Leadership


Sixto Wagan
PROJECT DIRECTOR
Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) Arts Network and Fund
Sixto Wagan is the Project Director for the BIPOC Arts Network and Fund. He leads BANF along with a seven-member Steering Committee and a nine-member Accountability and Advisory Council made up of a diverse group of artists, curators, scholars, organizational leaders and foundation partners, who guide goals and priorities.
Before joining BANF, Wagan was the inaugural director for the Center for Art and Social Engagement (CASE) at the University of Houston. He also led the contemporary art center, DiverseWorks, serving a multitude of capacities including artistic director, co-executive director and performing arts curator.
Steering Committee

Patra Brannon-Isaac
Director of Education and Community Projects
Kinder Foundation

Bao-Long Chu
Senior Program Officer Houston Endowment

Tony Diaz
Writer, Activist
and Political Analyst

Adán Medrano,
Chef, Food Writer and Filmmaker

Deidre Thomas
Senior Advisor
Mattison Advisors

Frances Valdez
Executive Director
Houston In Action

Kheli Willetts
Principal
Dira Professional Development
Accountability and Advisory Council

Sebastien Boncy
Photographer and Educator

Janice Bond
Cultural Architect, Art Advisor, Interdisciplinary Artist

Candice D’Meza
Actor, Writer, Filmmaker and Multidisciplinary artist

Julie DeVries
Artist and Educator

Eureka Gilkey
Executive Director
Project Row Houses

Eleisha Nelson-Reed
Executive Director
Powell Foundation

Mari Carmen Ramirez,
Wortham Curator of Latin American Art and Director of the International Center for the Arts of the Americas Museum of Fine Art, Houston

Shayna Schlosberg
Arts Administrator and Community Organizer

Roberto Tejada
Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor, University of Houston