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As a woman of color and child of the Civil Rights Movement, Chevara’s work in both the nonprofitand creative spheres has been shaped by her passion for equality, diversity and inclusion. She is thedaughter of a white, Jewish mother who served as the lead coordinator for the 1967 March on the Pentagon in opposition to the Vietnam War and a Black father who was a fiery top lieutenant of the Rev.Martin Luther King Jr. and a driving force behind critical civil rights campaigns of the 1960s. In her currentrole as Chief Creative Catalyst for Collective Concepts, LLC, she is perhaps best known for havingconceived and co-created We Are Straight Allies, a national advertising campaign to support equalityand move towards passage of inclusive policies to protect the LGBTQ community. The wildlysuccessful campaign has drawn the participation of prominent figures such as feminist icon GloriaSteinem, Olympic gold medalist and civil rights attorney Nancy Hogshead-Makar, cultural and faithleaders, and superstars from the corporate world, including the CEOs of Florida Blue and SunTrustBank. Chevara also created #WHITEANDWOKE, a national initiative to raise awareness about racialdisparity and dismantle structural racism and “From Swastika to Jim Crow” to intentionally spark ongoingcollaboration between Black and Jewish communities.
Chevara is an innovative leader with a record of success as a consultant, speaker, nonprofitexecutive and social entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience ranging from seniormanagement in arts and education to creating movements and awareness campaigns. Chevara ispassionate about human rights, social justice, and arts & culture. She has extensive experience incoalition building to create strategy that promotes change. Chevara has served as a member ofnumerous nonprofit boards including the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville’s Cultural ServicesGrants Panel, RiverRun International Film Festival, Atlanta History Center Advisory Council, and theWinston-Salem Symphony. Chevara is a frequent conference presenter, lecturer and motivationalspeaker. A survivor of childhood poverty, incest and teenage pregnancy, Chevara has facilitatedworkshops and dialogues across the U.S. An outspoken advocate for the eradication of sexualviolence against women and girls, Chevara founded WhiteSpace SafeSpace, a monthly supportgroup and forum for incest survivors and is currently co-producing a documentary about herfamilies’ journey with breaking the cycle of sexual violence with Emmy award-winning filmmaker,Steven Fischler.
Chevara has given a TEDx Jacksonville talk on “Soul Connecting,” served as keynote speaker for theNSA (National Security Agency) Diversity Speaker Series, and co-hosted ‘Jazz Under the Bridge’ withlegendary Tony award-winner, Ben Vereen. Chevara believes that “There is a human cost when wefail to connect. Ideas unborn. Dreams unrealized. Communities un-ignited.”
