This is not business as usual. This is not gala as usual.
This is the BeingAfrican Experience.
A powerful evening of culture, identity, heritage, storytelling, and community unlike anything you have experienced before.
It’s a night of elegance, celebrating in unity, restoring identity, building community and strengthening relationships.
Click below to buy your tickets or to donate.
Reserve Your Seat
Featuring
ChiChi WeMbira
Cultural Artist · Musician · Storyteller
Chiedza Melody Wheeler — known professionally as ChiChi WeMbira — is a versatile mbira (Zimbabwean thumb piano) player, dancer, vocalist, songwriter, and percussionist. Originally from Zimbabwe and ancestrally belonging to the Korekore people.
She has performed as both a solo artist and a band member throughout Zimbabwe and at international festivals — including Ethno Sweden 2018, Ethno USA 2021, Ethno Zimbabwe 2023, Bia Afrika Roots Zambia 2021, and the Miombo Magic Festival (2017, 2022 & 2025).
At the gala, ChiChi will help set the tone for an evening dedicated to preserving heritage and empowering generations — reminding us that culture lives not only in books and museums, but in music, rhythm, and shared experience.
The rhythm of our heritage. The heartbeat of our people.
Plus a live DJ keeping the floor moving with Afrobeats all night.
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Foreman Bandama
Archaeologist · Curator of African Anthropology · Field Museum, Chicago
What if much of what you thought you knew about Africa was only part of the story?
Join us for a rare opportunity to hear Dr. Foreman Bandama — African Iron Age archaeologist, Assistant Curator of African Anthropology at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, and faculty member in Anthropology at the University of Illinois Chicago — whose work is helping uncover and preserve the remarkable stories of Africa’s past.
From great civilizations and ancient technologies to innovation, achievement, and cultural knowledge developed centuries ago, Dr. Bandama invites us to look beyond the narratives we inherited and discover what the evidence reveals about Africa’s extraordinary contributions to human history.
Honoring our past. Inspiring our future.
Speaker
Mr. Kwabena Appiah
Pharmacy Owner · Healthcare Entrepreneur · Faith-Driven Leader
What does it mean to build a life of success — and then use that success to serve others?
Originally from Ghana, Mr. Kwabena Appiah has built his life in America at the intersection of entrepreneurship, healthcare, faith, family, and community service. As a pharmacy owner and healthcare entrepreneur, his work reflects a commitment to making healthcare more accessible and strengthening the communities around him.
Together with his wife, Dr. Karen Appiah, he leads the Free Healthcare for Africans Initiative — a community-centered effort to expand access to care, promote prevention, and address health disparities affecting African communities.
At the gala, Mr. Appiah brings a story that reflects the spirit of BeingAfrican: remembering where we come from, building where we are, and using what we have achieved to create opportunities for those who come after us.
Celebrating African heritage, leadership, service, and the power of community.
Speaker
Dr. Karen Appiah
Psychiatrist · Entrepreneur · Educator · Community Advocate
Dr. Karen Appiah is a mental health professional, entrepreneur, and community advocate whose career has been dedicated to strengthening the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through compassionate care, education, and service.
Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, she pursued her education at Loyola University in Illinois — where she also served as a university instructor — before establishing a private practice, dedicating more than sixteen years to supporting the mental health of children, adolescents, and families.
At the gala, Dr. Appiah will introduce guests to the Free Healthcare for Africans Initiative — a community-centered effort focused on expanding access to healthcare, promoting preventive care, and addressing health disparities affecting African communities through collaboration, education, and compassionate service.
An evening where African heritage, community, and purpose come together to inspire meaningful impact.
Featuring
Madeline Ndambakuwa
Poet · Artist · Speaker · Author · Communication Consultant
Madeline Ndambakuwa is a powerful voice of culture, identity, and transformation.
Through poetry, education, art, and storytelling, she preserves African heritage and empowers communities to embrace their roots with pride.
Founder of Zanhi Influence · Honored with the Heritage Preservation Award.