JD Beltran
Co-Founder
A native San Franciscan who grew up in the Richmond District, JD Beltran has been a creative infrastruralist and arts cheerleader who, for more than 20 years, has advanced groundbreaking solutions and organizational initiatives that address cultural, social, environmental, and economic challenges. She has served on the San Francisco Arts Commission for 16 years, serving as President for 8 them. An award-winning artist with works in museums and collections worldwide, filmmaker, designer, writer, journalist, educator, and master in the use of the serial comma, Beltran has served as a longtime faculty in art, film, design, and technology at the San Francisco Art Institute (her alma mater), CCA, SFSU, and Stanford.
DAVE EGGERS
Co-Founder
In 2002, author Nínive Calegari and artist Dave Eggers cofounded 826 Valencia, the beloved Mission District writing and tutoring center. Celebrating its twenty-third year in San Francisco, the center now has locations all over the city, with major hubs in the Mission, the Tenderloin, and Mission Bay. Eggers has also jump-started many other nonprofits, including ScholarMatch, dedicated to making college accessible to low-income students, and Voice of Witness, a series of books that illuminate human rights crises through oral history. He is also the founder of McSweeney’s, the Mission-based publishing company. His drawings and paintings have been widely shown and are represented by Electric Works.
Amanda Uhle
Amanda Uhle is Executive Director and Publisher of McSweeney’s, The Believer, and Illustoria, an art and storytelling magazine for young readers. She co-founded The International Congress of Youth Voices with Dave Eggers and co-edits the I, Witness series. Previously, Uhle was executive director of 826michigan for over 11 years. Her writing appears in The Washington Post, Politico, and Newsweek. Her memoir, Destroy This House, is published by Simon & Schuster.
Jordan Kurland
Jordan Kurland is a co-founder and partner at Brilliant Corners Artist Management, representing artists including Death Cab for Cutie, Perfume Genius, and Toro y Moi. He is also a partner in Noise Pop Industries, producer of some of the Bay Area’s most beloved music events, including the iconic Noise Pop festival. Kurland was a founder of Treasure Island Music Festival, the groundbreaking outdoor festival that ran from 2007 to 2018 on San Francisco Bay. A passionate advocate for social justice, he partnered with Dave Eggers to create the compilations Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy, raising over half a million dollars for voting rights organizations, and Good Music To Ensure Safe Abortion Access To All, which raised over two hundred thousand dollars in twenty-four hours and debuted at number nine on the Billboard Albums Chart.
STELLA LOCHMAN
Stella Lochman is a born and raised San Franciscan and creative leader with deep roots in the city’s cultural life. A graduate of SF State with a background in art history, she spent over a decade at SFMOMA where she produced large-scale social practice commissions, public programs, and beloved community events like the SFMOMA Soapbox Derby and the exhibition of the San Francisco Scale Model. She is currently Director of Special Events at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, where she creates mission-driven experiences across some of the Bay Area’s most iconic public spaces. Throughout her career, Stella has been committed to making art and culture accessible, community-rooted, and joyful.