Culture Encounters founder and Executive Director Amma Gatty (third from right), The Mantu chef and owner Hamid Noori (front row, center), and employees from Chesapeake Bank participate in a Culture Encounters event at the restaurant. (Photo courtesy The Mantu)
Amma Gatty had no intention of curating cultural programs for adults when she started the youth-focused nonprofit Next Star Arts Program in 2015. But in 2018, during Next Star’s summer camps focused on cultural diversity, she heard that parents also had interest in the cultural offerings their kids were enjoying.
“They asked me, ‘Can you curate programs for us?’” says Gatty, founder and executive director of Culture Encounters, a rebranded version of her original nonprofit that now brings lessons in understanding to all ages.
Gatty, who immigrated to the United States from Ghana, knows all about cultural divides and biases. After moving to Richmond in 2001, she became immersed in American culture through the community around her. Culture Encounters creates similar opportunities for local businesses and individuals, allowing them to see something new through arts events, talks and other programming.
Regularly communicating with people from different backgrounds, whether in a neighborhood or business, is vital, she believes. “I don’t think we have a choice. We have to learn other cultures,” she says. “Whether we like it or not, we are connected to the world, and that’s important because of the time we live in. We can’t afford not to get to know people and cultures.”
Culture Encounters’ mission appealed to Thomas Claiborne, vice president outreach officer for Chesapeake Bank and chair of the company’s IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accountability) committee. Fifteen bank employees across departments went with Culture Encounters to The Mantu restaurant in Carytown and talked with chef, owner and Afghanistan native Hamid Noori.
“This gave us the opportunity to step away from the biases we may have to understand that we all have something in common,” Claiborne says. “Amma’s business is about bridging cultural divides by having these types of interactions. It made sense to work with her.”
For Claiborne and his fellow employees, Culture Encounters provided a lesson in building a firsthand connection to influence their conceptions of other backgrounds. “We didn’t know what we were walking into,” Claiborne says. “The chef showed us how he made the dishes and walked us through the steps. We heard the story behind the food and his experiences as a kid, and he incorporated that into the menu. As we were learning about the food, we got to learn about him.”
Businesses like Chesapeake Bank are becoming a common client for Culture Encounters as the nonprofit expands locally. In 2023, the organization reached 423 people with its programming. Last year, that number jumped to 1,500. “My goal is to keep doubling those numbers each year,” Gatty says.
Gatty recognizes she can’t change the world in exactly the way she would like, but she takes pride in spreading understanding in her community. “People need to think of the person when thinking of an immigrant. We are all human. We just want to be better,” she says. “If we can accomplish that, my work is done.”
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