The March on Washington Film Festival, a nonprofit entity of the Raben Group, has hired Samantha Abrams as executive director. This announcement comes on the heels of the group’s most successful festival to date as it strives to build on its recent success. Abrams is a longtime Washington D.C.-based corporate and nonprofit business leader.
“As the nation struggles to understand how its history is told, the March on Washington Film Festival has become an important national platform to meet the challenge with candor, integrity, and honor. Now is the perfect time to bring someone on board with strong organizational leadership coupled with the passion for justice and equality,” said Robert Raben, March on Washington Film Festival founder and chairman. “I’m confident that Samantha Abrams is the right leader for this organization and will take this festival to higher levels of reach, engagement, and impact, connecting our history to our future."
“This is not just a film festival, it is a platform that truthfully explores the past, talks about the present, and provides a guide for the future regarding Black life in America. We support the people and their work through which audiences can understand how much progress has been made, but how much more work is still left to do,” said Abrams. “This is why I couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of an organization that is the first of its kind to use the arts to honor the untold stories and unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Era. What this film festival is doing is more salient than ever.”
Prior to joining the festival, Abrams was responsible for strategy and development at the Black Women’s Health Imperative. During her 17 years in corporate and nonprofit roles, she has become a seasoned expert in leading successful for-profit and nonprofit partnerships, corporate social responsibility initiatives, and fundraising development.