Updated: Nov 18 SARASOTA, Fla. — Nov. 17, 2025 — The Boxser Diversity Initiative (BDI) will launch its 2026 Building Bridges Discussion Series with award-winning journalist   and The New Yorker  executive editor Michael Luo , who will headline the opening event, Strangers in the Land, on Jan. 8, 2026, at the Historic Asolo Theater of the Ringling Museum of Art. Luo, a George Polk Award and Livingston Award recipient , will explore the deeply resonant and often overlooked hist

SARASOTA, Fla. – Oct. 14, 2025 – Tom Edwards , a Sarasota County School Board Member and executive director of Project Pride , has joined the Boxser Diversity Initiative (BDI) Advisory Board . He becomes one of 14 national leaders helping guide BDI's work to promote inclusion and connection across the Sarasota-Manatee region . Elected to the Sarasota County School Board in 2020 and re-elected in 2024, Edwards has been recognized for his leadership on behalf of students, e

SARASOTA, Fla. — Sept. 22, 2025 — The Boxser Diversity Initiative (BDI)  announced that each student selected for its  Bending the Arc  program will receive a $500 Scholar Award upon completion. The organization also extended the application deadline to Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. The award, funded by generous donors, is designed to recognize students’ commitment to the six-month program and support their future goals. “This program is about empowering students to see themselves as

Members of the 2024-25 Bending the Arc cohort, accompanied by Executive Director Julie Matus and Director of Learning Edna Sherrell,...

SARASOTA, Fla. — Our community gathered for the Soil Ceremony, the final phase of Manasota Remembers, to honor six lives lost to racial...

Published December 2025 SARASOTA, Fla. — The Boxser Diversity Initiative (BDI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Francis M....

2024-25 Bending the Arc cohort The Boxser Diversity Initiative (BDI) is thrilled to announce the selection of 24 high school students for...

March 2025 Judge Williams, Vickie Oldham, and local leaders in panel discussion Through stories of courage, resilience, and activism...

The Equal Justice Initiative in partnership with the Sarasota and Manatee Community Remembrance Project (also known as Manasota...

SARASOTA, Fla — The third annual Sarasota Native American Film Festival takes place in a hybrid format from September 9 until September...

The third annual Visions of the Black Experience film series is taking place from November 12-21, 2021. The series, offered for free , is...

SARASOTA, Fla. – The second annual Sarasota Native American Film Festival will take place virtually from March 19-28, 2021 . The mission...

SARASOTA, Fla. — The second annual Visions of the Black Experience film festival will be held November 12-22, 2020 at New College of...