Announcing our 2024 San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Ambassador Cohort!
Cultural Ambassadors help increase awareness of and attendance at SFAC’s grant information sessions and encourage prospective grantees to submit applications to relevant SFAC grant categories in fall 2024. This is a paid opportunity to be part of SFAC's grant-making process.
2024 San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Ambassadors | Left to Right: Star Amerasu, Catherine Collins, Maya Lefao, Rowena Richie, Nihan Roth
- Star Amerasu (she/hers/her)
- Star Amerasu is a writer, composer and director who released music under the moniker Ah-Mer-Ah-Su. Her first job in entertainment was composing the score for Major! A documentary film, showcasing the life of transgender revolutionary and Stonewall rioter, Miss Major. Upon release her debut album “Star” was voted by Billboard critics as top 20 LGBT albums of 2018. In spring of 2023, She collaborated with director Aimee Hoffman to create a visual poem titled “I guess” as part of OUTFEST 2023 artist-in-residence program, the film screened at the festival, and debuted Star as a writer. She is a graduate of San Francisco Film schools Professional program. Her directorial debut film ‘After Hours’ premiered at Frameline Film Festival in 2024.
- Star Amerasu is a writer, composer and director who released music under the moniker Ah-Mer-Ah-Su. Her first job in entertainment was composing the score for Major! A documentary film, showcasing the life of transgender revolutionary and Stonewall rioter, Miss Major. Upon release her debut album “Star” was voted by Billboard critics as top 20 LGBT albums of 2018. In spring of 2023, She collaborated with director Aimee Hoffman to create a visual poem titled “I guess” as part of OUTFEST 2023 artist-in-residence program, the film screened at the festival, and debuted Star as a writer. She is a graduate of San Francisco Film schools Professional program. Her directorial debut film ‘After Hours’ premiered at Frameline Film Festival in 2024.
- Catherine Collins (she/hers/her)
- Catherine Collins (Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians / Mohawk) is passionate about promoting the artwork of Native American communities living in San Francisco. Her work focuses on celebrating the rich cultural heritage and creative contributions of Indigenous artists.
- Catherine Collins (Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians / Mohawk) is passionate about promoting the artwork of Native American communities living in San Francisco. Her work focuses on celebrating the rich cultural heritage and creative contributions of Indigenous artists.
- Maya Lefao (she/hers/her)
- Maya Lefao was born in Berkeley, California, raised across the South Pacific and grew up in the Bay Area. She received her B.A from the University of California, Berkeley in African American studies with an emphasis on globalization and education; then received her M.A in Africology from Temple University. She is currently working on her research, exploring Afro-Oceanic Indigenous Epistemology. Through rigorous creative process, she connects the ways our earth teaches us key principles to methods of being, learning and understanding. Maya creates, to honor those who have come before her, those who are here with her & those who have yet to come.
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Rowena Richie (she/hers/her)
- Rowena Richie studied dance at University of Michigan and Cal State Long Beach, and received an MFA in Creative Inquiry from New College of California. Richie has lived and worked in San Francisco since 1993, leading movement classes for people of all ages. She founded a dance camp for kids and leads Flow with Row, a creative movement program for older people including low income elders, people living with dementia and adults with developmental disabilities. As an Atlantic Fellow Richie has traveled all over the world researching and developing projects to promote creative aging and brain health across life course. Richie is a founding member of For You, a collective that brings strangers together across difference for intimate encounters and thinks of performance making as gift giving. Richie is also a Cogenerate Innovation Fellow and is committed to bridging the generations through projects like For You’s ‘Artists & Elders.’
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Nihan Roth (she/hers/her)
- Nihan Roth is an arts advocate, digital creator and tour guide based in San Francisco. With extensive experience in guiding tours in both Istanbul and San Francisco, she bridges Turkish and American cultures. Her background in the arts, combined with her experience as an English teacher in Turkey, enriches her commitment to intercultural communication. As a digital creator, Nihan engages her audience by promoting Istanbul’s rich cultural heritage while sharing her evolving experiences within San Francisco’s diverse communities. Passionate about the transformative power of art, she views it as a profound medium for healing, connection and empowerment - both for individuals and communities. Nihan’s work reflects her belief in the arts’ ability to foster empathy and a sense of belonging. Through her collaboration with SFAC, she aims to continue making meaningful connections as a dedicated cultural ambassador.