Advancing Equity in Action Fundraiser

Advancing Equity in Action

An Evening of Art and Activation to Resource Community-Led Research

Friday, June 12 ~ 6-9 p.m. ~ Westminster Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis

The change we want to see in the world requires the leadership and expertise of communities most impacted by injustice. But, too often, we replicate the harms we want to address by expecting those communities to provide free labor and uncompensated capacity.

In Minnesota, we’re proud to be at the forefront of authentic community-led research, building genuine partnerships with grassroots organizations and impacted people that respect and compensate their time and expertise.

But that work requires resources.

Join the Equity in Action Way Foundation for an evening of art and activation to fund ground-breaking research across Minnesota. In partnership with the African American Leadership Forum, this event will include an art auction, local performers and inspiration from individual and institutional leaders who have engaged with the Equity in Action model.

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In partnership with

Art Auction

Art is how we tell the truth across generations—and how we practice the future before it arrives. It makes room for what we’ve survived, what we’re healing, and what we’re building next. Through color, texture, movement, and memory, art can render the right and just world we deserve into something we can see, feel, and share. That’s why the Forum is proud to partner on a Black art auction that uplifts our convening theme: Building a New Table with Black Women, Girls, and Femmes.

Aligned with the Forum’s focus on advancing health equity and elevating community-driven health narratives, we will curate a collective of local Black artists whose work explores the health realities shaping Black Women, Girls, and Femmes. Artists are invited to use their creative practice as both mirror and map—illuminating stories of healing and resilience, naming systemic barriers, and imagining new possibilities for collective care. With an Afrofuturist lens, the auction becomes more than a showcase: it’s a portal where ancestral wisdom meets visionary futures, where wellness is re-designed on our own terms, and where community voice is centered as the blueprint—carried throughout the gala experience in innovative, culturally grounded ways.

In partnership with Research in Action (RIA), the African American Leadership Forum is inviting artists to create a 2D piece rooted in healthcare access, equity, and community voice, centering the lived experiences of folks who identify as Black women, girls, and femmes.
This is a cultural offering. A moment to translate care, barriers, and breakthroughs into visual language that move people.
Selected works will be featured at the Advancing Equity in Action Fundraiser, an evening of art, performance, and collective activation supporting groundbreaking research across Minnesota.
Your piece should interpret the full journey of care, from finding a provider to navigating appointments, screenings, and follow-ups, while uplifting trust, dignity, access, and collective care.
✨ Opportunity Details
• Showcase your work at a live cultural fundraiser
• Be featured across AALF and RIA platforms
• Maintain full ownership, only prints will be auctioned
• Open to new or unreleased 2D work
• Four week creation window
Apply here by April 9!
We look forward to see how this communities interprets the realities that exist within the health care space, and create room for the larger collective to experience a mirror, see something new, and support telling the stories that often need visual translation and language.

Featuring

Event MC

Ashli Henderson was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN, and is renowned for her talent in delivering raw, authentic comedy that can effortlessly roast a crowd. Her journey into stand-up comedy began in 2016, inspired by her natural ability to be funny with friends and family. Ashli has been featured multiple times on platforms like The Shade Room, World Star Hip Hop, and various social media channels, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
She has hosted and performed alongside notable acts such as Just Neesh, Bill Bellamy, Chris Tucker, WatchJazzy, B. Simone, DC Youngfly, Tyler Craig, Kenny Howell, Henry Welch, and many others. Ashli's comedy often explores her experiences as a single mother, her identity within the LGBTQ+ community, and her family life. Her high energy, unique style, and versatility have made her one of the most cherished comedians in the country.
In 2020, Ashli founded the Northside Emergency Resource Pop-up to provide essential resources to families impacted by the Minneapolis uprising, serving over 8,000 families. In 2021, she gained viral fame for her humorous reenactment videos, which significantly boosted her following across various social media platforms, nowing boasting 500k on TikTok, 180k on Facebook, 160k on Instagram, and 60k on YouTube.
After relocating to Houston in 2022, Ashli quickly rose to fame as one of the city’s funniest comics, performing at venues like Improv Houston and The Riot Comedy Club. She has also toured across the U.S. and Canada, headlining at popular comedy clubs. In 2024, Ashli recorded her first comedy special, '1320, Girlfriend’s House,’ showcasing her ability to blend humor with emotional and intellectual insights in her stand-up. Beyond her work as a comedian, Ashli is also a dedicated philanthropist who is passionately committed to her craft and community initiatives.

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Performer

Thomasina Petrus is a professional jazz singer, songwriter and (AEA) actor who cultivated her multi-talents through study, mentorship, and friendships of many Twin Cities elite artists. She is a creative muse rooted in the legacy of Black women’s voices. Thomasina now creates exceptional music and theatre experiences for stage, film, corporate and commercial marketing. She has toured the country honoring Billie Holiday with productions of “Lady Day @ Emerson’s Bar & Grill” by Lanie Robertson. Thomasina has staged original productions “The Best of Billie & Me”. “Etta James…Dreams to Remember”, “Hot Chocolate”, a multi-Holiday concert series and full musical stage production. Thomasina is co-author of “Hold” a musical poem/play with incarcerated women through HCL. She scored music for the world premiere of “Ashti’s Journey to Jazz” by Carmen Rubin and was just honored by the Twin Cities Film Festival 2023 for her work on the documentary soundtrack “The Water Cries” for “The Juneteenth Story, From Galveston, TX to Minnesota”, and “Bells for Philando” 2022, both produced with OMG Media Solutions. Her final sweet addition/addiction is “Thomasina’s Cashew Brittle” (.com) available in many local fine food & gourmet shops., Amazon, and her own site.

The Equity in Action Way Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that invests in actionable research, authentic community engagement, and community-led solutions for social transformation across the intersections of housing stability, health equity, and criminal justice.

Established in 2024 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, our work is inspired by and rooted in the leadership and scholarship of Dr. Brittany Lewis, who developed the Equity in Action process model over years of engagement with hundreds of impacted community members. We recognize that reclaiming research for community means:

Resourcing research that centers the voices of community members and organizations: From the cost of providing transportation or child care at a community gathering to compensation for Community Action Council members over the course a multi-year project, Equity in Action requires funding that traditional research budgets often overlook. From stipends for community members who take a survey to funding for small, grassroots organizations that serve directly impacted people, Equity in Action recognizes that equitable research MUST resource community members and partners for their expertise and their capacity.
Providing pro bono services to small community-led organizations: Research is critical to effective and enduring community change — but many organizations led by communities most impacted by injustice have limited financial capacity. Equity in Action ensures that community organizations on the frontlines have access to key research, like setting a strategic vision and evaluating impact.

Your donations and bidding in the auction support this critical work — and our education efforts to to shift the research landscape nationwide.

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Thank you to our sponsors

McKnight Foundation
Blue Cross MN Foundation
Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation
Wilder
Women's Foundation of Minnesota
African American Leadership Forum
Addieun Foundation
University of Minnesota- Office for Diversity, Inclusion, Community Engagement, and Equity