Positive Force for Change Benefit

June 7th, 2026

What truly defines a change maker? Though some are recognized by name or popularity, real change begins with the drive to create better experiences for our communities, homes, and lives beyond our own. It grows from the desire for a better future, no matter who is watching. Hosted by Bay Area Creative, our annual Positive Force for Change Benefit seeks to honor local changemakers who model this leadership. 

In addition to our change maker awards ceremony, this event will feature a dance, spoken word poetry, hip-hop dance, and visual arts performances from youth and Bay Area Creative teaching artists, uplifting the creator in everyone. Positive Force for Change is a key fundraiser that helps us continue to provide resources and a voice for underrepresented artists and youth, extending our impact and uniting audience members into a larger, stronger community. 

Awardees are community-nominated, recognized for their contributions to uplift and aid others. Whether it be through education, innovation, or neighborhood projects, their actions demonstrate the power of a unified force, driven to action with a collective goal. They may be artists, educators, and community members who help open these doors of inspiration. Corporate teams are also celebrated for leadership that looks beyond profit to create meaningful impact.

Positive Force for Change leaves guests with more than memories of who was honored. They will carry the proof that hope is not abstract, that generosity creates momentum, and that when communities come together for a common goal, change becomes possible.

Because positivity is a force. And when it is amplified, it changes everything.

Nominate A Change Maker

Sponsor This Event as a Partner in Change

Sustainable Arts Funding: The Fight to Create

In a polarized political and social climate, practices that ground and feed the soul are more necessary than ever. Often, we turn to creation as a form of salvation and solace. Whether it be writing, dancing, music, or painting, art helps remind us that we are capable of cultivating softness amidst the harsh headlines that flash across our screens each day. But what happens when access to these practices is also attacked? The unfortunate redistribution of federal funds continues to drain arts programs, hitting education and local nonprofits. While counterbalances are in effect to help support the arts sector, the question remains - why are artists still fighting to create art?

A major fiscal reshaping to education has consumed a sizable portion of access to arts programs, which are primarily provided by local nonprofits and organizations. This is abundantly clear at home in the Bay Area, an area marked by its creative expression. Art’s ability to bloom here is thanks to the various networks of culture, community, and teachers that encourage creativity, especially in areas that are often under-resourced. Nonprofit Bay Area Creative (BAC) is one such example, which has reached over 7,000 youth through interactive arts workshops, school programs, and community events. Unfortunately, however, continuing these programs is becoming increasingly difficult with the current administration. Senior Program Manager for Youth Creating Change, Shanti Bond-Martinez, explains, “a majority of our funding was through the government, that was Prop 63… but in the last 6 to 7 years, funding began to dwindle, so we had to look to more corporate sponsors.” This is largely due to Project 2025, a federal plan that has led to a thorough reworking of administrative policies, causing the budget cuts to arts-related education. This lack of government funding has leached creative organizations’ expenses, causing a reliance on corporations and neighboring counties for support. Yet, the funding remains inconsistent, affecting programs, teachers, participants, and ultimately - the youth: “There’s a void now that there isn’t a space for kids to express themselves,” Bond-Martinez continues. “We have youth from all over who use this as a safe space to process whatever is going on in the moment…and it’s really unfortunate that we can’t offer that to them right now.” Ultimately, the issue runs deeper than fiscal matters. It shoots straight to the core of culture and society by attacking the children who bear the brunt of shaping our future.

What about the funding guarantees meant to safeguard these spaces? How much of an impact do they actually make? Passed in 2022, Prop 28: Arts and Music in Schools (AMS) was created as guaranteed financial support to AMS sectors of education. This includes classes, programs, and art educators. Although, as art access in schools continues to disappear, there are increasing concerns as to whether this support is actually reaching classrooms. Patrick Oshlund, Bay Area Creative’s Deputy Director, explained that only about 20% of Prop 28 funds are received by nonprofits that work with schools to provide poetry, dance, music, and visual arts programs. These are especially necessary in underserved school districts, where access to arts doubles as safety, mental health care, and exploration for self-identity. Additionally, organizations themselves rely on the ability to provide services. Mike Taylor, the BAC’s Executive Director and teaching artist, elaborates on how these cuts have affected those running these programs: “When you have this really amazing thing that disappears, you miss out on a number of levels. It’s cultural enrichment of the community, it’s the jobs it gives artists, and it’s resources for the kids.” Community is a tightly knit web of various strands, which includes the teachers and organizers who help tie us all together. When one string is plucked, all are affected.

"When you have this really amazing thing that disappears, you miss out on a number of levels. It’s cultural enrichment of the community, it’s the jobs it gives artists, and it’s resources for the kids.”

