Norman A. Branch is a Huntington, WV native. He is the third child and son of the late Norman H. Branch and Lanita C. Hatcher. Norman is a 1995 graduate of Huntington High School and a 2009 graduate of Marshall University with a Regents Bachelor of Art degree and double minor in marketing and social work. Norman is a former multi-cultural scholarship award winner and Marshall University Thundering Herd Football player. He lived in Nashville, TN from 1998 to 2001, where he continued his education and worked with community organizations including; being a member of the AmeriCorps Nashville HealthCorps, working with families and communities in education and health. Working at the Bethlehem Centers of Nashville as a Teacher/Counselor and mentoring youth. Norman is the CEO of Positive People Association, a community development organization that promotes education, health and wellness to at-risk youth and young adults, through interactive multi-media and theater arts. He has produced. Directed. And performed stage plays in WV, Ohio, GA. Norman operates a podcast with his wife called The Biz with NormBeezy and Lady Tiger.

Northern Colorado Intertribal Pow-wow Association, Inc.

Arts and Culture Coordinator, XIA Gallery and Cafe

Npaus Baim is an educator and storyteller, who collects the narratives of Asian Americans. In 2023, she taught A Reflection on Hmong Culture & Language with Public Art St. Paul for the Sidewalk Poetry Workshop series. In 2022, she published the digital zine “Hmong American Experiences during the Pandemic” with Hmong Museum. In 2019 to 2021, she was published in #MinneAsianStories with Coalition of Asian American Leaders, Staring Down the Tiger by Pa Der Vang, and The Summit Avenue Review. Previously, Npaus Baim worked in higher education and taught the course College Writing at the University of Minnesota Duluth as an instructor, as well as a Writers Consultant for the Writing Workshops. Currently, she works at XIA Gallery & Cafe as an Arts & Culture Coordinator to support and celebrate Asian & BIPOC artists. Npaus Baim recently started her youth program, SEA (Southeast Asians) Us Write & Design focused on fostering the creative, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills of Southeast Asian youth. It was funded by Coalition Asian American Leaders’ Sparks Fund Leadership and the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s Women Innovators Program. Together, Npaus Baim and the youth group published the magazine, “Hmong Palette: Our Uniqueness in Bloom.”

Nybria Acklin is an artist and administrator based in New Orleans. She is a Human Resources Manager at an education and capacity building nonprofit, and she is a deeply invested supporter of the arts and equity initiatives. Over the past two years she’s worked with Friends of the Freedom House – a house museum and community space in New Orleans – as a lead project manager doing grant writing, research, and coordination support; strategic planning support; and administrative support for the organization’s museum and archives projects. She commits to transition into the arts full-time with hopes of supporting BIPOC artists and culture workers gain more access to funding, opportunities, and connections. Nybria graduated from Smith College in 2018 with a B.A. in Sociology. She is also a Venture for America and Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs alumna. Nybria is excited to participate in the National Leaders of Color Fellowship program where she hopes to connect with like-minded individuals, and to better educate herself on the arts landscape and equity in the arts in order to make a positive impact in the field.

Oaxaca en Utah

co-director of arts education, Arts Corps

Olisa Enrico is an artist, educator and administrator who believes in the unique power of art to cultivate community and culture. Olisa spent her childhood writing music and performing, traversing genres and rooting in hip hop as her primary form of expression. She branched out to theater and found passion for the power of story to reveal and heal. She earned her BFA in Theatre Performance Magna Cum Laude and an MFA in Theatre Pedagogy with a dual focus in Both Acting/Directing and Voice/Speech. She specializes in the use of Ritual Poetic Drama Within the African Continuum and Archetypes for the Actor. Olisa is a board member of The Conciliation Project (TCP) facilitating courageous conversations to undo oppression that is woven into the fabric of this complex nation.She is the Artistic and Executive Director of Griot Girlz, a collective of Black Womxn artists whose mission is to to engage the community in the art of storytelling through cultural practice and performance. Olisa provides performances, professional development, curriculum development, consultations and workshops through her business Praxis Essentials.Olisa believes that artists and art are vital to the state of culture and society and hopes to share her soul through performance. Olisa believes in collaboration, in relationship, in the value of community.