San José, Calif. --- Demone Carter announced today that he will leave the School of Arts and Culture at MHP (the School) next month to become the Director of Community Engagement at the San Jose-based Sacred Heart Community Service. Serving in a variety of program management roles within the School since 2012, Demone departs the School as the Senior Program Manager for the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI). Download full press release.

Now in its 11th year of existence, MALI is a leadership development program for people of color deeply engaged in the Silicon Valley’s arts, culture, and entertainment sectors. The School’s executive leadership team is currently looking to recruit a member of MALI’s alumni network to fill this position.

“As a graduate of MALI, it has been an honor and a privilege to lead the program for the last six years. I’m eager to apply all the lessons I have learned about creating authentic diversity, equity, and inclusion in my new role with Sacred Heart,” said Carter.

He added, “my departure creates an opportunity for a member of our dynamic network to step into a role of leadership and push MALI forward into the next decade.”

The MALI program was founded in 2006 by a visionary trio of multicultural arts leaders: Tamara Alvarado, Roy Hirabayahsi, and Raul Lozano. They sought to address the lack of diversity in spaces where decisions are made about the creative life of Silicon Valley. From their initial idea, MALI has grown over the past decade and now boasts 119 alumni, many of which are in director level leadership positions across the valley and beyond. In 2018, acclaimed folk life scholar and professor at the University of Arizona, Dr. Maribel Alvarez, was commissioned to write a “brown paper.” We Are Enough: Equity, Inclusion, and Emergent Leadership in Silicon Valley’s Multicultural Arts Community (read it here) traces MALI’s origin story and describes the impact of the program.

In addition to managing MALI, Demone served as lead for a Knight and Irvine Foundation funded creative placemaking project, Celebrate Mayfair. This two-year project celebrated the talent, beauty, and history of East San Jose’s Mayfair neighborhood where the School is located. Although this project sunset in 2018, the School has incorporated aspects of Celebrate Mayfair into its Community Engagement Program. This includes the Cafecito series, Avenida de Altares (our Day of the Dead celebration), and the Voices of the Mayfair community art project.

“The School of Arts and Culture is excited about Demone’s continued leadership in the non-profit sector. Sacred Heart is gaining a committed leader who will keep advancing the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda locally. We look forward to our continued partnership with Demone and now Sacred Heart as we fight for equity in this region,” said Jessica Paz-Cedillos, Executive Director for the School of Arts and Culture at MHP.

Jessica said the School is already in the process of finding a candidate from within the MALI network to take over the management and facilitation duties of the program.

“Part of the strength of the MALI network is we identify arts leaders of color in our community who have a wealth of knowledge and leadership skills. While we are sad to lose a talent like Demone we are confident there are other members of the network who are ready to step up,” said MALI co-founder and former School of Arts and Culture Executive Director Tamara Alvarado.

Under Demone’s leadership, recognition of MALI as an effective model for addressing racial inequities within the local arts sector grew. With the publishing of We Are Enough, MALI has begun to be seen on a state and national level. Most recently, MALI was showcased at national conferences such as American for the Arts.

“Sacred Heart Community Service is thrilled to welcome Demone to lead its efforts to transform the public narrative about economic and racial injustice in the valley and move people to action. Demone’s creativity, unique voice, and proven leadership is needed to push our community to wrestle with our complacency on widening social and economic inequality that demeans us all,” said Poncho Guevarra, Executive Director of Sacred Heart Community Service.