In a time in which art has become an object of profit, one that the current administration does not deem fruitful enough for attention, our need to create is as crucial as ever. Dwindling finances are a major strike to the value of culture and education, ultimately costing the youth and organizers who rely on it. While the question of why we must fight to create art continues to echo from the halls of every school and community center, artists still persist in crafting light amidst the fog.

Artist Spotlight: Jamar "Jammer" Welch

"[Be] prideful for who we are. The style. The rhythm. The creativity that is in us." - Jammer

We often consider the limelight a commander of the artist, a power that grants voice to performance, glimmering with the chance of being seen. There are, however, a few who flip the relationship between shine and artist by beckoning the light itself; Bay Area Creative’s Jamar “Jammer” is one of those few.

Stages, rehearsals, performances, and a red curtain; the world of theatrics has followed Jamar since before his birth, his mother being a playwright and poet herself. Under her influence, Jamar entered the sphere of dance at the East Bay Center of Performing Arts, which quickly became a steadfast home for his career development. Here, he quickly encountered his first chance to take center stage with his mother’s play, “The Old Lady and the Deli Boy” - he was not, however, included in the original ensemble. It was one dire show night when a performer unexpectedly dropped out last minute, and despite being only nine years old, Jamar had memorized all the lines and choreography. That desperate night turned into a launchpad for the young dancer, as he worked the stage as well as any casted member.

Jamar’s start at East Bay Center for Performing Arts was only a humble beginning. He originally began teaching hip-hop at the institution as a form of community service, but his exceptional abilities were abundantly clear; not only does he teach skill, but he also passes the value of experience, dedication, and knowledge - and though he continues to teach there today, the artist has lived a myriad of lives since then. At 18 years old, East Bay Center for Performing Arts offered him a proper position, and his career skyrocketed quickly. By the age of 20, Jamar had been invited to teach both nationally and internationally. Upon his exponential growth, he took his career out of the Bay Area and to Los Angeles, where an encounter with producer Travis Payne opened a multitude of doors.

Thanks to his connection with Payne, Jamar was thrust into the glamorous yet coveted world of Hollywood, where he found the opportunity to dance with Usher in his “Magic Hour” tour. He continued to perform alongside Madonna, Beyoncé, Eddie Murphy, and Michael Jackson, among many others. While some of his performances were live and took place on stage, he also worked in front of the camera, starring in music videos, award shows, and commercials.

Though Jamar spent a fulfilling 13 years in LA, he eventually moved back home to the Bay Area, where he confesses to the difference in culture. “People here are artists for art’s sake,” he reflects, noting on the sacrifice of authenticity that often comes with the glitz and sparkle of mainstream Hollywood. And though he has spent his time among the lights, cameras, and red carpets, struggle is not a foreign concept to Jamar; the artist remembers numerous injuries, some of which occur while on tour. Additionally, low pay and disrespect among performers are common occurrences, despite their immense investment. “It feels like we’re at the bottom of the totem pole, sometimes,” Jamar confesses. Despite ongoing cycles of hardship, however, he continues to show up - as an artist, teacher, and lover of the craft. It is something he continues to do as innately as the act of breathing.

"People here are artists for art's sake."

As of recently, Jamar remained a dancer for Oakland trio Tony! Toni! Toné! until member D’Wayne Wiggins’s solemn death this past March. Since then, Jamar has continued to exercise his teaching skills through Bay Area Creative, working with students 4 times a week in after-school programs across Richmond. He additionally teaches for East Bay Center for Performing Arts, as well as develops choreography for other dance groups. His steadfast and genuine dedication to teaching the Bay Area’s youth has impacted the community greatly; last October, Jamar was presented with an award of recognition from the city of Richmond, which included a short documentary in his honor. In addition to his teaching accomplishments, the performer celebrated the publication of his poetry book, Alive and Well, this past summer. Currently, he is working on further collections of poetry and his upcoming memoir, aimed at merging the various experiences that have shaped him.

Like all artists, dedication and grit are Jamar's ultimate guides to his current achievements. He credits his influences, which include his mother, daughter, and students, as well as hardship, as testaments to his growth. Like pieces of an ever-complex puzzle, they stitch his life together into a mural of endless shapes, colors, and stories, all of which he works to pass to future generations of artists. From the son of a poetess-playwright, to a Hollywood contact, and back home to a Bay Area legend, Jamar reminds us to “be careful about the way you inspire,” and that at the heart of it all, the most significant aspect of true artistry is “just being proud and prideful for who we are. The style. The rhythm. The creativity that is in us.”