has captivated audiences around the world and inspired countless individuals to find their voice and share their stories. His message of hope, resilience, and the power of human connection is more relevant now than ever before.

Read more about his work at

About the Conversation

For more than a decade, Angela McKee-Brown has developed, designed and built meaningful, just and joyful food experiences with communities. At the heart of her design approach lies the belief that the joy of our communities is powerful, and when we center ideas and concepts that make space for that joy, we create thoughtful and intentional experiences that provide a sense of freedom, safety, and ease. During this presentation, guests will learn more about Joyful Design, and have an opportunity to reflect on the role that joy plays in their lives through writing activities.

More About Angela

Angela McKee-Brown is the Founder and CEO of Project Reflect, a food systems design lab that develops and builds meaningful, just and joyful food experiences with communities. Prior to launching the lab, she served the Executive Director with The Edible Schoolyard Project, a non-profit dedicated to designing hands-on educational experiences in the garden, kitchen, and cafeteria that connect children to food, nature, and each other. Angela has also served as the Director of Innovation and Strategy with San Francisco Unified School District’s Future Dining Experience where she and her team leveraged private funding and the support of a $20 million bond to redesign the school food system of San Francisco. She is a 2024 Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor with the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University and has also served as a 2016-2017 Stanford University d.school Civic Innovation Fellow. Angela holds a Master’s in Food Studies from NYU, and lives in Oakland, California with her wife, Annemarie.