Sonia BasSheva Manjon
Director, Craft and Cultural Arts Dept., Oakland, Ca.
This Latina worldwind, born to Dominican parents, has
accomplished incredible feats and carved a place for herself
in the world of arts and entertainment. Holding a premier
seat in Oakland politics, she directs the city's newly formed
Craft and Cultural Arts Department, one of four campaign priorities
for Oakland's Mayor Jerry Brown. Consciously preparing for
such a position, Sonia's accomplishments include executive
and advisory positions with the San Francisco Chapter of the
GRAMMYs, California Arts Council, San Francisco Art Commission
and various performance and cultural based organizations in
California and New York.
Dancer, choreographer, curator, and presenter,
Sonia has worked with both artists and organizations including
Rene Yanez, Ulysses Jenkins, Lula Washington, the late Jose
Guadalupe Saucedo, Street Sounds (Oakland), Teatro Vision
(San Jose), Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Theater, and El
Grupo Cultural Zero (Mexico). Educator and researcher, Ms.
Manjon has taught and lectured at various Bay Area colleges
and universities including New College of California, San
Francisco State University and California College of Arts
and Crafts. As entrepreneur/CEO of Manjon International Services,
Sonia developed and facilitated arts education, public arts
and funding programs/plans for the cities of San Francisco,
Berkeley, Marin, and Oakland, as well as implementing organizational
strategic planning processes for non-profit organizations.
To add to an already growing list of accomplishments,
Sonia hasn't limited herself to the Bay Area, her speaking
and facilitation skills have been showcased at such events
as: Breaking Through Barriers in the Industry, GAVIN 2000
Convention (SF); Latinos en la Musica, SF Jazz Festival Dialogue
Series (Oakland); A Conversation with Donald Bryd/The Group,
National Association of Artists' Organizations (Miami); Toiling
in the Belly of the Beast: Sparking the New Cultural Arts
Activism & Towards An International Policy for Cultural
Equity, Cultural Diversity Based on Cultural Grounding Conference
II & III (NY); Funding Asian American Arts, Persistence
of Vision, Perspectives, Process and Possibilities, Asian
American Arts Conference (Berkeley); and Building Coalition
for a Creative America: Revitalizing
Communities with the Arts, Keynote Speaker
for the National Association of State Arts Agencies (National
Teleconference/KQED).
While raising her two year old son - Zyan
Haile, Sonia is also completing her Ph.D. in Transformative
Learning and Change in Human Systems at the California Institute
of Integral Studies (CIIS). Her dissertation thesis is on
immigration and acculturation of four generations of Dominican
women in the United States. She has an MA in Cultural Anthropology
& Social Transformation from CIIS and a BA in World Arts
and Cultures/Dance from University of California Los Angeles.
She also studied business and dance at University of California
Berkeley.
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