By Norah Judson, Des Moines Register
- Jessica Orton, the new executive director, highlighted the organization’s mission of fostering acceptance and adaptation to cultural differences.
- CultureALL uses “open book storytellers” to share personal cultural experiences, promoting empathy and reversing negative stereotypes.
“Dear CultureALL,” began JJ Kapur, a volunteer with the nonprofit. “Do you remember how we first met?”
Kapur was first introduced to CultureALL, a nonprofit that works to introduce Iowans to different cultures and build community, nearly 20 years ago as a first grader through a workshop showcasing Australian Aboriginal music. He found his way back to the program years later, in high school, when he was asked to share a story about his identity as a Sikh in Iowa.
“I was able to talk about my Sikh identity in a way that didn’t feel like all I was talking about was Sikhism,” Kapur said. “I felt like I was able to weave in more parts of who I was. CultureALL gave me an opportunity to tell a more complex story of who I am.”
Kapur and other CultureALL supporters gathered Thursday, June 5 to celebrate the Des Moines-based nonprofit’s 20th anniversary. Founder Sherry Gupta formed CultureALL, her self-proclaimed “fourth child,” exactly 20 years ago to the day.
An overwhelming theme of community appeared time and again in various speeches CultureALL staff and ambassadors gave, as well as in the conversation and laughter that drifted through the Stine Barn in West Des Moines as the event wore on.
In the words of new Executive Director Jessica Orton, whose promotion was announced at the start of the night: “We don’t get into these roles for the big bucks. We get into these roles because we believe that big change is possible.”
Throughout her six years with CultureALL, Orton said she has “sat in every seat.” From bookkeeping, to program management, to helping keep the nonprofit’s doors open through the COVID-19 pandemic, Orton continued to prove her dedication to the company.
“I always wanted the best for the organization,” Orton said. “I’m here to protect its health and wellbeing financially, operationally. I will do the job. I’ll build the infrastructure. I’ll make the house solid.”
Orton’s position is new for the organization; Gupta said she still will remain involved but may take a step back.
Orton’s enthusiasm for CultureALL was mirrored in Gupta’s own passion for what she has built.
CultureALL’s mission as an organization is to bring people together, according to Gupta, as evident in the comradery among attendees.
Some event attendees, like Brenda Stine, whose insistence that Gupta join the PTO at her children’s school ultimately led to CultureALL’s conception, have been a part of the program since its birth in 2005. Gupta said she started the organization as a way to expose people in schools, businesses and other community spaces to the diverse cultures that have roots in Iowa.
Others found their way to CultureALL over time, each citing an impactful experience they’d had with the nonprofit.
CultureALL relies on “open book storytellers,” volunteers like Kapur who share stories of their cultures and identities at the nonprofit’s events. Sharing those stories is just as important for the storyteller as it is for those receiving the message, said Emmett Phillips Jr,, a CultureALL ambassador.
“When I come in your classroom and you’re laughing with me, you’re creating with me, you’re connecting with me, it’s reversing some negative programming that young people have absorbed, through general hate or the general chaos of the world,” Phillips said.
That reversal of hate is just as important as ever, Gupta said.
“We always talk about the United States being this melting pot, but the fact is, when national identities come together, they dig in and they become stronger, which has the potential of creating this strife,” Gupta said. “I kept thinking, if we can get ahead of this in Iowa, if we just had the building blocks in place to be able to understand difference and begin to accept and adapt to differences, then we could avoid all of the problems.”
Since 2005, CultureALL has worked to do just that. Over the last 20 years, the nonprofit has presented more than 16,000 cultural experiences to over 538,000 participants. In fiscal year 2024 alone, CultureALL worked in 44 communities across Iowa with an overwhelming emphasis on student workshops.
Despite its educational nature, the organization serves a much deeper purpose, according to Kapur.
“I think people get it wrong,” Kapur said. “(CultureALL)’s not a transactional relationship. It’s really about building mutual love and understanding.”
As much as CultureALL aims to promote that love across cultures, it also fosters a deep appreciation for one’s own culture.
In Kapur’s own words: “CultureALL, you didn’t just give me permission to be seen. You celebrated it.”
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