MAKING WAVES celebrates the accomplishments and contributions of African Americans who have made a difference through their career accomplishments, philanthropic projects, corporate achievements, and/or community outreach. This month-long celebration includes vignettes that will be broadcasted on-air, online, and on social!
Sandra Evers-Manly is vice president of Global Corporate Responsibility for Northrop Grumman Corporation and was instrumental in founding, and, subsequently building, the thriving Northrop Grumman Foundation, of which she is President. The Foundation is committed to promoting STEM-related national education initiatives and recently funded and executive produced the film, “Into the Unknown: The James Webb Space Telescope” which takes a look at the making of the most innovative satellite and the great people behind the scenes.
As the Founder and President of the Black Hollywood Education Resources Center (BHERC), a nonprofit organization she founded in 1995, Evers-Manly provides educational programs and helps to advocate the empowering of African Americans in front of and behind the scenes. She has started a new initiative called “Films With A Purpose” which has funded, and executive produced several thought-provoking films bringing awareness to such issues as bullying, aging out of the foster care system, homelessness, and key historical events. This initiative also focuses on challenging filmmakers to write and produce films that inspire, uplift, educate, and help bring about change, and “may just get you mad”, as she notes. Through this initiative, she has funded seven short films and eight documentaries as well as assisted with partial funding for nine other films.
Evers-Manly has executive produced five short films on the impact of gang violence through an initiative called Fight Back With Films to help bring awareness to the impact of Gang Violence. In addition, she was the executive producer of the Academy Award-nominated short film, Last Breeze of Summer. Evers-Manly has developed an animated series, “Imani: The Super Little Engineer”, which introduces girls and students of color to the world of engineering and other STEM-related fields and was released in 2019. In October 2018, she released her first children’s book, “Raised Up By Mrs. Manly and Her L’s” from which all proceeds go to charity organizations.
For the past 20+ years, Evers-Manly has produced several film festivals to help promote, develop, and showcase emerging African American filmmakers including: Sistas are Doin’ It For Themselves, now its 27the year showcasing Black female directors; the African American Film Marketplace and S.E. Manly Short Film Showcase, now in its 27th year; Reel Black Men, showcasing emerging Black male directors now in its 26th year; Doin’ It the Independent Way a monthly film showcase; The Faith Based and Inspirational Film Festival featuring films from the religious and inspirational community and the Youth Diversity Film Festival celebrating its 11th year, dedicated to showcasing the film works of middle school and high school students along with Artistry in Motion which introduces the field of animation to youth.
Ms. Evers-Manly has hosted numerous seminars and award ceremonies to promote the development of emerging diverse talent as well as recognition for those who have paved the way for African Americans in the film and television industry including the highly successful, “A Great Day in Black Hollywood” and the BHERC Scholarship Program.
A strong advocate for STEM education, she has received the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Gene Washington Champion Award for promoting diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). She received the prestigious Chairman’s Award from Hispanic Engineers National Achievement Awards Conference (HENAAC). She also received the GRIT Award from the Los Angeles Unified School District, Beyond the Bell After-School Program. In 2019, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Black Nurses Association. She was featured in the Summer 2019 edition of Savoy Magazine’s “2019 Most Influential Women in Corporate America”.
In July 2020, Ms. Evers-Manly was invited into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
