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Join Our MovementSarasota African American Cultural Coalition (SAACC)Sarasota, FloridaDirector of Programs & Cultural ExperiencesSalary Range: $75,000 to $95,000, commensurate with experience. History Doesn’t Live in the Past. It lives in the people who choose to preserve it, celebrate it, and carry it forward. At the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition (SAACC), we believe the past informs the future. Every story we preserve, every cultural experience we create, and every connection we inspire strengthens our community and honors the courage, dignity, and determination of the Black pioneers whose vision helped shape Sarasota. As we continue transforming the historic Leonard Reid House into a destination for history, arts, culture, and community engagement, we’re looking for an innovative leader to help bring that vision to life. If you’re passionate about storytelling, creativity, education, and creating experiences that inspire people of every generation, we’d love to meet you. Imagine Your ImpactImagine welcoming students into the

A juried exhibition at the historic Leonard Reid House  OverviewThe Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition (SAACC) invites artists to submit work for “Black Joy,” a group exhibition affirming joy as a full and complex practice — spiritual, defiant, tender, and alive. This show holds space for joy as an act of resistance, a return to self-love, a source of peace, and a wellspring of pride, bliss, excitement, and empowerment. It asks: what does it mean for Black people to feel good, fully and without apology, in a world that has often denied that right? Black Joy will be on view in the historic Leonard Reid House, a 1926 frame vernacular home built by Sarasota pioneer Leonard Reid. It was relocated to Newtown in 2022 from the city’s first Black community called Overtown and gently, lovingly restored.  The house now serves as a living museum and cultural anchor for SAACC. Exhibiting inside these

CONTACT:Victoria KasdanCo-Chair, Walk Forward: The Ruby Bridges Sarasota InitiativeMobile: 612-220-4438vpkasdan859@gmail.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Walk Forward: The Ruby Bridges Sarasota Initiative to Bring American Icon to Sarasota This November The community is invited to support this opportunity to have Ruby Bridges, one of the first Black children to integrate an all-white elementary school, speak in Sarasota through sponsorship opportunities SARASOTA, Fla. (July 23, 2026) – On Nov. 12, Sarasota will welcome one of the most influential trailblazers in American history through Walk Forward: The Ruby Bridges Sarasota Initiative by bringing Ruby Bridges, one of the first Black children to integrate an all-white elementary school in the South, to Sarasota. This community-wide educational experience is designed to inspire courage, character, and civicengagement among youth and adults. The initiative will feature a public town hall with Ruby Bridges at Booker High School’s Visual and Performing Arts Center, where attendees will hear firsthand from

Community Foundation of Sarasota celebrates local history on a trolley tour. READ FULL STORY HERE.