Press Release
Event Information
Each year the Legacy for Children Award honors an individual who has made a tremendous difference in the lives of children. Some of the past recipients include violinist Roberta Guaspari, astronaut Steve Smith, Sesame Street actor Sonia Manzano, civil rights activist and author Ruby Bridges, Steve Wozniak, Olympic medalist Kristi Yamaguchi, Mister Fred Rogers, astronaut Dr. Sally Ride, and former 49er Ronnie Lott. The event supports the museum’s mission of providing hands-on educational exhibits, in-depth programming, and cultural events designed to give the community’s children the tools that will help them grow into the talented, creative, and diverse workforce of tomorrow.
Funds raised will support the museum’s 2022-23 Restoration and Revitalization Initiative to help restore museum operations and capacity to 2019 pre-COVID levels.
The 2021 Legacy event raised $1,423,000 in support of the Museum’s reopening and recovery efforts. The money helped cover lost admission revenue from maintaining reduced attendance for children’s health and safety during the pandemic, which caused the museum to be closed for 393 days.
It was on a field trip outside of her hometown Richmond, California that opened Cynt’s eyes to a big world beyond her neighborhood. Overcoming childhood poverty, Cynt’s tenacity and confidence launched a long list of firsts that continues today as the first Black female CEO in the NBA. She was the first Black cheerleader at the University of California at Berkeley, and the first Black member of the Delta Gamma Sorority. According to Cynt, “She didn’t think about being the first, she just showed up ‘authentically’ where she wanted to be.”
With degrees in Business and Human Resources, she had a successful 36-year career at AT&T, climbing the ranks to become president of the North Carolina bureau where she also became the first Black chair of the North Carolina state Chamber of Commerce. As AT&T’s senior vice president of HR and chief diversity officer, she led a team that created the world-class diversity and inclusion culture that landed the company in the top three on Diversity Inc.’s 2017 Top 50 list.
Approached by the famous billionaire and Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban of “Shark Tank” notoriety, Cynt accepted the CEO position at the NBA Dallas Mavericks in 2018, with the goal of transforming an organization with harassment and discrimination issues. She set a vision and successfully brought diverse people to the table. Now the organization is 50% women and 47% people of color, and in 2019-20, the organization won the NBA Inclusion Leadership Award.
Spencer Grey’s award-winning, one-man show will surprise and mesmerize even the toughest of critics. His flair to entertain and connect with the audience is, let’s just say, magical.
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“Freestyle Love Supreme,” a Tony award-winning Broadway hit created by famed Lin Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, and Anthony Veneziale, is performing in cities across the country. This fast-paced, improvisational, hip-hop comedy show is different every night depending upon audience questions and the riffs, rap numbers, and musical tunes the performers spin out to razzle, dazzle, and entertain.
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FLS+Presents: A performance from the cast of “Freestyle Love Supreme” Photo (.jpg)
Recently named to CMT’s “Next Women in Country” class of 2022, singer, songwriter Miko Marks has blazed an unconventional trail in the music industry. Marks recently released her anticipated single, “Feel Like Going Home,” a year after releasing the album “Our Country,” and six months after “Race Records” EP. Marks is touring with Tedeschi Truck Bands and Ron Pope and is eager to spread the word of unity in the music industry and advocates for not stereotyping artists by one musical genre.
Miko Marks is no newcomer, “Our Country” (Via Redtone Records), was her first album in 13 years, so her name may be fresh to the uninformed. In 2003, Marks made her way to Nashville, TN – playing CMA Fest year after year and fully immersing herself in the country music community. While Marks received well-deserved accolades, “Nashville’s Hottest New Country Star” by People Magazine and “Best New Country Artist” by New Music Weekly – her efforts to be fully embraced by the industry in return proved to be elusive. While her crowd of supporters grew year after year, so did efforts from the industry to diminish her success. “In trying to pursue the gates of Nashville, I discovered that there were high fences made of stone,” Marks said of her experience in the early 2000’s. She recalls rules for being able to play the largest CMA Fest Showcases, those of which contained criteria nearly impossible to achieve for independent artists like herself. This experience ultimately led her to pick up her life and move to California to start anew, never giving up on the dream she was devoted to.
Miko Marks proves to be a bonafide maverick that has blazed an unprecedented trail in the music industry. After a long overdue hiatus from music, Marks is eager to spread not only her music, but a message of unity and outspokenness for Black musicians in country music and beyond. She has done much more than just make a splash and now she is ready to make waves. Marks works toward an ever-evolving dream of creating art that is not stereotyped or pigeonholed by a specific genre and is created with no borders or boundaries.
For more information on Miko Marks visit: https://www.mikomarks.com/home