The Event Hosts
Amma Whatt
Vocalist | Performer | Vice President, Egbe Iwa Board
Amma Whatt is a dynamic vocalist and performer known for her genre-blending sound that fuses Soul, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, House, and Jazz. A proud graduate of Egbe Iwa and current Vice President of its Board, she continues to inspire through both music and mentorship.
Described by PopMatters as “a distinctive soul singer who absolutely seduces your ear,” and praised by The New York Times for her “silk-infused vocals,” Amma’s artistry is both powerful and deeply expressive.
She has performed internationally, collaborated with renowned artists, and created viral a cappella performances rooted in Afro-Cuban spiritual traditions. Beyond the stage, she is an educator and advocate, using her voice to promote social justice and empower communities through music.
Instagram @ammawhatt
Andres Chulisi Rodriguez
Actor | Poet | Author | Producer
Andres Chulisi Rodriguez is a HOLA Award-winning and AUDELCO-nominated actor, author, and performance artist. His work spans theater, poetry, and live performance, with a strong focus on storytelling that reflects lived experience.
He is the self-published author of Slips, Trips and Falls, a collection of personal essays and poetry. As a member of the spiritual institution FUENTE, he is also engaged in teaching inclusive spiritual practices.
Andres is a passionate advocate for the POC and LGBTQ+ communities, producing work that centers their voices and experiences. He facilitates acting and writing workshops across New York City and continues to develop new projects, including his variety show ChuliVision, his one-man show MARICON, and his upcoming book UNMOTHERED.
Facebook- Andres Chulisi Rodriguez
Instagram- chuliboo
TikTok- Andres Chulisi Rodriguez
Red Carpet Host
Jeannie Sol
Singer | Actor | Comedian
Jeannie Sol is a multifaceted singer, actor, comedian, and puppeteer born and raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. From an early age, she understood the importance of community support, mentorship, and having people who believe in your dreams — values that continue to shape both her life and career today.
With a career spanning more than three decades, Jeannie has traveled the world sharing her talents across music, theater, comedy, and film. With roots connected to Fania Records, House Music culture, and live performance, she has become a celebrated and respected creative voice within the Latin entertainment and theater communities.
Her accomplishments include 13 HOLA Awards, 6 ACE Awards, 2 IATI Awards, and recognition as an LGBTQ Advocate of the Year. Most recently, she appeared in Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest — and as Jeannie jokingly says, “I made it out the edit floor!” 😄
Jeannie Sol is honored to serve as the Red Carpet Host for the Egbe Iwa Gala 2026.
In her words:
“It is important as a community to stand together and support. To the dreamers — we got you.”
Instagram: @jeanniesol
The keynote speaker
Desirée Gordon
Keynote Speaker | Social Innovation Strategist | Executive Director, Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy
Desirée Gordon is an accomplished social innovation strategist, impact investment designer, curator, producer, and creative wellness artist whose work centers on building equitable systems that uplift communities. Her interdisciplinary practice focuses on creating pipelines to power, cultivating ecosystems of care, and designing sustainable networks that foster more inclusive, democratic, and imaginative societies.
A people-centered leader, Desirée blends creative vision with collaborative strategy and deep compassion. She has developed and refined her approach through impactful roles at leading cultural institutions including The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI). Her work has been nationally recognized by the Smithsonian Institution, where she was awarded the prestigious Reimagining the Museum Fellowship.
During her tenure as Director of Programs and Strategy at the Brooklyn Arts Council, Desirée led transformative initiatives that redefined how arts organizations invest in communities. She created the Creative Equations Fund, the organization’s first social justice and social innovation investment initiative, and developed a hybrid digital wellness platform designed to support workforce development and social equity. She also launched the Thrive Fellowship and ThriveFest, signature programs of the Brooklyn Innovation Institute, and led the development of the Brooklyn Innovation Portal, a digital ecosystem for connection, commerce, and collective investment in the arts.
Grounded in a commitment to equity, Desirée introduced the Neighborhood Impact framework, ensuring deeper investment in artists and communities from historically under-resourced neighborhoods. Through this work, she directed nearly $5 million in funding to artists, youth, seniors, and organizations driving cultural interventions rooted in justice, healing, and joy.
Currently, Desirée serves as Executive Director of Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy, Brooklyn’s premier organization dedicated to African-centered cultural practice as a vehicle for social innovation. In this role, she is leading a new era of growth and impact, including the launch of the Araminta Space Grant initiative, which expands access to affordable space for artists and cultural entrepreneurs; Ifetayo’s Impact Studio, a media and technology incubator amplifying community storytelling; and Ife Grove, an intergenerational wellness platform rooted in cultural healing practices.
