We invite you to join us on Saturday, October 1, 2022 for SJF’s Annual Celebration — for the first time as a hybrid event! Join us in person at the beautiful Block 41 space in Seattle or tap in virtually for our interactive online option. Either way, we can’t wait to be in community with you.

This year, our theme is Ecosystems of Change. Over the past couple years, SJF has been developing our approach to fundraising with an ecological framework, imagining our community and the movements we serve as interdependent, generative, and reciprocal instead of top-down and scarcity based. We draw inspiration from estuaries and deltas, places where land meets water that are home to incredible regeneration — something SJF aspires to live up to as a funder and sometimes-convener!

This will be our FIRST hybrid event since the pandemic started (!!) so we’re putting a little extra magic into the program. Catch poet, author, and Queer Black Troublemaker Alexis Pauline Gumbs as our keynote speaker and the very rad Black Belt Eagle Scout performing throughout the night in addition to some amazing staff and grantee speakers!

Join in person or online for an evening of speakers, performers, music, and community! In person attendees will receive a catered meal. ASL will be provided as well as captioning for online attendees.

Click here to RSVP!

Program

Keynote speaker: Sista Docta Alexis Pauline Gumbs (she/they)

Alexis Pauline Gumbs is a Queer Black Troublemaker and Black Feminist Love Evangelist and an aspirational cousin to all sentient beings. Her work in this lifetime is to facilitate infinite, unstoppable ancestral love in practice. She is the author of Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals, Dub: Finding Ceremony, M Archive: After the End of the World, and Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity, and co-editor of Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Frontlines.

Live Performance: Black Belt Eagle Scout

Katherine Paul, or “KP,” performs as Black Belt Eagle Scout. She grew up on the Swinomish Indian Reservation in NW Washington state, learning to play piano, guitar and drums in her adolescent years. The very first form of music she remembers experiencing was the sound of her dad singing native chants to coo her to sleep as a baby. KP grew up around powwows and the songs her grandfather and grandmother sang with her family in their drum group. This is what shapes how she creates music: with passion and from the heart.

Hybrid Options

In Person

• The in-person event will take place at Block 41 which is located in Downtown Seattle. There is limited parking, so we do encourage folks to Uber/Lyft, take public transportation, or plan to utilize a parking garage. The event space is ADA accessible.
• This event will be catered, with options for folks with dietary restrictions. Please indicate during your registration what dietary needs you have. We will be announcing the menu soon.
• Due to the continuing COVID-19 safety concerns, we have decided to limit the amount of folks who will be allowed to attend this event in-person. In-person tickets are on a first come, first serve basis and will sell out. Guests will be asked to provide proof of vaccination, a recent negative test, and to mask when not eating or drinking. For more information on our COVID-19 policies please scroll down to the end of the page.
• Other access considerations: All restrooms will be labelled as Gender Expansive; we ask that guests refrain from wearing fragrances; alcohol will be present at this event.

Online

• The virtual program will be held on Zoom (the link will be sent out the week of the program). We will have ASL interpreters for the event and captioning enabled. Please let us know if you need another language interpreter by emailing Aisha
• If you’re joining via the virtual option, we encourage you to pull in house members to watch with you or host a mini viewing party with your pod!

Covid Protocols

SJF is committed to limiting community spread of Covid-19 at all of our in-person events. Therefore we are asking that participants either arrive with a negative test completed within the past 24hrs, or use one of the SJF provided rapid tests prior to entering the venue. We also know that having a quality, fitted mask helps prevent spread and therefore ask that you wear a surgical 3-ply mask or KF94/KN95 or N95 mask when you are not eating or drinking; masks will be available at the door. Finally, we’ll have participants show their vaccination record upon arrival. If you do not have a COVID-19 vaccination we ask that you email Aisha prior to the event and provide proof of medical exemption.