Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk

is the visionary and founder of the Memnosyne Foundation. She serves as President/Co-chair of the board of directors for the foundation and her vision for the Memnosyne Foundation is to provide people with the tools to cope with the new realities of globalization. Mary Ann, social activist, spokesperson and award winning artist and writer has received numerous awards for her philanthropy which includes the 2006 Philanthropy World Magazine Award, the 2007 Foundation for Pluralism Award, the 2008 Brilliantly You Award for Excellence in Philanthropy and in arts the North Park/Nasher Sculpture Center Curator juried TVAA Exhibition’s Merchant’s Award; ARTV’s Sculptor of the Year Award and the only artist featured in The Buckminster Fuller Institute’s 100 Anniversary Celebration. Along with her husband, Joshua Frenk, Mary Ann established the John Philp Thompson Foundation to support research on non-radiation/non-chemotherapy cures for glioblastoma in honor of her father who died from the disease. She has served on numerous local and national boards with a focus on human rights, the arts and the environment.

Currently she serves on the Board of Trustees for The Interfaith Center of New York, Board of Advisors for The Indigenous Institute of the Americas, and President of The John Philp Thompson Foundation for Brain Cancer Research (http://www.thejohnphilpthompsonfoundation.org/ ). With her husband, Joshua Frenk, Mary Ann has sponsored education programs globally. Mary Ann and Joshua have accomplished philanthropic projects in Rwanda, Guatemala, Vietnam, Mexico, Tanzania and the United States. Beyond her work with the Memnosyne Foundation Mrs.Thompson-Frenk has chaired and co-chaired several fund raising events with organization whose missions align with social and environmental responsibility. According to Mary Ann, “My father taught me this world owes us nothing, yet we owe it to the world to make it a better place.”

Thompson-Frenk can be contacted at maryannthompsonfrenk@memnosyne.org

Joshua Raymond Frenk

Co-Founder/Vice President of the Memnosyne Foundation is an accomplished film maker, writer, and philanthropist. In 2006, Frenk directed and produced Many Paths, One Source, a documentary film based on a five days ecumenical conference of the same name sponsored by the Memnosyne Foundation. Frenk captured on film 40 diverse spiritual leaders of Western, Eastern, Indigenous, and New Age traditions in dialogue confronting issues that prevail in contemporary society globally. The environment; homophobia; healing Christianity with the world’s indigenous people; bigotry; and Divine Feminine as evident in all religions were among the topics addressed at the conference. In 2007, the film was screened at the Canadian International Film Festival of Non-Violence.

In 2008, Frenk was honored by The Southern Poverty Law Center for inclusion in The Wall of Tolerance, a public tribute to those who have advanced the cause of tolerance. Many Paths, One Source is the basis for the Memnosyne Foundation’s Interfaith Education Program. Other documentaries by Frenk include Litter Creek; Exploring Polyester; The Emotion of Image; and The AIDS Services of Dallas. Frenk is currently working on his first film noir Fog and Darkness. The script for the film is scheduled for publication in the Blackfoot Nation’s Anthology: The Importance of Reclaiming Indigenous Values. In addition to Frenk’s multiple Memnosyne responsibilities, he is the Board liaison for the first Dallas Green Expo sponsored by the Memnosyne Foundation.

Aside from his leadership with the Memnosyne Foundation, Frenk is the CEO for Thompson Fine Arts, Inc., Co-Founder/Vice President of the John Philp Thompson Foundation, Board member for the People’s Empowerment Project, member of The Sierra Club’s John Muir Society and a President Circle Member of the Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin, Texas.

Frenk may be contacted at joshuafrenk@memnosyne.org

Phillip E. Collins

Executive Director, oversees the general operation of the Memnosyne Foundation. He is the lead coordinator for the development of education curricula, the arts and responsible for the creation and development of the future virtual Memnosyne Campus for Humanity. Collins was Associate Coordinator of Education Outreach at the Dallas Museum of Art, and prior to the Memnosyne Foundation, he was chief curator at the African American Museum, Dallas from 1996 to 2007. Collins currently serves as Cultural Commissioner At Large for the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs and chairs the Public Arts Committee and continues to work as independent curator and art consultant nationwide. After undergraduate studies at Howard University, Washington, D.C. Collins studied and lived more than 25 years in Europe. He studied German at the Universitat Graz, in Graz, Austria and interior architecture, design and art history at the Hochschule fur Bildern und Kunst and the Freier Universitat in Berlin, Germany.

Collins can be contacted at phillipcollins@memnosyne.org.

Coke Buchanan

Director of the Center for Indigenous Culture, Center for Global and Local Outreach and the Center for Spirituality. He is a former telecommunications executive and has a profound interest in indigenous culture and spirituality, working extensively with the Hopi, Toltec, and Mayan cultures. Prior to working with the Memnosyne Foundation, Buchanan was Director of Business Development and Senior Writer for Philanthropy WORLD Magazine. Buchanan has been involved with non-profit organizations including the Starfish Foundation, KICKStart, the Vladimir Gorsky Foundation and the Indigenous Institute of the Americas. Buchanan has a Bachelors of Business Administration from the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas. He is working on his MBA in Conscientious Studies at the University of Philosophical Research.

Buchanan can be reached at cokebuchanan@memnosyne.org.

Todd Collier

Director of the Center for Interfaith Inquiry. The Rev. Dr. Collier’s practical ecumenical vision and compassion for the poor came together in 1991 when he founded and led Faith in Practice (www.faithinpractice.org), which currently provides over 1,000 professionals a year who volunteer surgical, medical and dental care to meet the needs of the impoverished in Guatemala. Todd was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1994, and served Presbyterian churches at Canyon Creek in Dallas; Memorial Drive in Houston; First Church in Bay City, Texas; Skidaway Island in Savannah, Georgia; and as Senior Pastor of Bentwood Trail in Dallas. Todd earned his Doctorate from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia; Masters from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey; Bachelors from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, OK; and degrees from New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico. For his humanitarian achievements with Faith in Practice, Collier was inducted into the New Mexico Military Institute Hall of Fame, the school’s most prestigious honor.

The Rev. Dr. Todd Collier is available to speak about the Interfaith Service Network, The Hunger Taskforce and other interfaith subjects at congregations, conferences, schools, universities, seminaries and other gatherings.

Collier may be contacted at drtoddcollier@memnosyne.org.

Anthony Chisom

Assistant to the Executive Director for The Memnosyne Foundation (www.memnosyne.org) and communications liason for the Board of Directors of the Memnosyne Foundation. Anthony grew up in the rural town of Farwell,Texas. He moved to Dallas in 1994, and worked for Gap Inc. in management for eleven years. Chisom is CEO of Anthony Chisom Interiors (www.anthonychisominteriors.com) that he founded in 1999. In addition to his own business ventures, he is founder of the Anthony Chisom AIDS Foundation (anthonychisomaidsfoundation.org ). Chisom was interim President of the Visual Arts Coalition of Dallas (www.visualartsdallas.org) from 2007-2008.

Chisom may be contacted at anthonychisom@memnosyne.org.

Ken Campbell

Volunteer Coordinator of the Interfaith Service Network.   A native of Dallas, Texas, Ken has traveled extensively internationally.  He is a former professional soldier, attorney and organic grocer.  Ken received a Bachelor’s of Arts, cum laude, in History from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas and a Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.  Ken’s two great passions are bringing diverse peoples together through volunteer community service and removing the boundaries of fear that exist between them and the campaign for the elimination of hunger in North Texas.

Campbell may be contacted at kencampbell@memnosyne.org.

2902 Maple Avenue

Dallas, Texas 75201

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