Our Mission
Mamá Papaya is an immigrant-led nonprofit organization dedicated to building a world of equity, care, joy, and justice by supporting BIPOC filmmakers to be powerful and resourced in their creative expression through community-building, resources, 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 believe storytelling and community-rooted 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 artists’ agency and creative expression. Being a working class undocumented immigrant, my mama didn’t always have the resources to express her powerful creative soul.
I stubbornly believe that unheard stories like my mother’s can change the world.
Through this organization, we will create a world where our communities have access to the skills, tools, funds, and community to feel powerful and connected to their creative expression.”
- Tahiel Jimenez Medina
Founder of Mamá Papaya