As an artist, Desirée is a founding member of several performance collectives, including Matriarch, Seya, and the all-women’s sound healing ensemble Lush Song Collective. Her artistic work draws on somatics, storytelling, and the choral traditions of the African Diaspora to create immersive sound experiences that support personal transformation and collective healing.
Ògún Șẹ́ríkí Citizenship Awards
Baba John Mason
Scholar | Author | Musician | Diviner
John Mason is a leading, internationally noted scholar, educator, writer, poet, playwright,
musician, composer, photographer, Yoruba religious art sculptor, ceramicist and installation
artist, diviner and priest of Obatala initiated in 1970. He is a graduate of City College of New
York. Mason received a 1999 Guggenheim Fellowship in Folklore and a BAC-2001 NYCDCA
award.
In 1973 he co-founded and is currently director of the Yoruba Theological Archministry,
a non-profit research center located in Brooklyn, NY. For fifty years he has been involved in the
intensive and extensive study of all aspects of Yoruba culture in the Americas and West Africa.
His thorough documentation of this cultural movement throughout the Americas
and West African diaspora has led to him being considered one of the leading authorities in the field, and
his work has led to the publication of eighteen major books in the field of African studies in the
Americas. His most noted published works include:
Baba Coloring Young Orisa & Companions (2023), Baba's Young Orisa Tales (2023), Baba's
Hunters Tales (2022), Baba's Rats & Flaps Tales (2022, Essays: (2021), ORISA: New World
BLACK GODS (2016), In Praise of Our Mothers (2016), Baba's Esu-Elegba Tales (2015),
Araaraara: Wondrous Inhabitor of Thunder (2012), IRONTI APONNI MEJI: Remembrance of
Two Flatterers (2006), IYIN PIPE: Praise of Completeness (2004), Who's Knocking On My
Floor?: Esu Arts in the Americas (2003), Adura Fun Orisa: Prayers for Selected Heads (2002),
Idana Fun Orisa: Cooking for Selected Heads (1999), Beads. Body and Soul: Art and Light in the
Yoruba Universe (1998, with Henry John Drewal; Finalist, Herskovits Award of ASA, 1999 and
ACASA Arnold Rubin Award 2001), Olookun: Owner o f Rivers and Seas (1996), the
groundbreaking study, Orin Orisa: Songs for Selected Heads (1992), Four New World Yoruba
Rituals (1985), Black Gods: Orisa Studies in the New World (1985, with Gary Edwards),
In 1998, John Mason, a traditional and jazz percussionist, formed Mason-JAM-JA Band. With
sixty years experience as a percussionist and poet, Mason turns his attention to composing and
performing music that draws on classic, traditional West African religious and secular rhythms,
song melodies and text to extend the improvisational vocabulary of spirituals, blues, bebop,
hardbop, Afro-Latin, and Rap music. Original compositions from Blues for Diana, a two act,
blues, dance drama written by Mason, are performed as well as from The African Suite in Six
Movements, The Cuban Suite, The Sacred Suite, In Praise of Our Mothers, Four Women
Dance, Tails of Shorty Long, Aikw/Anti-Death Tonics, and Anti Depression Tonics. He
performed a one man review entitled Johnson Memories, and written the books and music for
the plays University of the Playground, Memoirs of the Mothers of the Children of Fishes and
Praised Moms' Saga.
The band was the house band at McDonalds Cafe (Brooklyn's oldest Black-owned restaurant),
and presented original compositions at the American Museum of Natural History, the Miami Art
Museum, The Museum for African Arts, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Julia Burgos
Cultural Center in East Harlem, Jazz 966, Riverbank State Park, East Stroudsburg University,
Ramapo College, Simmon's Corridor Gallery, Medgar Evers' Jazzy Jazz., Caribbean Cultural
Center, Yale University, BAM Cafe, The Open Center, Goucher College, The African Bural
Ground Memorial, National Jazz Museum of Harlem, etc.
José Antonio Rivera
Civil Rights Attorney | Community Advocate (Posthumous Honor)
José Antonio Rivera (June 18, 1947 – April 10, 2025) was a civil rights attorney, U.S. Air Force veteran, and graduate of NYU School of Law. Over the course of his career, he built a respected law firm and later a consulting practice focused on community organizing and advocacy.
