Our Mission
Mamá Papaya is an immigrant-led nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting BIPOC filmmakers to be powerful and resourced in their creative expression through community-building, education, funding, and a culture of care.
Rooted in Mni Sota Makoce, the unceded lands of the Dakota people and home to Anishinaabe as well as many Indigenous nations, we branch out alongside our members to cultivate a filmmaking ecosystem grounded in care, interconnectedness, and accountability.
We collaborate with filmmakers to foster practical media skills, strengthen community, and sustain creative practices that serve communities. We believe storytelling and community-led creative expression are ancestral tools for preservation, healing, and transformation that impact generations far into the future.
Whether on a film set, in a workshop, or at a community screening, we strive to create spaces where participants and collaborators feel safe, seen, nourished, and deeply connected to one another and themselves.
“My mama’s childhood nickname was Papaya.
In ode to her creative spirit, Mamá Papaya hopes to heal the world through empowering artist’s agency and creative expression. Being a working class undocumented immigrant, she didn’t always have the resources to express her powerful soul.
Through this organization, I dream of a world where everyone has access to the skills, tools, and community to feel powerful in their voice with the support of a vibrant community.”
- Tahiel Jimenez Medina
Founder of Mamá Papaya
