The Unity Benefit is NAAM’s most powerful evening of the year, a signature gathering where community, culture, leadership, and purpose come together in one unforgettable room. This year’s theme, TOGETHER, speaks to the heart of NAAM’s work and the urgency of this moment. Together, we celebrate Black heritage. Together, we honor bold leaders. Together, we invest in the stories, programs, and experiences that bring healing and hope to our region.
You are invited to stand with NAAM and be part of what comes next. Every seat, every gift, and every sponsorship helps fuel exhibitions, youth programs, free community events, educational initiatives, and powerful cultural experiences that connect the past to the present and inspire the future. The Unity Benefit brings together the people who believe in NAAM’s mission and want to help carry it forward.
We are proud to honor museum visionary Sandra Jackson-Dumont and designer and Super Bowl champion Michael Bennett as our 2026 Champions of Unity. Their leadership, creativity, and commitment to community reflect the spirit of this special evening.
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Michael Bennett is an artist, designer, activist, author, philanthropist, and Super Bowl champion whose work reflects the power of bringing people together through creativity, culture, justice, and shared purpose.
Known to many for his extraordinary career with the Seahawks, Bennett’s impact has always extended far beyond football. As an athlete, he used his platform to speak boldly about equity, education, and social change. As a creative leader, he continues to build spaces, objects, and experiences that honor Black history, African diasporic design, community memory, and the possibilities we create when we gather together.
After retiring from the NFL, Bennett founded Studio Kër, a design practice rooted in storytelling, ancestry, architecture, and the reclamation of space. Through Studio Kër, his work explores how design can link past to present, invite reflection, and create places where people feel seen, grounded, and connected to one another.
For his bold vision, creative leadership, and commitment to using culture as a force for justice, NAAM is proud to recognize Michael Bennett as a 2026 Champion of Unity.
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Sandra Jackson-Dumont is a cultural strategist, curator, educator, and visionary museum leader whose work reflects the power of art, storytelling, and public engagement to bring people together and reimagine the role of museums in contemporary life.
Across her career, Jackson-Dumont has helped major cultural institutions become more inclusive, more responsive, and more deeply connected to the communities they serve. Recently appointed a Getty Research Institute Presidential Scholar, she brings a rigorous and creative approach to questions of history, public memory, institutional transformation, and the future of cultural spaces.
Jackson-Dumont is the former Director and CEO of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. She has also held leadership roles at some of the nation’s most respected museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Seattle Art Museum.
For her enduring belief in the power of museums to foster connection, reflection, and a more hopeful future, NAAM is proud to recognize Sandra Jackson-Dumont as a 2026 Champion of Unity.
NAAM UNITY BENEFIT PHOTOS 2025
Email us with any questions.
Northwest African American Museum, Development Dept, 2300 S. Massachusetts St. Seattle, WA 98144
Tax ID #76-0835379
Email us with any questions.
Northwest African American Museum, Development Dept, 2300 S. Massachusetts St. Seattle, WA 98144
Tax ID #76-0835379