José was deeply committed to advancing civil rights and empowering underserved communities. Among his many accomplishments, he was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve on the Board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Through an introduction by Melody Capote, José began working with Egbe Iwa and quickly became a trusted advisor and advocate. He generously gave his time and expertise, helping to establish the organization’s legal and fiscal foundation, work he continued until his passing.
Egbe Iwa honors him with the Ogun Seriki Citizenship Award in recognition of his service, legacy, and enduring impact. His contributions will continue to guide the organization for years to come.
The Master of Entertainment
DJ Paul Howard
DJ | Radio Personality | House Music Curator
DJ Paul Howard is a seasoned DJ whose career spans more than three decades. Born in Queens and raised in New Rochelle, he came up alongside the evolution of Hip Hop and House music, developing a deep connection to both genres.
A graduate of Howard University, Paul refined his craft in Washington, DC, where he performed in numerous clubs and on radio stations. He was one of the original Mixshow DJs on WKYS 93.9 FM in the early 1990s.
Today, he continues to share his passion for music as the host of House After Dark on WPFW 89.3 FM, airing Mondays from midnight to 2 AM. His mixes and live sets continue to energize audiences both online and on the dance floor.
Follow him on all social media platforms @DjPaulHoward and on Twitch @DjPaulHoward914. Look for his mixes on Mixcloud @DjPaulHoward.
The esteemed ensemble
The Esteemed Ensemble
Clemente Medina (left), Roman Diaz (center),
Oludare Bernard (right)
Clemente Medina
Afro-Cuban Master Drummer | Ọmọ Àyàn | Percussionist | Educator
Clemente Medina is an Afro-Cuban master drummer, Ọmọ Àyàn, percussionist, and educator dedicated to preserving and sharing the rich musical traditions of the African Diaspora. Rooted in sacred rhythm and cultural practice, his work reflects a deep commitment to both performance excellence and community education.
Through his artistry and teaching, Clemente continues to uplift ancestral knowledge, using percussion as both a musical and spiritual language that connects generations and cultures.
Román Díaz
Master Percussionist | Scholar | Composer
Román Díaz is a Cuban-born master percussionist, composer, and scholar widely recognized as a “living repository” of Afro-Cuban culture. His work spans traditional religious and folkloric music as well as contemporary Afro-Cuban and Jazz performance.
Over the course of his career, he has performed and recorded with renowned artists including Mercedita Valdés, Jane Bunnett, Juan Carlos Formell, Paquito D’Rivera, Orlando “Puntilla” Ríos, and Danilo Pérez. He has also recorded with leading folkloric groups such as Yoruba Andabo, Raíces Profundas, and Los Marqueses de Atarés.
Román has graced prestigious stages including Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, and the Smithsonian Institution. His album L’ó Dá Fún Bátá, produced by Pedrito Martinez, features an all-female Àpọn ensemble, including Amma Olóríwáà!, founder of Egbé Ìwá.
He currently serves as a master percussionist with the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Buena Vista Social Club, continuing to share Afro-Cuban musical traditions with global audiences.
Olùdárè BernaRD
Babalórìsà | Ọmọ Àyàn | Àpọn | Educator | Founder, Kíìré Wellness
Olùdárè Bernard is an ordained Babalórìsà, Ọmọ Àyàn, and Àpọn within the Afro-Cuban Lúkúmi tradition, with more than 25 years of dedicated study and practice. His work centers on facilitating healing, guiding spiritual ceremonies, and preserving the sacred traditions of the African Diaspora.
He is the founder of Kíìré Wellness Center for African Diaspora Wellness Arts and the author of Breathing with Òrìṣà. A certified Breathwork Facilitator with the Global Professional Breathwork Alliance, Olùdárè integrates breath, movement, and ritual into transformative healing experiences.
His academic background includes a BA in Theater and Dance from Trinity College and an MA in Progressive Leadership from Bank Street College of Education. He has led workshops at institutions including Harvard, Duke, Dartmouth, Antioch University, and the Trauma Foundation, while remaining deeply committed to serving underserved communities.
An alumnus of Egbé Ìwá, Olùdárè currently serves as Board Secretary, Olùkọ́ (Mentor), and Ọ̀dọ́’kùnrin Dance Director, continuing to shape and guide the next generation through culture, discipline, and purpose.
kiirewellness.com, IG@kiirewellness, #BreathingwithOrisha