Trailblazers Archives
    Sheroes Archives
    Rocks Archives

Executive Power Mover


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.

 



About Us | Features | Membership | Programs & Services | Events | Contact