World Culture Festival
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JOIN THE CELEBRATION OF HUMANITY
Be a part of what has been called the largest celebration of diversity in history.
Make a Difference When the World Needs It Most
Past World Culture Festival events have been attended by more than 6 million people from 155 countries. We’ve partnered with more than 50,000 performers and 25,000 religious and spiritual leaders from all faiths and traditions to create a tidal wave of positivity and enthusiasm that participants take home with them to uplift their communities.
Whether you’re a performer, a speaker, a leader in your community, or simply someone who cares about spreading peace and joy, click the link below to learn how YOU can take part and make a difference when the world needs it most.
World Culture Festival Events
Dates & Locations Coming Soon
Alabama, Birmingham
Alaska, Anchorage
Arizona, Phoenix
California, Los Angeles
California, Sacramento
California, San Francisco
Colorado, Denver
Connecticut, New Haven
Georgia, Atlanta
Illinois, Chicago
Kansas, Kansas City
Michigan, Detroit
Minnesota, Nashville
Mississippi, Tupelo
Missouri, St. Louis
New Jersey, Newark
New York, New York City
North Carolina, Charlotte
North Carolina, Raleigh
North Carolina, Winston-Salem/Greensboro
Ohio, Columbus
Oregon, Portland
South Carolina, Columbia
Texas, Dallas
Tennessee, Nashville
Virginia, Virginia Beach
Washington DC
Washington, Seattle
Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Confirmed Host Committee Members
ALABAMA
Carol Clarke
Birmingham city council member
Rex Jones
President of Cougar Oil
Marty Howell
General Manager of H T Hackney
Lee Sentell
Alabama’s Tourism Department Director
Rosemary Johnson
Executive Director of the Alabama Dance Council
Jen West
Award-winning writer & director
Ashley Jones
Alabama’s Poet Laureate
Alaska
Ashish Agrawal
Senior VP, Guernsey
Dr. Maria Williams
Director, Alaska Native Studies
Darling Anderson
Youth Representative and Cultural Heritage Coordinator Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, Inc
Amanda Dale
Director of Cross-Cultural Programs, Alaska Humanities Forum
Denise Runge
Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor, University of Alaska, Anchorage
California
(Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco)
Julie Castro Abrams
Founder/Managing Partner BoardLeaders.com, How Women Invest, How Women Lead
Christopher Clark
Folsom Cordova School Board Member
Dr James Doty
Founder CCARE, Stanford University
Peter Kuo
Vice Chair of California Republican Party
Tony Stayner
VC, Board member water.org
Ajay Bhutoria
White House Commissioner
Dave Cortese
State Senator
Dr Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola
Founding Director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at the UC Davis Health System
Mary Yin Liu
National President, APAPA
Rev. Carolyn Wilkins.
CEO Inspirational Ministries
Willie Brown
Former Mayor of San Francisco
Beth Cross
President & CEO, Ariat International
Kailash Joshi
TiE Founding Member/ Entrepreneur / VC
Richa Moorjani
Actress
The Honorable Judy Chu
Member of Congress
Jessica Cruz
CEO, NAMI California
Kevin Kiley
California Assembly Member
Kitty O'Neal
Well-known Sacramento news anchor
COLORADO
Dr Christine O'Brien
MD, Veterans Association
Congressman
Ed Perlmutter
Congressman
Mayor Wade Troxel
Mayor Emeritus of Fort Collins
CONNECTICUT
Anne Calebresi
Founding Director
Shelley Quiala
Executive Director of the International Festival of Arts and Idea
Reverend Kevin Ewing
United Church on the Green
Kelli Gibson
Racial Justice Resource Coordinator, Episcopal Church in Connecticut
Sara Ohly, PhD
Board Member URI, Yale Scool for the Environment
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Tonya Kinlow
VP Community Engagement and Government Affairs at Children’s National Hospital
Courteney Monroe
CEO of National Geographic Networks
Sanjay Pradhan
CEO of The Open Government Partnership
Georgia
Erick Allen
Georgia State Representative
Rina Gupta
Public Relations Director at 27th Investments
Judge Neera Bahl
Judge, Director, State Board of Workers' Compensation
John R. Naugle
Founder & CEO for Atlanta: City of Peace, Inc.
