Founder, The Mae Fellowship & Quitman Studios

Courtney Young is a writer of fiction, screenplays, popular culture criticism and creative nonfiction. She is a recipient of residencies from Willapa Bay Air, Vermont Studio Center, Faber, Hambidge, Bainbridge and Chateau D’Orquevaux. She is also the founder of the Mae Fellowship, a virtual, annual program that provides financial and professional support to women and non binary writers seeking to publish her/their first book and a co-founder of This Season. Her current projects include completing both her first narrative feature entitled This Savage Life Makes Us Hard to Kill and her first collection of short stories entitled Scar Tissue of the Extraordinary. A graduate of Spelman College and New York University, she received her B.A. in English with a minor in Management and her M.A. from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, completing an interdisciplinary program that combined Entertainment Business, Performance, & Africana studies. She was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Social Media & Contact Info:
* Twitter: @cocacy @maefellowship
* Instagram: @ccarlissyoung @themaefellowship
* Website: www.themaefellowship.com
* Newsletter: themood.substack.com

Associate Director, Alumni Affairs, Berklee

Dana James has built a career on bringing together technology solutions and emotional intelligence. A strong believer in community organizing, Dana previously served as the Information and Systems Specialist for Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County (CCALAC), serving over 60 member health centers. Over 6 years, Dana led the design of several grant-based programs from workforce to emergency management initiatives. Leaning on her strong belief in grassroots outreach and engagement, Dana has a strong track record for programmatic success. During her tenure in community health, Dana was invited to speak at multiple national conferences presenting her engagement strategies to peer organizations. Though driven to support organizational success, throughout Dana’s career she has been drawn to supporting the experience of the workforce. Throughout her professional tenure, Dana has led numerous staff development programs which contributed to significant improvement of worker satisfaction. A strong believer in community organizing, Dana currently serves as the Associate Director of Alumni Affairs for her alma mater, Berklee College of Music, leading alumni engagement strategy for the west coast. Whether bringing large scale community events to fruition or designing continued learning workshops in partnership with community members, Dana’s belief in community and investment in worker success shows up in the outcomes of her programming and projects.

Mississippi, Speaking Down Barriers

Davelyn Hill is the Executive Director for Speaking Down Barriers. SDB is an organization whose mission is Equity for all. SDB seeks to build community across all that seeks to divide us by ending oppression and valuing everyone. She has a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from Converse College. Alongside providing counseling services, she has led support groups, presented research, and conducted university presentations around racial trauma and oppression. She enjoys facilitating groups and retreats around grief and wholeness. Davelyn Hill, also known as Davelyn Athena is an author, poet, and intuitive painter. She has her MFA in creative writing with an emphasis in poetry from Converse College. Davelyn Athena’s poetry and art have been featured in print and digital media. She is a curator for Spark and Echo which is a collective of artists giving artistic interpretation to every verse of the Bible.

Co-Founder, Artist Magnet Justice Alliance

Over the past decade, David Mack (he/him) has managed some of California’s most innovative performing arts organizations, including: Joe Goode Performance Group, Invertigo Dance Theatre, The Industry and Watts Village Theater Company. As a Strategic Consultant, Mack’s clients have included the cities of West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Culver City, as well as Center Theatre Group and LA Dance Project. Mack’s inaugural project as a Producer and Co-Founder was Chocolate City, an industry showcase connecting BIPOC writers and performers from institutions across Southern California to Hollywood agents, managers and casting directors. Since then, he has served on the Boards and committee leadership of several arts organizations, including the San Francisco Arts Alliance and Western Arts Alliance. Mack is currently the Managing Director of the African American Arts & Culture Complex, a member of the Greater Bay Area Arts & Cultural Advocacy Coalition and Co-Founder of Artist Magnet and Artist Magnet Justice Alliance, Oakland-based arts service organizations.

Discipline: Dance

David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, is the author of the novel WINTER COUNTS (Ecco/HarperCollins), nominated for an Edgar Award, and winner of the Anthony, Thriller, Lefty, Barry, Macavity, Spur, High Plains, Electa Quinney, Tillie Olsen, and other awards. The book was also a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, the Hammett Prize, the Colorado Book Award, and the Reading the West Award for Debut Fiction. The novel was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, an Indie Next pick, main selection of the Book of the Month Club, and named a Best Book of the year by NPR, Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, The Guardian, Financial Times, Air Mail, and other magazines. He has short stories appearing in the anthologies The Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories 2022, Denver Noir, and others. He is a Professor of Native American Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and lives in Denver, Colorado, with his family.

Producing Artistic Director, Global Lounge Incorporated

Debra Littlesun is the Assistant Director of the University of Wyoming Art Museum since 2018. Previously Associate Director of Scholarships & Program Coordinator for Diversity Initiatives in the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid. Appointed by the University President to administer and serve as ex-officio for the Northern Arapaho Endowment and Chief Washakie Memorial Scholarship Programs. Prior to coming to UW Littlesun was Director of Scholarship for the American Indian College Fund in Denver, Colorado. Littlesun earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Business Administration from Chief Dull Knife College, Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration Cum laude, from Rocky Mountain College and a Certificate in Arts Management, from University of California, Irvine. Littlesun is an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe and a direct descendant of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. Debra is responsible for the financial management of museum activities but most enjoys when called on by curators for historical information related to objects from Native American Tribes. She has developed a deep appreciation for museums as a medium for teaching while continuing to explore ways to use objects to educate and inform individuals to view culture through a different lens, and to encourage growth and collaboration.

