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The foundation, Steadfast LA, already has a roster of industry-leading names who have signed on: Andy Cohen, co-chair of architecture and design powerhouse Gensler; Carey Smith, president and chief executive of infrastructure engineering giant Parsons; Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos and his wife, former Ambassador Nicole Avant; Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale; and executives from banking, insurance, real estate and private equity.

He got his start in show business in the 1960s as a member of pop band The Avant -Garde, whose best-known hit, “Naturally Stoned,” reached Number 40 on the Billboard charts.

A polished fully-in-control confidence over a truly unpredictable avant garde flow, Saafir was like a glitch in the rap soundscape that listeners couldn’t turn their head from.

They were joined by veteran executives Clarence Avant and Ahmet Ertegun, plus Colin Powell, the former national security adviser and head of the US military who would go on to become the first African-American secretary of state.

He also has the backing of several Hollywood power brokers, including Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos and his wife, Nicole Avant, a U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas under former President Obama.