Archives: People

Yura Sapi is a visionary leader and interdisciplinary artist who promotes our globally just future. Their work has been featured in Joe’s Pub, the Whitney

African American Chicago-born, Philadelphia-based performer, choreographer, educator, and cultural organizer, Dr. yaTande’s artistic practice thrives at the intersection of dance-performance as a spiritual, social and

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, TX is a seasoned artist, and continues his work on TV, film and stage. TX has performed along side

The last 4 years I have dedicated my art and time as an environmental-activist and lead public artist for Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, No Border

Tanika I. Williams (b. St. Andrew, Jamaica; lives and works in Brooklyn, NY) is an award-winning filmmaker investigating ecology, spirituality, and liberation. Williams holds a

Tahira Chloe Mahdi is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and author whose stories and characters reflect the fun and contradictions of Black suburban life. Her background includes

Shawna Shandíín Sunrise is a Diné (Navajo) /Kewa (Santo Domingo Pueblo) filmmaker, educator, photographer, multi-media installation artist, performance art, actress, activist, producer, director, organizer and

Shadoe Rayne is a Tsimshian and Alutiiq vocalist and songwriter. She is passionate about weaving her endangered native language into her songs through interactive performances.

Rafael Tamayo is the manager of the Oak Cliff Cultural Center, a division of the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, a position

Posoh eneq newihswan Namaewkukiw. Rachel Fernandez eneq aekaeyan. Netotaem awewawaehsaeh. Nohnaeq kaehnap Luke Beauprey. Nekiah awew Karen Beauprey. Eneq s’kew wekiyan Naenaweyah Omaenihkan. Hello my

April Fitzpatrick (LMCH, ATR-BC) centers her work at the intersection of mental health, racial healing, and community engagement. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in

Orion Camero is a Filipine genderqueer artist, coalition-builder and narrative organizer that mobilizes community action through the arts. Their work spans local to global: translating

I am an interdisciplinary artist making site-specific performance and project art. My book Performing Revolutionary: Art, Action, Activism was published in print (2018) and audio

NAHSHON DION is an African American Bronx-based Louisiana Creole award-winning creative nonfiction writer, teaching artist, video editor, emerging documentary filmmaker, producer, grants panelist, community organizer,

Monica Villarreal, an indigenous Xicana mother, artist, organizer, and culture bearer, passionately advocates for indigenous rights and land sovereignty. Her artwork explores gender roles, migration,

Born on Syilx land on Turtle Island, I grew up a displaced Hawaiian. Several years ago my husband and I had the opportunity to move

Keala resides/cares for Oʻahu in Hawaiian Islands. Equipped with decades of formal training in classical and contemporary ballet and a BA in Dance from the

Joshua Ramirez is a brown-indigenous social-practice artist, museum arts-administrator and cultural practitioner that works and resides in Los Angeles County. Using his own mental Illness

Israel Carranza is a Mexican American artist based in Lincoln, Nebraska. His art is heavily influenced by his roots in Mexican culture and his deep

Ida Aronson (they/them) is a Two-Spirit citizen of the Houma Nation of Louisiana, founding Board President of Bvlbancha Public Access, a founding contributing member of

Hāwane Rios is a Mauna Kea Protector and award winning singer/songwriter from Puʻukapu, Waimea on the Island of Hawaiʻi. She was raised from an early

Gael Luna ( they/them) is a trans queer immigrant artist and community organizer based in Albuquerque, NM. Originally from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, they migrated to

I am a child of war and trauma and have done my best to mitigate my existence by contributing to communities in service leadership. I

Celina Tupou-Fulivai is a Latina and Polynesian creative, activist, and social entrepreneur, recognized for her work in amplifying Pacific Islander representation through creative arts and

Bertrand Evans-Taylor is a seasoned arts advocate, administrator, and event producer with over a decade of experience. He is the founder of Ujima Cultural Solutions,

Alexander (also known as El Tres Da Nova, and to his students as simply ‘Mr. Alex’) is a musician, writer and educator. Originally from New

From the West of the Magic City comes Birmingham’s finest in musicalentertainment. Known for soulful melodies and captivating performances,my musical journey has taken me from

Aimee McCoy is Co-founder of The Artizen Company (TAC), a theater and film company, she has served as managing director and co-artistic director, regularly taking

Dr. Allison Upshaw holds the position of Assistant Professor of Voice at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, AL and is currently working on a second doctorate

Anthony Torres is a poet, performer, and Executive Director of Combat Hippies, a Puerto Rican theater ensemble that creates devised works in Miami, Florida. Led

Clarivel Ruiz (we, us, you) child of the African/Indigenous Diaspora, and Ayiti “Kiskeya” (aka Hispaniola, aka the Dominican Republic and Haiti), raised in NYC on

I am a Dallas artist and space maker exploring untold histories of space, place, and people of the region. A third-generation Dallasite, daughter of organizers,

Constanza Mendoza-Guerra (she/ella) is an arts administrator, consultant, and facilitator originally from Venezuela. She draws on her lived experiences as a Latina immigrant and community-organizing

Bronx Native, Divad Durant (he/him) is a screenwriter/director/artist/community organizer and NYC firefighter who creates portals to find rest, reflection, and refuge in new worlds. Co-Producer

Ilknur Ozgur is the Founder and Executive Director of Artstillery. She served as an Arts & Culture Commissioner and resides on the NEA TACDC Creative

James Pakootas (Colville Confederated Tribes), otherwise known as “Just Jamez”, is a modern-day story weaver. He is an award-winning vocalist, producer, and filmmaker who cultivates

Helms says, “My work intentionally integrates art, faith, and culture into organizing strategies to build people power and social change. Using the language of culture-

