THE PEOPLE POWERING THE JXN PROJECT

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The JXN Project is a research-based reparative historic preservation non-profit organization that is powered by two daughters of Richmond, who also happen to be sisters – Dr. Sesha Joi Moon [right] and Enjoli J. Moon  [left] – or more commonly called "The Moon Sisters". JXN has been highlighted PBS NewsHour, TIME, The Boston Globe, and 2021 Pulitzer Prize Winner Richmond Times-Dispatch and recently received VMFA's 2022 RVA Community Makers Award, Valentine Museum's 2022 Richmond History Makers Award for "Advancing Our Quality Of Life", and Historic Richmond's 2021 Golden Hammer Award for "Best Placemaking" – an honor also shared with Kehinde Wiley's "Rumors of War." JXN is also a grantee as part of the Mellon Foundation's "Monuments Project" and received the Award of Excellence as part of the 2022 Leadership in History Awards with the American Association of State and Local History.

Sesha is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of The JXN Project. In addition to this role, most recently, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, appointed her as the Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion with the U.S. House of Representatives. She previously served as Chief Diversity Officer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and as a Senior Talent Management Strategist with the U.S. Department of Commerce, where she received the Commerce Bronze Award for Superior Performance, Commerce Spirit Award, and Spotlight on Commerce for LGBT+ Pride Month. She is a Senior Fellow of the Excellence in Government Fellowship with the Partnership for Public Service and Senior Research Fellow with The Conference Board’s Engagement Institute. Along with completing programs at Harvard University and Cornell University, she received a Masters of Science from the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and Bachelor of Arts in Black Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University, as well as a Doctor of Philosophy from Old Dominion University where her research focused on the role of intersectionality on the career mobility of women of color in the federal government. She serves on the Board of Directors with the African American Federal Executive Association and is a board member with the Commonwealth of Virginia's Criminal Justice Services Board and St. Jude African American Engagement Council. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Federal Chief Diversity Officers Steering Committee Council. She resides in Northern Virginia with her wife, Janice Pritchett, and cockapoo, Benji – but her heart is forever at home in Richmond.

Enjoli is the Co-Founder of The JXN Project. She is also the Assistant Curator of Film and Special Programs with the Institute of Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University and Executive Director of the Afrikana Independent Film Festival, which holds the distinct honor of being the first and only Black film festival in Richmond – hosting a variety of pivotal cultural figures such as Angela Davis and Nikki Giovanni. Although a grassroots effort, Afrikana has been hailed as the premiere space for Black arts and culture in the city – while quickly becoming the regional hub for Black indie cinema. She is also the founding chair of BLK RVA, a Richmond Region Tourism initiative designed to connect Richmond residents and visitors with Black-owned businesses in the area. She and her work has been featured in local and national publications, such as Style Weekly, Huffington Post, BET, Essence, Black Enterprise, Travel Noire, The Root and Virginia Currents on PBS. She was recently recognized as one of the 2021 "People to Meet" for Virginia Business Magazine and received the 2020 VCIC Humanitarian Award, as well as the 2020 Richmond Times-Dispatch Strong Voices Award. She is also the recipient of Style Weekly's Women In the Arts Award and Top 40 Under 40. However, her greatest accomplishment is being a mother to her son, Jonah – an artist and aspiring filmmaker.

In 2018, the Moon Sisters joined forces to create a travel series called A Blackass Field Trip, which are intimately curated excursions designed to educate Black people on the Black experience by exploring Black spaces across the Black diaspora that have influenced Black history – with direct ties to Richmond, VA. Past trips included the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and Legacy Museum in Montgomery, AL and the Whitney Plantation in New Orleans, LA – and a planned trip to Barbados was recently rescheduled due to COVID-19.