Who Are We

• About the Founder: Kamau “Maui” Jones is a director, actor, facilitator, community organizer, and activist. He is also the founder and artistic director of Echo Theater Collective. He has worked on stage and in film, hosted karaoke, run a trivia league, and hosted/created his own game show. In his 30’s he decided to pursue his dream of starting a community theater company. With Echo Theater Collective he has partnered with Suburban Unity Alliance and Oak Park Women of Color and other organizations to curate events focused on giving voices to those less heard such as the Sing! Series (community singalongs to celebrate underrepresented groups), The Minority Monologues (an exploration of cultural identity in America), and The Unity Festival. After realizing the transformative power of sharing our stories, Maui committed himself to social change through art, music, and storytelling. Directorial Credits include: James Baldwin’s Blues for Mister Charlie (2018), Fiddler on the Roof (2016), and Legends of Broadway(2016).

• About Reflect Media: Reflect Media is an intersectional production company for learning how to navigate social emotional space, teaching communities to reclaim their narrative and give them platforms, and give them platforms to be seen and heard. By giving to this campaign you will be helping us create a revolutionary media platform that celebrates the diverse cultures of the near west region. We are a collective of artists with limited funds. The greatest resource we have is you, the community! We hope you can help us fund our inaugural season of production which will lead to important conversations in our community.

What We Need

• We are looking to raise at least 50,000 dollars to fund our first season of production. The vast majority ($40,000) of that will go to our Puppet/live action show, Ella, the remainder will as fund our podcast network (Conscious Culture, The Dope, and The Echolove Journey) and our local election coverage next year for the near west side. We are planning to facilitate virtual interviews, debates, and town halls!
• For your contributions (see tiers for more info),  you will be able to get early access to Ella content (music, and exclusive book release based on the pilot episode, and an exclusive reflect t-shirt)
• If we do not reach our goal the number one priority is producing the first season of Ella.

The Lineup

• About Reflect: An intersectional production company for learning how to navigate social emotional space, teaching communities to reclaim their narrative and give them platforms, and give them platforms to be seen and heard.
• About Conscious Culture: In this new podcast we discuss stories, news and politics from west side Chicago and suburbs and reflect on the state of our world.
• About The Dope: In this new podcast our diverse panel of hosts discuss everything in pop culture from literature and music, to everyone’s favorite shows and movies and examine how pop culture reflects our everyday lives.
• About The Echolove Journey: In this new podcast, join Maui as he chronicles his journey of learning how to live intentionally after a near death experience and seeks out other people on transformative journeys
• About Ella: Half hour program for SEL messaging. Ella is a 4 year old biracial girl whose father watches her and the neighborhood children. Every show some of Ella’s friends come over and have discussions and activities together.
•  

Other Ways You Can Help

Some people just can’t contribute monetarily, but that doesn’t mean they can’t help:

• Regardless of whether or not you can give, please help us by spreading the word! Help us make some noise! Remember that Indiegogo has plenty of share tools!