Mr. Rodney Mims Cook Jr.
Founder and President of the National Monuments Foundation
Rashaana Shah
Serial Entrepreneur, Producer and Actor
Felicia Franklin
Commissioner Clayton County
Jagdish N. Sheth
Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Business in the Goizueta Business School at Emory University
Illinois
Raja Krishnamoorthi
Congressman
Sharon Steffensen
Editor and publisher, Yoga Chicago Magazine
Susana Mendoza
Illinois State Comptroller
Judge Kavita Athanikar
Judge in DuPage County
Pat Merryweather
Director, Rotary International Executive Director at Project Patient Care
Senator Tony Muñoz
Illinois State Senator
KANSAS
Anita Brenner
Director Project Management Office at Saint Luke’s Health System
Sean Khurana
CEO, Cavern Technologies, a Lightedge Company
Swati Yelmar
Founder and President, Saicon
Ritu Daga
Founder, Nartan Academy
Mike Neal
COO, Johnson County Community College
Rosemary Gudlej
Senior Advisor, Public Affairs of water.org
Shalin Shah
Conceptual Design Manager & Chief Culture Officer, Black and Veatch
Ron Jones
Program Director of KCUR 89.3 (local NPR affiliate)
Joy Stevenson
Director, Senior Internationalizations Officer, University of Missouri Kansas City
MIchigan
Ashok Baddi
Ex-President, Michigan Indian American Democratic Caucus
Dr Anil Kumar
Physician
Dr. Hirsch Pescovitz
President of Oakland University
MISSISSIPPI
Natalia Morris
Singer and Songwriter, American Blonde
Robert Sanders
Board of Aldermen, Cleveland, MS
Orlando Paden
Mississippi House of Representatives
Senator Sarita Simmons
Member of Mississippi State Senate
Jerry Patel (Babu)
President of Indian American International Chamber of Commerce, Mississippi chapter
Commissioner Willie Simmons
Commissioner of Transportation Mississippi
Tracey Rosebud
Mississippi House of Representatives
MISSOURI
Gary Budoor
City Council Member
Dr. Tim Ricker
Superintendent of Rockwood School District
Dr. G. V. Naidu
President of India Associates
Dr. Sam Page
County Executive, St. Louis County, MO
Dr. Sharad Parikh
Board of Trustee, Gujarati Samaj
Jack Sisk
Founder Living Insight
Ashwin Patel
Veteran entreprenor with high political connections
NEW JERSEY
Dini Ajmani
Deputy Assistant Secretary at the United States Treasury
Tom Kean
former NJ State Senator and Minority leader
Meredith Blount
Executive Director of NAMI, NJ
Dr Achintya Moulick
CEO of CarePoint
Michelle E. Dickinson
Workplace Mental Health Strategist and Resilience Coach, Author
Harpreet Pall, MD, MBA, CPE
Chair and Professor, Department of Pediatrics Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Arthur Kapoor
President and CEO of HealthEC
NEW YORK
Bruce Knotts
Director, Unitarian Universalist Association Office at the United Nations
Gordon A Tapper
Founder, Give Them a Hand Foundation
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney
Congresswoman
Dr Thomas Wolfe
President and CEO, lliff school of Theology
Dr. Patrick M. O’Shaughnessy
President and CEO Catholic Health System
Falguni Shah
Artist
NORTH CAROLINA
(Charlotte, Raleigh, Winston-Salem/ Greensboro)
Dimple Ajmera
City Council Member
Rev Elizabeth Forrest
Pastor, Unity Church
Vi Lyles
Mayor, City of Charlotte
Mayor Woody Washam
Mayor, Cornelius
Jason Bernd
President and COO of Novant Health
Rick Gannotta
Health Sector Executive / Professor / Independent Director
Elaine Marshall
North Carolina Secretary of State
