Social change organization CLLCTIVLY will celebrate this year’s Changemaker Award winners on Aug. 4 with an event centered on storytelling, philanthropy, and community-building.
Hosted by April Watts and DJ Tanz, the party will take place during Black Philanthropy Month to honor “the incredible contributions of Black visionaries, activists, and trailblazers who have made a lasting impact on Baltimore,” reads the announcement. It’s a platform “to recognize their tireless efforts and inspire the collective pursuit of change.”
This year’s winners are Araba Maze (Storybook Maze), Darlene Cain (Mothers on the Move), Maurissa Stone (The Living Well), Brother Nati (Everyone’s Place), and Dionne Joyner-Weems (#MyBmore).
Maze is a mobile street librarian whose goal is to get as many books into the hands of as local Black children as possible. According to a recent profile in BlackNews.com, she travels to underserved areas where she sets up her pop-up shops and book vending machines. She’s known as the Radical Street Librarian and has been profiled nationally by U.S. News. Her mission has evolved into the Storybook Maze Project, “an organization that provides free children’s books in ‘book desserts,’ or areas where books and other reading materials are inaccessible. In these areas, which usually have high poverty rates, the children often experience difficulty in reading and understanding words.”
Cain started Mothers on the Move after a Baltimore City police officer killed her 29-year-old son, Dale Graham. In coping with the loss, Cain began the organization to represent the voices of those lost to police brutality, excessive force, and wrongful death. Mothers on the Move is a support group of and for victims’ families. The website describes it as “an organization of advocates fighting for stronger laws against police brutality. We are a place of hope for the hopeless. We are all one family in search of truth, justice and renewed faith in America’s justice system.”
Stone’s website describes her as a “Freedom Fighter, Philanthropist, Management Consultant, and Social Entrepreneur.” She’s the director of innovation for The Living Well Center for Social and Economic Vibrancy. The Living Well Center offers residency programs to spotlight “indigenous social and economic assets that promote Black liberation….Our thought partners will provide a brain trust of knowledge and imagination from Baltimore’s Black communities’ past, present and future.” The center’s mission is to create space for meaningful exchange of talent, skill, expression, “conscious expansion, social well-being, and economic empowerment.”
Nati owns the bookstore and African cultural center Everyone’s Place, which has been in business for more than 35 years. “Throughout the years, it’s become a beloved browsing spot, a venue for events, and a place for local artists to share their merchandise,” reads a Baltimore Magazine profile of the business. The store’s mission is “to provide customers with a window into a culture through the African diaspora.”
Joyner-Weems is a veteran marketing executive who has built innovative and powerful campaigns advocating for marginalized people and multiculturalism. In 2017, she launched the #MyBmore social media movement whose goal was to share positive stories about Baltimore to improve the public’s perception of the city. According to her website, “[t]he campaign quickly gained traction. Within a year the city grew from 500 positive social media posts boasting #MyBmore to 100K. Today, #MyBmore continues to serve as a beacon of pride for locals, as well as a travelers behind-the-scenes peek into authentic Baltimore experiences.”
The Changemaker Awards is part of the 5th annual CLLCTIVGIVE. The yearly nominations and culminating awards are meant to be “a catalyst for change, a platform for connection, and a source of inspiration.” The awards ceremony portion will be hosted by Eze Jackson and powered by The Medicine Show.
The evening party tops off a “Day of Giving” that consists of a 24-hour crowdfunding campaign to support Baltimore’s Black-led Social Change organizations. Black-led, mission-driven organizations in the Baltimore areas can apply to create personalized fundraising pages on the CLLCTIVGIVE platform.
Since its 2019 launch, CLLCTIVLY has invested more than $1 million in local organizations.
Tickets to the CLLCTIVGIVE Party and Changemaker Awards are $40, and you can purchase them at this link. The event takes place on Friday, Aug. 4, at 7 p.m. at the Rye Street Market in Baltimore.