Joeseph Arnoux, Blackfeet Nation and Spokane Tribe (Piikani/Sp’q’n’i) works diligently with local organizations such as NACA Inspired Schools Network / Indigenous Educators Corps, ONEABQ Arts

KAYLA BANKS (Afro-Native non-enrolled Choctaw and Creek Freeman and Eastern European) is a choreographer, dancer and actor from Denver, Colorado with a B.A. in Performing

BS Development Planning Economics w/honors – Distinguished Scholar Public Service Award, SUNY Brockport; NYS Governor’s Decade of the Child Award: “her valuable, sensitive work with

Mariah Ivey, recently muraled as a ‘Keeper of Culture’ in Indianapolis, IN by visual artist Ashley Nora x GangGang, is a nationally renowned poet, musician,

Meena Malik is a musician, arts consultant, facilitator, mediator and coach. An alumna of the artEquity National Facilitator Training and a member of the Emergent

Nada Odeh is a Syrian artist, activist, humanitarian, and a modern-day poet. She was born and raised in Damascus and lived in Saudi Arabia and

Natalia (ella/she/her) is a Queer and Femme Afro-Caribbean, an intersectional ecowomanist, youth organizer, and artist based in Borikén aka Puerto Rico. She believes in the

Ngoc-Tran Vu (she/her) is a 1.5-generation Vietnamese-American multimedia artist and organizer whose socially engaged practice draws from her experience as a cultural connector, educator, and

Nyya Toussaint, is a Haitian American and Black American scholar of the Sociology of Religion, Linguistics, and International Affairs. Nyya is a founding member and

OLIVIA LEVINS HOLDEN (they/she) is a queer, mixed Boricua muralist, organizer, artist, and educator living on Dakota homeland, Bde Ota Othunwe, Mni Sota Makoce, Minneapolis,

Pōhaikealoha is a Kanaka Maoli media producer, storyteller, and founder of ʻŌiwi Online. She strives to bring native stories to life through passion for not

Reyes Ramirez (he/him) is the 2025 – 2027 Houston Poet Laureate, as well as a writer, educator, curator, and organizer of Mexican and Salvadoran descent.

Rob has spent the last couple of decades combining approaches to culture-making, design, and social change in a wide range of contexts. He currently co-leads

I am the new Program Coordinator for Sipp Culture in Utica, MS which entails helping to support the planning and coordination of Sipp Culture cultural

Ching-In Chen is a genderqueer Chinese American hybrid writer, community organizer and teacher. They are author of ‘The Heart’s Traffic’ and ‘recombinant’ (winner of the

Adam Horowitz is Chief Instigator of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture (USDAC), a grassroots action network inciting creativity and social imagination to shape

Angie has led a privileged career of music education and community engagement. An accomplished violinist and social entrepreneur, upon graduating with a full scholarship from

Arturo Herrera is an artist living in Detroit, Michigan. His current body of work speaks to issues of personal identity and character, social acceptance and

Betty Yu is an interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, educator and activist. She is a co-founder of the Chinatown Art Brigade, a cultural collective telling stories of

Bobby LeFebre is an award-winning writer, performer, and cultural worker. He is a two-time Grand Slam Champion, a National Poetry Slam Finalist, an Individual World

Cassius Spears (Narragansett/Niantic), founder and director of the Narragansett Food Sovereignty Initiative that strives to maintain and restore indigenous agricultural knowledge and practices. Cassius also

IN MEMORY February 21, 1975 – January 17, 2019 With training and experience in both western choral and Native Hawaiian music traditions, Chadwick Pang taught

ChE is an award winning artivist, transformational educator, and equity consultant. ChE uses the power of embodied storytelling, arts-based community engagement, and multi-generational ancestral healing

Cristal Chanelle Truscott creates Neo-Spirituals — a’capella musicals — using “Soulwork,” the theatremaking methodology she developed from African American performance traditions. She is a Doris

Edyka Chilomé is a queer literary artist, performer, educator, and cultural worker based in Dallas Texas. Child of Central American and Mexican migrant activists, she

Eli Lakes is a musician, producer, and art activist. Raised and rooted in culture and purpose, he has pursued his passion from an early age.

Gabriela Muñoz is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and arts administrator. An active contributor to Arizona’s arts communities, she engages in artist residencies, serves as a

Graciela Sánchez follows in the footsteps of her mother and abuelitas, strong neighborhood mestiza cultural workers. As director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center,

Award-winning artist Hillary Kempenich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, currently resides in Grand Forks, ND. Kempenich comes from a family of

Jonathan Clark was born and raised in Knoxville, TN. He was cast in The Carpetbag Theatre’s T.R.Y. Ensemble at the age of 13 and additionally

Jumana Salamey, AuD, is the Deputy Director, Manager of Operations at the Arab American National Museum. Dr. Salamey holds a BA in Psychology and Women’s

Kaisha S. Johnson is the Co-Founder/Founding Director of Women of Color in the Arts, a national organization dedicated to creating equity in the performing arts.

Kaʻiu lani Takamori is a native Hawaiian artist who has also been studying hula for the past 12 years under kumuhula Vicky Holt Takamine, and

Founder and CEO K.A.P., Inner Prizes; Knowledge. Application. Practice of the human dynamic; President of the Board, Southeastern Family Violence Center; Co Founder Artist Market-Pembroke;

Kiyoko McCrae, a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School, is a cultural organizer who directs theater/film productions aimed at creating social change. She is Managing Director

Priya Bhayana is the Program Development Manager for Community Conferencing Center, a conflict transformation organization. Priya organizes with East Coast Solidarity Summer (ECSS) for South

Shey ‘Rí Acu’ Rivera Ríos (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist, cultural strategist, and arts administrator. Rivera uses storytelling across mediums to create immersive worlds of