Ivan Canada
Executive Director at NCCJ
Mohammad Jenatian
President of Greater Charlotte Hospitality and Tourism Alliance
Vinay Patel
President of Sree Hospitality; Board member at UNC Chapel Hill
Senator Jay Chaudhuri
State Senator
Mayor Allen Joines
Mayor - Winston salem
Walker Reid
Mayor of Gastonia
OHIO
Senator Niraj Antani
Ohio Senator, Republican
Judge Julie Lynch
Judge
John Patterson
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
OREGON
The Honorable Earl Blumenauer
US House of Representatives
Raj Patel
CFO BHG Hotels
Dr. Bukhosi Dube
Chief Medical Officer, Cascadia
Stephen Percy
President of Portland State University
Lew Frederick
Oregon State Senator
Michael Allen Harrison
Professional Musician, Songwriter and Pianist
South Carolina
Dr. Aditi Bussells
City Council Member, City of Columbia
TENNESSEE
Maneet Chauhan
Celebrity Chef
TEXAS
Sharad Amin
Board Member and ex President of Hindus of Greater Houston
Danetta Bland
Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, The University of North Texas System
Jin-Ya Huang
Founder, Breaking Bread Breaking Borders
Senator Angela Paxton
State Senator
Raj Asava
North Texas Food Bank/ Hunger Mitao/ Asava Consulting
Gitesh Desai
President of SEWA International Houston
Julie Johnson
Texas state representative Congress woman
Neal Samstrek
President University of North Texas
LaSharndra "Sharn" Barbarin
CEO Medical City Lewisville
Greg Hansch
Executive director NAMI Texas
Steve Love
President & CEO - DFW Hospital Council
District Attorney Greg Willis
Collin County’s chief prosecutor
Gurshuman Baweja
CIO of Texas instruments
Amy Lewis Hofland
Executive Director of the Crow Museum of Asian Art and part of the Dallas City Charter of Compassion
Ashok Mago
Padma Shri awardee, Chairman & CEO, Mago & Associates
VIRGINIA
Dr. Augustine Agho
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Old Dominion University (ODU)
Bobby Dyer
Virginia beach Mayor
Elaine Luria
Congresswoman
Andrew Nusbaum
Partner at S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co.
Dr. Craig Wansink
Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies and the Joan P. and Macon F. Brock, Jr. Director of the Robert Nusbaum Center at Virginia Wesleyan University
G. Robert Aston Jr.
Executive Chairman of TowneBank
Mekbib L. Gemeda
Vice President, Diversity, EVMS
Andria McClellan
Norfolk Councilwoman
Nancy Rogan
Community Engagement Officer at WHRO Public Media
Damen Watson
Director, Caring Hands VA
Harshad K. Barot
Vice President and Financial Adviser, Galaxy Group Corp
Donald Z. Goldberg
Councilman, Suffolk Virginia
Michael P. Mullin
Virginia State Delegate
Dr. Amelia Ross-Hammond
Founder & Chairwoman of the Virginia African American Cultural Center, Inc
Michael Berlucchi
City Council Member, City of Virginia Beach
Dr. Ebenezer F. Kolajo
Director of Assessment and Interim, Vice Provost of Norfolk State University
Dr. Rajiv Nanavaty
Neurology Specialist
Dr. Dilip Sarkar
Former Associate Professor of Surgery at Eastern Virginia Medical School & Chairman of the Department of Surgery and Chief of Staff at Portsmouth General Hospital
WASHINGTON
Senator Mona Das
Washington senator
Manka Dhingra
Washington State Senator
Donna Lurie
NAMI Eastside Board President
WISCONSIN
Pardeep Singh Kaleka
Executive Director of Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee
Eric Salzwedel
Founder, Do Good Wisconsin