Board Member

• Mar 2022 - Present

Executive Director

• Apr 2014 - Present

MOZAIK Philanthropy is a Los Angeles-based, not-for-profit human rights organization on a mission to democratize philanthropy through participatory grantmaking in the arts. We believe the arts can serve as a catalyst for diverse institutions, equitable economies, and inclusive societies. We welcome collaborations with artists of all ages, professional backgrounds and styles using contemporary art as a medium for social change. Join us! MOZAIK Philanthropy is a Los Angeles-based, not-for-profit human rights organization on a mission to democratize philanthropy through participatory grantmaking in the arts. We believe the arts can serve as a catalyst for diverse institutions, equitable economies, and inclusive societies. We welcome collaborations with artists of all ages, professional backgrounds and styles using contemporary art as a medium for social change. Join us!

Executive Director

• Apr 2014 - Dec 2019

Neda Nobari Foundation is a private foundation with a mission to promote social and environmental justice through the arts and education. The foundation’s work strives to foster creative, sustainable, and transformational change through the support of diverse projects that promote social justice and participate in the empowerment of the human potential. According to Wikipedia, “philanthropy" is the effort or inclination to increase the well-being of humankind. It’s generally agreed that the word was coined 2500 years ago in ancient Greece by the playwright, Aeschylus. The author told of a myth: The primitive creatures that were created to be human, at first had no knowledge, skills, or culture of any kind-so they lived in caves, in the dark, in constant fear of their lives. Zeus, the tyrannical king of the gods, decided to destroy them, but Prometheus, a Titan whose name meant “forethought,” out of his “philanthropos tropos” or “humanity-loving character” gave them two empowering, life-enhancing, gifts: fire, symbolizing all knowledge, skills, technology, arts, and science; and “blind hope” or optimism. The two went together-with fire, humans could be optimistic; with optimism, they could use fire constructively, to improve the human condition. The new word, philanthropos, combined two words: philos, “loving” in the sense of benefitting, caring for, nourishing; and anthropos, “human being” in the sense of “humankind”, “humanity”, or “human-ness.” What he evidently “loved”, therefore, was their human potential- what they could accomplish and become with “fire” and “blind hope.” The two gifts in effect completed the creation of humankind as a distinctly civilized animal. Philanthropia, loving what it is to be human-was thought to be the key to civilization.” Show less

Digital Media Consultant

• Aug 2015 - Jul 2016

Founded in 2005 by Robert Redford and his children, the Redford Center is led by filmmaker and board chair Jamie Redford. Under Jamie’s leadership, The Redford Center harnesses the power of film, video, and new media to increase public engagement on frontline issues and support like‑minded community efforts. By distributing storytelling tools and creatively developing education platforms and action campaigns, The Redford Center inspires meaningful progress on the issues at hand. Founded in 2005 by Robert Redford and his children, the Redford Center is led by filmmaker and board chair Jamie Redford. Under Jamie’s leadership, The Redford Center harnesses the power of film, video, and new media to increase public engagement on frontline issues and support like‑minded community efforts. By distributing storytelling tools and creatively developing education platforms and action campaigns, The Redford Center inspires meaningful progress on the issues at hand.

Director of Global Partnerships

• Apr 2014 - May 2015

Keely spent her youth in Sedona, Arizona, deeply inspired by the confluence of indigenous cultures in the American Southwest. Developing a love for the transformative potential of documentary film to bridge communities and to awaken critical consciousness, she has worked in the public and private sectors using social impact film as a catalytic tool to inspire activism where the spheres of human rights and environmental justice intersect. She most recently joined SIMA as Director of Global Partnerships. Previously, she worked on the Development & Outreach team for international non-profit Human Rights Watch, where she curated the Human Rights Watch Film & Discussion Series in Los Angeles. With a background in providing strategic audience engagement models, impact measurements through multimedia campaigns, and grant making through the emerging practice of Indie philanthropy, Keely has successfully helped independent filmmakers galvanize social change in both grassroots and international arenas. Show less

Associate | Development & Global Initiatives

• Jun 2013 - Jul 2014

Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For more than 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world. Show less

Research and Development Intern

• Sep 2012 - Nov 2012

The World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY), adopted by the General Assembly in 1995, provides a policy framework and practical guidelines for national action and international support to improve the situation of young people around the world. The WPAY covers fifteen youth priority areas and contains proposals for action in each of these areas. Each of the fifteen priority areas identified by the international community is presented in terms of principal issues, specific objectives and the actions proposed to be taken by various actors to achieve those objectives. Objectives and actions reflect the three themes of the first International Youth Year: Participation, Development, Peace in 1985; they are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. The fifteen fields of action identified by the international community are education, employment, hunger and poverty, health, environment, substance abuse, juvenile justice, leisure-time activities, girls and young women and the full and effective participation of youth in the life of society and in decision-making, as well as globalization, information and communication technologies, HIV/AIDS, armed conflict, and intergenerational issues. Implementation of the Programme of Action requires the full enjoyment by young people of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and also requires that Governments take effective action against violations of these rights and freedoms and promote non-discrimination, tolerance, respect for diversity, with full respect for various religious and ethical values, cultural backgrounds and philosophical convictions of their young people, equality of opportunity, solidarity, security and participation of all young women and men. Show less

Journalist

• 2010 - 2011

The Worldview Project is a 501(c) 3 educational nonprofit, with the motto “Many Cultures, One Humanity”, that forwards a vision of promoting greater cultural knowledge, understanding, and tolerance in the San Diego community, and beyond. I worked as the organization’s media correspondent for the 18th Annual San Diego Latino Film Festival, interviewing documentary film directors and writing film reviews for Worldview’s online media site, the Participant Observer. Other tasks included the organization of the first annual Harmony and Motion International Music and Dance Festival, which brought together musical and dance traditions from around the world, in addition to bringing in new authors for their Cultures in the Classroom series of children’s books—elementary school-level fictional works written by indigenous authors. Show less

Resettlement Intern

• 2009 - 2011

During my time with ECRC I was exposed to the field of non-profit international human rights work as the center’s only volunteer, working with the Director and a few dedicated staff to grant write and promote community awareness through local newspaper and media sources regarding the center’s mission to assist in the resettlement of Middle Eastern asylum seekers and immigrants regardless of origin, race, color, or creed. I worked to find housing, employment, ESL training and childcare for over two hundred refugees. Show less