Announcing our 2025 San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Ambassador Cohort!
Cultural Ambassadors help increase awareness of and attendance at SFAC’s grant information sessions and encourage prospective grantees to submit applications to relevant SFAC grant categories in Fall 2025. Serving as trusted community connectors, Ambassadors share grant opportunities with their networks, attend community events, and help ensure that SFAC resources reach artists, cultural workers, and organizations across San Francisco’s diverse neighborhoods. This year’s cohort represents a wide range of cultural backgrounds, artistic disciplines, and community perspectives, reflecting SFAC’s commitment to cultural equity and broadening access to public funding.
2025 San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Ambassadors | Left to Right: Sequoya Waukazoo-Nakai, Destiny Muhammad, Nihan Roth, Ebti
- Sequoya Waukazoo-Nakai (she/hers/her)
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Sequoya Waukazoo-Nakai is a Diné and Lakota artist, powwow dancer, and community member from San Francisco. Her Lakota middle name, Cante, means “heart,” reflecting the way she approaches her work—with purpose, care, and connection. She has danced with a fancy shawl since childhood and continues to share her culture through singing, drumming, and supporting Native youth.
Sequoya comes from a strong legacy of community leadership. Her family has served the Native community in San Francisco for generations, and she proudly follows in their footsteps by staying active in cultural, wellness, and arts-based programs. She has contributed to programming with the Friendship House Association of American Indians and the American Indian Cultural District. Her work includes designing event flyers and participating in community gatherings that uplift and celebrate Native identity. Currently a student at UC Davis, she continues to serve her home community while building the future as a Native artist and leader.
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Sequoya Waukazoo-Nakai is a Diné and Lakota artist, powwow dancer, and community member from San Francisco. Her Lakota middle name, Cante, means “heart,” reflecting the way she approaches her work—with purpose, care, and connection. She has danced with a fancy shawl since childhood and continues to share her culture through singing, drumming, and supporting Native youth.
- Destiny Muhammad (she/hers/her)
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Destiny Muhammad is a Recording/ Performing Artist | Band Leader | Composer & Producer. Her genre, Celtic to Coltrane, is cool and eclectic with a feel of Jazz & Storytelling to round out the sonic experience.
Destiny collaborations, curations and commissioning include Healdsburg Jazz Black History Month Resident Artist, Collaborator with Composer Marcus Shelby for Zaccho Dance ‘The Peoples Palace’ featured on KQED Podcast & Sunday Music Drop, SFJAZZ Teaching Artist/ Tribute to Native American Jazz Artist Jim Pepper and Guest Artist for Living Jazz Tribute to Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
A Zaccho Dance Black Futures Artist in Residence. Destiny is a Newly Elected Governor of The Recording Academy, San Francisco Chapter, SFJAZZ Teaching Artist, ASCAP Songwriter Awardee, Chamber Music America/ Doris Duke Foundation Performance Plus Award Winner and California Arts Council Legacy Fellow.
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Destiny Muhammad is a Recording/ Performing Artist | Band Leader | Composer & Producer. Her genre, Celtic to Coltrane, is cool and eclectic with a feel of Jazz & Storytelling to round out the sonic experience.
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Nihan Roth (she/hers/her)
- Nihan Roth is an arts advocate, digital creator and tour guide based in San Francisco. With extensive experience in guiding tours in both Istanbul and San Francisco, she bridges Turkish and American cultures. Her background in the arts, combined with her experience as an English teacher in Turkey, enriches her commitment to intercultural communication. As a digital creator, Nihan engages her audience by promoting Istanbul’s rich cultural heritage while sharing her evolving experiences within San Francisco’s diverse communities. Passionate about the transformative power of art, she views it as a profound medium for healing, connection and empowerment - both for individuals and communities. Nihan’s work reflects her belief in the arts’ ability to foster empathy and a sense of belonging. Through her collaboration with SFAC, she aims to continue making meaningful connections as a dedicated cultural ambassador.
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Ebti (she/hers/her)
- Ebti is a multidisciplinary artist, a photographer and a translator living between Cairo and San Francisco. She has an MA in translation and intercultural studies from Johannes Gutenberg Universitat, Mainz, and an MFA in Fine Art from California College of the Arts. Ebti is part of “Right window” collective, “Off Hours” collective and is sitting on the curatorial council at “Southern Exposure Gallery” in San Francisco. Her work was shown in galleries around the US and Egypt. She currently teaches visual arts and photography at Performing Arts Workshop in San Francisco, Bay Area.