Artist/Educator, DDAT Management | San Juan College

Devin Hursey is a writer and graphic designer, with a passion for telling stories about people living with HIV and public health. Hursey, from Kansas City Missouri, holds dual master’s degrees in public health and strategic communications from the University of Missouri Columbia. In 2019, Hursey was honored as one of the 40 under 40 in public health by de Beaumont, as well as a 2023 Public Health Thought Leader by the Boston Congress of Public Health. His local and state work includes a featured columnist of the Next Page KC, leadership of the Real Justice Network contributing to campaign related to local politics, and board membership of Blaqout KC. Formerly: an appointed member of the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV and Viral Hepatitis, and many other roles related to the health and rights of people living with HIV.

Discipline: Multidisciplinary

Elizabeth Denneau is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and art educator residing in the Sonoran Southwest. She obtained her teaching certificate and BFA in Art and Visual Culture Education through the University of Arizona and her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a member of the Art21 Educators Institute and works with local community organizers, cultural workers, and colleges to develop practical models of social justice in art education. In her artistic practice, narratives of human perseverance, vulnerability, and power dynamics continually influence her artist. She writes about her experiences being a Black educator and her upbringing in a place where Black people represent less than 3% of the population. She co-founded the Southwest Black Artists Collective and The Projects- art space. Both organizations serve a mission to bring visibility and support to Black creatives.

Director of Community Engagment, Grand Opera House, Inc.

My name is Emari Vieira-Gunn. I have been working in the education and arts fields for the past four years, and was most recently appointed to the position of Director of Community Engagement for the Grand Opera House, Inc. I am a lifelong Delaware resident and my commitment to creating change through the arts/ed and bettering existing programming within my organization, is my main area of focus. I have a passion for enriching the Delaware community and beyond, with engaging, impactful and enriching educational arts programming.

Curator and Creative Consultant, Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum

Fabiola (or just Fa) is a Venezuelan Human Rights Lawyer who turned her career around and wears many hats as an independent curator, creative consultant, writer, and performer. A former Amnesty International Regional Manager in her native country, her activism proved too dangerous, forcing her to move to the United States where she currently seeks political asylum and dedicates herself to finding justice through artistic and cultural expressions. Recognizing storytelling as the essence of her practice, she strives for thought-provoking and imaginative projects that highlight different perspectives, ignored, and forgotten stories.
She’s a co-founder of KAMA DC, a community-building platform for immigrant-led cultural experiences, and a member of the Curatorial Selection Committee of the GLB Memorial Fund for the Arts, an annual award supporting womxn artists and curators in DC, Maryland and Virginia.
Fabiola has worked with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, National Museum of American History, National Museum of Asian Art, Anacostia Community Museum, The Embassy of Venezuela, The Embassy of Spain, Washington Project for the Arts, Times Square Arts, The Center for Book Arts NYC, The Brooklyn Museum, MacArthur Fellow Mel Chin, The FUNDRED Project, S.O.U.R.C.E. Studio, and more.

Discipline: Interdisciplinary

Fawn Douglas is a Native American artivist, mother, and enrolled member of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe. She also has roots with the Moapa Paiute, Southern Cheyenne, Creek, Pawnee, and Scottish. Fawn is the head matriarch of Nuwu Art and runs the Nuwu Art + Activism Studios along with the Nuwu Art Gallery + Community Center, located in the heart of Las Vegas, Nevada. She is dedicated to the intersections of art, activism, community, education, culture, identity, place, and sovereignty. Her art-making often remembers the past and ensures that stories of Indigenous peoples are heard in the present. Her studio practice includes drawing, painting, weaving, sculpture, and performance. Fawn currently does art and cultural consulting through Nuwu Art, organizes with the non-profit IndigenousAF, serves as an Arts Commissioner for the City of Las Vegas, and works part-time with Meow Wolf. She earned her MFA at UNLV and works on several issues that span from MMIR/MMIW to environmental protection.

Discipline: Interdisciplinary

Gabby Langkilde is a Samoan writer, born and raised in American Samoa. In 2021, she graduated from Harvard College, where she was on The Harvard Crimson editorial board for three years. Perhaps one of her proudest undergraduate achievements is the production of her column entitled “Pasefika Presence” – the first-ever column to center Pacific Islander issues and experiences in The Harvard Crimson. She continues to be passionate about raising awareness for Pacific issues and is currently based in American Samoa, where she works as an educator and is also now using her writing experience to launch a new magazine entitled “”Pasefika Presence”” – named after her previous column. The goal of this new publication is to provide a platform for other Pasefika storytellers and artists to share their stories and work. Gabby is a firm believer in the power of storytelling, and knows that the world has much to learn from the voices of the Pacific.

Discipline: Music

Through his work, Gordon Sasaki expands the limits of disability. He creates opportunity to engage with disability that is simultaneously challenging and beautiful. Using his own wheelchair as a “”still-life”” motif he creates life-size paintings that redefine disability as a rich resource of creative energy and cultural iconography.

Curatorial and Administrative Assistant, Firehouse Art Center