ally Advisors
Ike Brady, Jim Jarmusch, Michael Lechuga, Jean-Marie Teno, Andrea Turkalo, Tanya Weddemire
Ike Brady
Ike Brady is a retired human resource executive who worked for over 30 years for several Fortune 100 companies including AT&T, Kraft General Foods, Altria, and Payless ShoeSource. During his tenure with these various organizations, he served in leadership positions focused on employee relations, labor relations, staffing, finance, merger/acquisitions, and human relations. Ike’s corporate experience provided international responsibilities in the United States, Mexico, Asia, Canada, and South America. His success was based on emphasizing to individuals, and to companies, the intrinsic value of being mutually engaged in personal goals and Company expectations versus merely complying with policies, laws, and financial targets. This led to satisfied employees and corporate social responsibility. At each stop in cities during his career, Ike was involved in charitable organizations such as NAACP, Urban League, and the YMCA. He continues his community service working with the University of Kansas in retirement.
Ike was born and raised in the Midwest US where he was a classmate and friend of I. Murphy Lewis. He has a bachelor's degree from Southwestern University in Kansas and a master's degree from Rockhurst University in Missouri as well as a certification in Labor Relations from Michigan State University.
Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch is a film director, writer, musician, producer, and artist. A prominent figure in independent cinema, his notable films include Stranger than Paradise (1984), Down By Law (1986), Dead Man (1999), Broken Flowers (2005), Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) Paterson (2016). His book Some Collages was published by Anthology 2021.
Michael Lechuga
Michael Lechuga is an Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico where he researches and teaches rhetoric, media, theories of settler colonialism, and Xicana/o/x studies. He examines the communication technologies that participate in the colonial organizing of settler subjects and occupied lands, rendering indigenous people, black people, and the environment, incomunicable–a term Erick Torrico uses to describe colonial modes of communication. Lechuga's new book, Visions of Invasion, explores this phenomenon as it pertains to today's anti-migrant, techno-border regime.
Lechuga is also the founder of the MUVE Lab at UNM, a VR lab founded on the principle of vincularidad, a term indigenous thinkers like Nina Pacari and Isabel Altamirano-Jimenez use to refer to a social connections mediated through shared care for the natural world. Before his academic career, Michael spent nearly 3 years as an editor and filmmaker with Global Voice, where he established a passion for anti-colonial activism.
See his new book published in 2023, Vision of Invasions.
See his publications on his Academia’s page: https://unm.academia.edu/MichaelLechuga
Jean-Marie Teno
Jean-Marie Teno has been producing and directing films for over thirty-five years for international television broadcast and theatrical release. His films are noted for their original approach to issues of race, cultural identity, African history and contemporary politics. Teno’s films have been broadcasted in Europe and have been honored at festivals worldwide: Berlin, Toronto, Yamagata, Cinéma du Réel, Visions du Réel, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Liepzig, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, to name a few. Teno served in the jury of Idfa, Sundance Film Festival, Yamagata, Hot Docs and many more.
Teno has been a guest of the Flaherty Seminar, an artist in residence at the Pacific Film Archive of the University of California, Berkeley, at Calarts, Los Angeles, a Copeland Fellow in Amherst College, and has lectured at numerous universities. In 2015, he was a visiting Artist at Wellesley College MA. In 2017 he was invited to join the Oscar Academy. Teno started a yearly training documentary program in Cameroon ‘Patrimoine-Heritage’, which produced 11 short films. For more info visit patrimoines-heritage.tv. His films include: Alex’s Wedding (2002) The Colonial Misunderstanding (2005), Sacred Places (2009) Leaf in the Wind (2013) Chosen (2018).
For more information on Teno’s films, please visit Jean-Marie Teno / On Demand pages and raphiavod.tv.
Jean-Marie Teno’s is currently (2023) working on a project building a place in Bandjoun (West Cameroon) to host artists, workshops… a place to discover, a place to work together.
Andrea Turkalo
Andrea Turkalo, Associate Conservation Scientist of Wildlife Conservation Society observed the Forest Elephants in the Dzanga clearing in the Central African Republic for almost thirty years, all the while her friend Louis Sarno was living amongst the BaAka recording their music.
Here is an amazing documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YYe_NeA618
See the New Yorker’s article about her work: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/11/elephant-watch
Natural World Safaris article: https://www.naturalworldsafaris.com/natural-world-heroes/andrea-turkalo
tanya weddemire
Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, with a transformational move to Brooklyn, New York at 11 years old. After graduating from High School, Tanya started her career path in New York City working in the fashion industry for the designer Mary McFadden Couture (where Tanya and Murphy Lewis first met) as well as where she developed her sense of style, a strong passion for ART and her love for wearing all black. At age 21, she became their youngest Account Executive traveling with 6 trunks of couture gowns on 747 Jets across the country, while supporting accounts such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. After receiving her BA in Graphic Design, Tanya worked as an Interior Designer and later as an Executive at Pottery Barn, Natuzzi Italia and Ethan Allen Global.
From her love of everything ART, Tanya has just initiated the Tanya Weddemire Gallery a nonprofit 501c3, where she'll be representing—at first through private parties, pop up, restaurants, and other gallery partnership – emerging artists.
From 2001 to 2003, Tanya helped launch of The Global Voice Foundation in its original inception.