Coming Out Cuba Foundation (COC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit National Cuban-American LGBTQ Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to Reveal and Preserve the Historical LGBTQ Cuban Culture while building a new future for the LGBTQ and Cuban communities. As the founders of the nonprofit, Share Media Agency creates unique and interactive events as well as performs the day-to-day public relations and marketing aspects in order to promote the organization’s mission, get the public involved and provide the organization with the necessary operational funds.
One event that the agency has created for COC is its annual fundraising benefit. La Santa Cuba was established in 2015 as the premier event of the foundation. The inaugural event was held during Art Basel 2015 at the Nina Torres Fine Art Gallery. It was a night that showcased all different types of Cuban art from paintings (some at the risk of being shipped from Cuba) and photographs to cigar rolling and live art performances all throughout the night. It was the biggest Cuban art and culture benefit of Art Basel 2015 with more than 500 hundred art enthusiasts and guests in attendance.
In April of 2016 another attention-grabbing event was created by Share Media Agency on behalf of COC. The Macho Pride Festival combined the celebration of art and Latin-American culture with gay pride. To help boost the exposure of the event, the agency strategically planned the dates to coincide with that of Miami’s biggest and globally recognized pride event, Miami Beach Gay Pride. One of the main components of the festival was the Macho – Beautiful Inside and Out, a search for the combination of the most altruistic and striking Latin male in South Florida.
The first day of the 2-day festival included a Press and Artist Night that awarded a deserving “Diva” who contributed a great deal to the Miami community, an artist showcase of Cuban inspired art and introduction to the contestants of Macho – Beautiful Inside and Out. The second day consisted of a celebratory event crowning the winner of the Macho – Beautiful Inside and Out who received his very own placement as a Next magazine cover model and a portion of the proceeds of the event to go to a charity of his choice as his winnings. The culmination of the 2-days brought out a powerful number of guests and an impressive amount of press.
With the onsite of COC’s new heritage program (La Otra Cuba), meant to further their mission by collecting, preserving and presenting to the public past and present day Cuban gay cultural information and art, Share Media created the La Otra Cuba Exhibition Fundraiser. It is the first unveiling of COC’s collection of artifacts and current day Cuban gay cultural information and artwork. The agency hosted the first exhibition fundraiser at their Share Art PopUp galleries to create a synergistic event that combines their multiple projects as well as the clients, artists and design brands in their portfolio.
Coming Out Cuba Foundation is not affiliated with any religious or political organizations and it’s programs offer the preservation of LGBT Cuban history, Art & Cultural community events and mobilization of humanitarian resources for LGBT Cubans and their families.
