2026 National Speaker Forum and Fundraiser
Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 7:00PM
Memorial Hall | 1225 Elm Street, Cincinnati 45202 (513-977-8838)
Woman’s City Club of Greater Cincinnati is proud to present Gina Belafonte, acclaimed activist, producer, and arts advocate, as the featured speaker for its 2026 National Speaker Forum, taking place Tuesday, March 10 at 7:00 PM at Memorial Hall (1225 Elm Street, Cincinnati).
Gina Belafonte brings a distinguished career at the intersection of arts, culture, and social justice, leveraging decades of creative leadership to inspire civic engagement and equitable change. Belafonte has appeared in films including BlacKkKlansman and Bright Lights, Big City, and produced internationally acclaimed documentaries seen on HBO, PBS, and Amazon Prime, including Sing Your Song, about her father Harry Belafonte. Today, she continues his work as CEO of Sankofa.org, a social justice impact organization that uses art and media to address injustice and build community.
“We are honored to welcome Gina Belafonte to Cincinnati,” said Beth Sullebarger, President, Woman’s City Club. “Her work in arts activism and community engagement reflects our mission to educate, empower, and engage citizens in promoting the common good, and her voice adds vital insight as we work together for a more just and inclusive community.”
The National Speaker Forum is one of Cincinnati’s signature civic events, drawing local leaders, educators, nonprofit partners, and engaged citizens for an evening of conversation that bridges national perspective with community action. The 2026 forum continues a long tradition of fostering meaningful dialogue on critical issues that shape our shared future.
Who is Gina Belafonte?
Gina Belafonte (born New York City, September 8, 1961) is an American actress, film and stage producer, and civil rights activist. The youngest daughter of activist, dancer, Julie Belafonte and singer, actor, and activist Harry Belafonte,[1] she has appeared in such films as Bright Lights, Big City, Tokyo Pop (both 1988), and BlacKkKlansman (2018). As an artist Gina has also produced several international and critically acclaimed documentaries that have been seen on HBO, PBS, and Prime, some of which include Sing Your Song, A Survivor's Guide To Prison, and The March. Sing Your Song is a 2011 documentary film about her father.
She co-founded The Gathering for Justice, a nonprofit organization whose aim is to end child incarceration and eliminate the eliminate racial disparities in the criminal justice system. She is also the CEO of Sankofa.org, a nonprofit Social Justice impact production company, founded by her father. Through art, culture, and media, Sankofa.org addresses injustice and creates change at multiple levels. Ms Belafonte believes with her father that art communicates messages of hope and is a powerful way to convey messages across cultural barriers that so often divide us.
Origins of the National Speaker Forum
The club’s annual fund-raising National Speaker Forum brings to the community nationally-known women who speak on topics of current interest.
Each spring, Woman’s City Club invites a nationally known woman leader to speak to our community at its Annual National Speaker Forum. The event has become a time-honored tradition in the Greater Cincinnati area over time, drawing thousands of people to the events.
The Forum has become a fundraising event, enabling the Club to fulfill its ongoing mission: to educate, empower and engage the citizens of Cincinnati to participate as active stakeholders in promoting the common good. Each year, we invite citizens and organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area to support and cosponsor the event so that we can continue to provide the public leadership and civic education programs so important for our area.
The Status of Women Committee, under the leadership of Mary Wells in 1993, established the National Speaker Forum as an annual event. WCC and 28 co-sponsoring organizations brought Lani Guinier (now a tenured professor at Harvard Law School) to Cincinnati for the event. She spoke about “her version of civil rights, as opposed to conservative opponents’ views” to a sold-out venue. This forum surpassed the organization’s initial fundraising expectations and netted a large profit. Subsequent speakers and their topics are listed below.
-- from "Lighting the Fire, Leading the Way" by Rachel Powell