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Falona works with museums, universities, arts organizations, philanthropic institutions and social impact campaigns to launch ambitious initiatives. Recent examples include developing a refreshed vision, mission, values and operational plan for the Millennium Park Foundation; providing strategic facilitation and evaluation support to new pilot initiatives with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and supporting the Terra Foundation for American Art designing a new strategic vision for impact during a leadership transition.
Falona began her career with the National Park Foundation, where she was the founding executive director of the African American Experience Fund. She continues to have a passion for parks, public lands, and conservation initiatives, including serving as the founding garden leader for the 42nd Street Garden in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood and served as the Vice Chair of the inaugural Forest Preserves of Cook County’s Conservation and Policy Council.
Falona also serves as a life trustee of the Chicago History Museum; is a board member of Adler University, the Seattle Art Museum and the Friends of the Seattle Waterfront; was an officer and board member of the Illinois Humanities Council from 2006 to 2015; and was named a Chicago Cultural Champion by the Chicago Cultural Alliance in 2015.
Falona received her B.A. with honors from Stanford University.
Craig Stevens is a futurist archeologist and curator. His work seeks to express anthropological and archaeological data through creative processes and immersive products. His archaeological research investigates the placemaking strategies of nineteenth-century Black American and Caribbean Back-to-Africa settlers and their descendants in Liberia.
Through the use of 3D digitization and innovative curatorial strategies, Craig seeks to expose broad and diverse audiences to African and African Diasporic material culture.
He recently developed and curated the Augmented Curiosities exhibition for the Herskovits Library of African Studies, which leverages Augmented and Virtual Reality technologies to provide opportunities for intimate engagement with African object collections.
Craig is completing his doctoral research in the Anthropology Department at Northwestern University. During his tenure as a Marshall Scholar in the United Kingdom, he completed an MA in Archaeology at the UCL Institute of Archaeology and an MA in Museums, Heritage & Material Culture Studies at The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
Jessica is a social entrepreneur and expert in global nonprofit media, cultural and educational institutions.
Jessica started her career consulting, where she helped private and public sector leaders align, equip and mobilize their organizations to solve complex business problems and execute comprehensive strategies. She transitioned to the social sector when she served as the Co-founder and Associate Director of the Mariposa DR Foundation, where she was instrumental in creating an organization that has transformed the lives of thousands of girls in the Dominican Republic. For the first five years of the organization, her work was critical to developing the infrastructure for the organization, earning her the Martin Luther King Social Justice award from her alma mater, Dartmouth College. Jessica returned to her hometown of Chicago in 2014 and began working as the founding community engagement director for WTTW, the third largest public television station in the country.
In addition to her passion for social impact, Jessica also is foodie. When the pandemic hit, she decided to launch a social media company, launching Big Delicious Life, a successful food blog where she develops original, from-scratch recipes with fresh ingredients. In 2022 she appeared as a contestant on the first season of America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation on Amazon Freevee.
Jessica brings her passion for social justice, deep experience with cultural and educational nonprofit organizations and expertise in community focused media to the Joy Media team.