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Our Board
Anishika Jontae (Board Chair)
Anishika Jontae (Board Chair)
Anishika Jontae (Board Chair)
Born and raised in the South, Anishika Jontae has always had a passion for the arts. She began to explore her own artistic talents when she relocated to New York and became a model and actress.
Neil Syal (Treasurer)
Anishika Jontae (Board Chair)
Anishika Jontae (Board Chair)
Neil Syal is a seasoned finance and accounting professional with over a decade of experience across various industries.
Antoinette Miller (Secretary)
Antoinette Miller (Secretary)
Antoinette Miller (Secretary)
Neil Syal is a seasoned finance and accounting professional with over a decade of experience across various industries.
Sharen Davis (Board Member)
Antoinette Miller (Secretary)
Antoinette Miller (Secretary)
Sharen is an award-winning costume designer whose work appears in film, television, and on stage.
SMP Rise Founder
Alonzo Van Wilson
Alonzo is a former costume designer, now working as a writer and producer whose passion for stories that celebrate the human spirit catalyzes the mission of SMP Rise.
Creating Opportunity
My career journey began in 1983 in Wilmington, North Carolina, my hometown. I was 18, a senior in high school, an aspiring journalist. During this time, an Italian filmmaker, Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis, built a film studio in my hometown. Mr. Dino, as we called him, brought along his Italian crew and some American crew (department head
My career journey began in 1983 in Wilmington, North Carolina, my hometown. I was 18, a senior in high school, an aspiring journalist. During this time, an Italian filmmaker, Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis, built a film studio in my hometown. Mr. Dino, as we called him, brought along his Italian crew and some American crew (department heads) whose tasks were to run the studio and make films, but also to TEACH the locals the skills needed to become the crew for the productions.
The rest, as they say, is history. You may call it fate, I call it OPPORTUNITY.
ADVISORY BOARD
Alma Russell
Ann Walters
Ann Walters
Alma (NB: they/them) hails from Lexington, Kentucky, and now resides in Los Angeles and the Coachella Valley.