Project summary

Misrepresentation or lack of representation is deep and wide in the USA. Media and entertainment companies may not know they need a cultural advisor and if they do, they struggle to find cultural consultants on projects that portray those cultures at least in part. Scientific communities seeking to work with more diverse populations for studies are struggling to find enough applicants from those cultures and ethnicities.

Cultura Connector is a 501c3 nonprofit that seeks to address misrepresentation or lack of representation in USA media, education, research, and entertainment through partnering cultural consultants and advisors with companies from these industries. This free to list and free to search directory removes the obstacles that companies face when trying to portray a culture, religion, ethnicity, or lived experience with authenticity. This partnership between companies and cultures provides value to the cultural communities through improved representation, preservation of their culture, and economic empowerment. As well, Cultura Connector provides education to cultural advisors on how to establish a full time career as a cultural advisor and negotiate the terms of their relationship with companies and their projects.

What are this project's goals and how will you achieve them?

The Cultura Connector global directory will make it easier for:

• Companies to easily find and hire advisors and creators from the culture that their projects portray or serve

• Researchers to recruit individuals from specific cultures or lived experiences in their health, wellness, or other scientific studies

• Companies to learn about how to work with cultural educators in a manner that best serves both parties

• Textbook publishers and education media producers to receive consultation on how to properly portray a culture in textbooks and education media

• Universities and conference/event organizers to find diverse panelists and speakers on cultural topics

• Reporters and authors to find original sources for stories or books that pertain to a culture or lived experience
  

How will this funding be used?

Our vision is to become the largest global online directory of cultural advisors and creators. Our pathway includes the following with funding:

• Creating educational content and online courses for cultural advisors on how to connect with and work in industries like media, education, recreation, and more

• Social media posts that educate the public about cultures and misrepresentation in media

• Advocating for appropriate representation through articles and content

• LinkedIn Sales Navigator Core subscription at $1200/yr to actively recruit more cultural advisors and creators on LinkedIn

With additional funding beyond our minimum, we would do the following:

• Significant outreach through conferences to educate the general public about the necessity of appropriate representation

• Presentations and public speaking at related events for recruiting directory listers and searchers

• Translating the directory into more languages so as to globalize the accessibility, inclusivity, and overall utility of this directory

• Listing jobs, fellowships, and grants for cultural advisors
  

Who is on your team and what's your track record on similar projects?

Meghan Gardner has been working with cultural educators for 10 years and partnering them with companies like Royal Caribbean, University of Georgia, and the Princeton Review. She is currently in discussion with Sesame Workshop and the Disney Channel. Her greatest challenge is not a lack of corporations interested in cultural advisors, but in reaching enough cultural advisors and educators. So she recruited members with strong networks in a variety of global cultures as her board:

Uuganaa Ramsay, founder of the nonprofit Mongol Identity, is an award-winning author, campaigner and speaker who has made BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service documentaries on Mongolian culture.

Genein Letford is an award-winning educator, best-selling author and global speaker on the Intercultural Creativity®. As a TEDx speaker and top creativity trainer, she helps educators and professionals to be aware of their cultural lenses.

Claudia A. Fox Tree has been a special education teacher for over 30 years. She has taught social justice courses at the college level and national conferences. She is currently an Indigenous cultural educator and doctoral student at Lesley University.

Brenda Peart is a Windrush Wash Belly living in the Gullah Geechee Nation. She attended schools in the land of her Ancestors, Jamaica. Her interests lie in the MAAFA route exploring African Diaspora cultural similarities and practices in Ancestor veneration.

Avishta L. Seeras is a neurolanguage educator, translator and polyglot. She is the founder of The Lingua-Cultura Experience which focuses on creating spaces for people to share their knowledge about world languages and cultures.

Nozomi Morgan is the CEO of Michiki Morgan Worldwide offering multinational organizations solutions to leverage their multicultural workforce. Nozomi serves the U.S.-Japan Council as a Council Leader, actively shaping U.S.-Japan relations.

Patricia Adkisson is a retired school educator and current Indigenous cultural educator in Juneau, Alaska who has been pivotal as a community leader and elder in the revitalization of the Tlingit language and customs.

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails? (premortem)

The most likely cause of failure is that not enough cultural educators list in the database or are accessible to our network to handle the number of requests we have from our corporate and university clients... which could cause them to lose interest and either change their project parameters or move forward without an advisor.

What other funding are you or your project getting?

Royal Caribbean has hired Cultura Connector to locate Indigenous presenters for as many of their 60 ports around the world as possible. We have so far received $12,000 in funding from them and are expected to receive more this year and a larger amount next year with their World Cruise.