Jo Ann Bland is the founder of Foot Soldiers Park and serves as the organization’s Chief Strategy Officer overseeing the vision and implementation of the overarching strategy and ensuring financial stability and growth. Ms.  Bland was among the original 600 civil rights activists who bravely marched in Selma in 1965 to ensure Black people could exercise their right to vote despite police brutality. Her and others’ courage and determination helped led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Ms. Bland was only 11-years-old at the time.

Born in Washington D.C., raised in the south of France, and currently residing in Los Angeles, Manuel is a filmmaker with fifteen years of production experience. Evolving from production assistant to assistant director for such filmmakers as Woody Allen, Manuel has also worked as a commercial editor and producer for multiple Fortune500 companies. Today, he creates TV shows and writes feature films. He is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal.