A self-described introvert with a very public profession, Dasan Ahanu is a North Carolina-based cultural organizer, artist, and scholar. As an accomplished cultural leader and poet, Dasan has appeared on NPR, TV One’s Verses and Flow, and the documentary Poet Son, among other features. He is a resident artist with the St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation/Hayti Heritage Center, co-founder and managing director of Black Poetry Theatre, and a visiting professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, teaching Hip-Hop and Black culture courses. A respected recording artist, Dasan has collaborated with many Jazz, Soul, and Hip-Hop artists in North Carolina. He is an alumnus of the Nasir Jones Fellowship with the Hip Hop Archive at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. In 2023, he was named the 15th Piedmont Laureate for poetry. He has published extensively and is the author of five poetry collections. Dasan also works with organizations as a strategist and builder who uses art & culture as a foundation and framework for creative solutions to internal and external needs. An imagination worker, he develops programs, collaborates on projects, helps map out initiatives, coordinates resources, and fosters ideation with groups looking to increase impact and embrace possibilities.

Dance Director, Michigan Dance Council

Clara Martinez is the Dance Director at Everett High School in the Lansing School District. A lifelong dancer with a passion for community organizing, she views her role at Everett as arts educator and community leader. She is a proud union representative and advocates for students and educators in the Lansing Schools Education Association. Clara won Best Dance Instructor in Lansing’s City Pulse Top of the Town 2020 Contest. She is Chair of Michigan Dance Council and Board Member for All Of The Above Hip Hop Academy and Cultural Advocacy Network of Michigan. Clara was recognized as a Rising Leader in the Arts and selected for the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs’ Rising Leaders 2021-2022 Cohort. Clara is pursuing her Masters of Social Work (MSW) in Organization & Community Leadership at Michigan State University. Clara received her Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance from The Ohio State University.