Educate to Empower

Our Stories Belong

Investing in the next generation of storytellers through mentorship, creativity, and community.

Educate to Empower is proud to support MÜBARK, an API-Filipino collective of artists, educators, and community builders creating opportunities for people to share their stories, develop their creative voices, showcase their work, and connect with audiences. Through film, music, live events, and educational programming, MÜBARK creates spaces where emerging storytellers, students, educators, and community members can learn from one another and see themselves reflected in the stories being told.

For this year’s Together We Belong Giving Day, we are inviting our community to invest in the continued growth of this work. Your support will help expand mentorship, creative opportunities, and platforms for storytelling while strengthening the connections that allow the next generation of storytellers to grow, lead, and make their voices heard. Thanks to a generous matching donor, every dollar you contribute will be doubled, amplifying your impact and helping this work reach even further.

Why Are We Fundraising?

Everyone deserves the opportunity to see their experiences reflected, share their perspective, and feel that their story belongs. Yet Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities and other historically marginalized groups continue to experience gaps in representation and access within K–12 and higher education, as well as in creative and cultural spaces.

MÜBARK addresses these gaps by creating opportunities for students, emerging artists, educators, and community members to develop their voices and share their work. Through mentorship, creative collaboration, live storytelling, film, music, and educational programming, participants gain opportunities to build skills, form meaningful connections, and engage audiences beyond traditional classroom settings.

We believe storytelling is more than a way to share experiences. It is a way to build confidence, develop leadership, create connection, and imagine what is possible. When people have the support and platform to tell their stories, they can inspire others, strengthen their communities, and create space for those who come next.

Together, we are investing in a future where more people have the opportunity to tell their stories, showcase their work, and know that they belong.

How Will Your Support Help?

Your support will help MÜBARK expand opportunities for emerging storytellers while creating spaces for students, educators, artists, and community members to learn, create, connect, and share their work.

• Completion of SOL: Short Film and Soundtrack: SOL is a culturally relevant short film created in partnership with Norco College’s Music Industry Studies program, following a Filipino man navigating his mental health. Through the project, students earned academic credit while creating original music for the film, gaining hands-on experience and portfolio pieces. Support will help complete post-production and bring this student-centered creative collaboration to audiences.
  
  
• Pitch & Pour Live Storytelling Program: Pitch & Pour is a Southern California live storytelling series that connects students, educators, and community members in welcoming “third spaces” such as cafés, restaurants, and arcades. Through storytelling and conversation, participants build confidence, public speaking and leadership skills, expand their networks, and share their experiences with new audiences. Support will expand mentorship and opportunities for emerging storytellers to find their voice, showcase their work, and connect with their communities.
  
  
• MÜBARK Film Screenings & Discussions: MÜBARK Film Screenings & Discussions showcases independent short films by youth and emerging storytellers from historically marginalized communities at or near college campuses. Screenings, filmmaker discussions, and community dialogue give emerging filmmakers opportunities to share their work while connecting students, families, educators, and artists. Support will help bring more storytellers and audiences together while creating spaces where young people can see themselves reflected and envision themselves as future artists, filmmakers, educators, and leaders.

MÜBARK’s 2026–2027 initiatives build on an existing community of storytellers, educators, artists, and learners. Together, MÜBARK and Educate to Empower are investing in the next generation by creating opportunities to develop creative voices, receive mentorship, showcase meaningful work, and connect with audiences and one another.

Because when people know their stories belong, they are more empowered to tell them and to make space for others to tell theirs.