2021 Keynote

Dr. Bettina L. Love

Dr. Bettina L. Love is an award-winning author and the Athletic Association Endowed Professor at the University of Georgia. Her writing, research, teaching, and educational advocacy work meet at the intersection of anti-racism, anti-blackness, carceral studies, education, abolition, and Black joy. In 2020, Dr. Love co-founded the Abolitionist Teaching Network (ATN). ATN’s mission is simple: develop and support teachers and parents to fight injustice within their schools and communities. In 2020, Dr. Love was also named a member of the Old 4th Ward Economic Security Task Force with the Atlanta City Council. In 2018, Georgia’s House of Representatives presented Dr. Love with a resolution for her impact on the field of education. She has also provided commentary for various news outlets including NPR, Ed Week, The Guardian, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution. She is the author of the book We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom (2019).

Panelist

Dustin Ross

DUSTIN ROSS is a writer, comedian, and media personality. He is the head writer of late night talk show The Read on Fuse TV, and also the cohost of two influential podcasts: The Friend Zone on Loud Speakers Network and Holding Court with Eboni K.Williams on iHeart Radio.

Ala Ochumare

Ala is one of the founding members of New Haven’s chapter of BlackLivesMatter and is one of the facilitators of the Marsha P. Johnson Summer Camp for LGBTQ+ Black and Brown Youth organized by a group of community organizations including City Wide Youth Coalition, Planned Parenthood and New Haven Pride Center. She is a Certified Mindfulness Life coach as well as certified in Cognitive Behavior Therapy life coaching, with a focus on youth.

Corinna Santos

Corinna is a media relations professional with a demonstrated history of working in brand marketing, social media management and event production. From brand partnerships to fleshing out a creative digital plan. Corinna serves as an asset to any organization, company, influencer, or brand managing collaboration and the creative process.

Her most recent venture places her as a student of life. Pursuing a Masters of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Bringing to life a merge of marketing and mental health all in one. The digital marketing, event planning, social media maniac known as #GLAMUORSA will continue to flourish as a merger with full time consulting and counseling all in one.

Maia Maiden

Scientist by day, dancer by night, Maia Maiden aka Rah Fyah has been a leader in the Minnesota dance community for over 20 years. A South Minneapolis native, her work as a dancer and choreographer in Hip Hop led her to create Maia Maiden Productions, a Twin Cities based arts presenter. Established in 2009, award-winning ROOTED: Hip Hop Choreographers’ Evening and Sistah Solo|Being Brothas have laid the framework for the organization's significant contribution to the arts community. Maiden’s curation is focused on uplifting and recognizing artists aligned with the organization’s mission to provide an equitable and engaging platform for Hip Hop, people of color (BIPOC), women and youth through performing arts. She has served on numerous fellowship/grant panels and has been recognized with many honors including Minnesota Sage Dance Award for Outstanding Performance, McKnight International Choreographers Residency Partner, Ordway Sally Award for Initiative, Independent Sector Upswell Fellow, American Express Next Generation Fellow, 20/20 Springboard for the Arts Fellow, Star Tribune Fall Arts Changemakers Honoree for Dance and City Pages' People Issue Honoree: Meet the Unsung Heroes of the Twin Cities.

Th3 Saga

Th3 Saga is a Christian hip hop artist born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He has become vastly popular in the Ultimate Rap League (URL) community. As the pioneer and first of his kind in the Christian battle rap movement, Th3 Saga has managed to win over fans and show a different side of the kingdom without compromising his faith. He has now reached over 7.4 million views in battle rap viewership alone. Th3 Saga has had opportunities such as partnering with Pharrell Williams and Adidas in their “Don’t Be Quiet Please” campaign in New York City, has shared the stage with major artists such as The Walls Group, and was named top 10 battle rappers of the year in 2019 by The Source Magazine.

Greg Cally

Greg Cally is a Haitian-American Director/Writer whose recent film production credits include Dwyane Wade’s upcoming ESPN feature-film documentary “Wade: Life Unexpected,” his Tidal exclusive mini-series, “After Hours,” his award winning mid-length feature film “Anime,” and HBO Vice’s Emmy Award winning documentary “Raised In The System.” Greg Cally is also the CEO of Redhouse Visuals, which is a production company offering creative solutions for all visual needs.

From 2018-2020, Cally served as a producer on Dwyane Wade’s “Wade: Life Unexpected,” documentary distributed by ESPN and produced by Ron Howard’s Imagine Productions. Cally came on board alongside director Bob Metelus in pre-production and helped build a narrative from over ten years of catalogued footage.

In 2019, Cally hit the film festival circuit with his mid-length feature film “Anime,” as well as his short film “Fifteen,” which starred Mack Wilds. “Fifteen,” and “Anime,” each won an award over the summer and “Fifteen,” screened in Miami at the prestigious American Black Film Festival as part of Jack Daniel’s “Real to Reel” competition.

Cally served as the Director of Photography of Tribeca Film Festival’s 2019 Spotlight Documentary, “Charlie’s Records,” which told the story of legendary calypso music producer Rawlston Charles and his improbable success after immigrating to America.

In 2018, HBO Vice’s critically acclaimed documentary “Raised in the System,” won an Emmy Award, after premiering earlier that same year. Award winning actor Michael K. Williams handpicked Cally to join the production team deeming his creative writing background and unique perspective as a storyteller invaluable to the project. Cally traveled alongside the crew to multiple inner cities with high crime rates throughout America to dissect the flaws of our criminal justice system, with emphasis on juvenile detention.

In 2017, Cally directed, wrote, produced, and edited “After Hours,” which premiered on Tidal in April 2017 to great acclaim. NBC News dubbed the work “an experience that becomes a tableaux of New York’s current culture,” and “a piece of work that is timeless.”

Now in 2020 and beyond, Cally is dedicated to continuing to tell dynamic and authentic stories through the film and television mediums, while creatively pushing boundaries.

Kelsey Senteio

Kelsey is an actress and dancer who has studied both for over 20 years. She is currently in the process of creating and acting in a show.  with her fellow (all female) creatives about womanhood as a 20-something in the 2020s.

Alexandria Ashley

Memphis-born, Alexandria Denton is a writer, director and producer based in Los Angeles, CA. To date, she has written and produced six films, including The Bee, Rehearsal, The Good Neighbor, Lemonade Lane, Cookies and In Private. Of these, she wrote and directed The Bee, Lemonade Lane and In Private. Denton holds a bachelor's of science degree from St. John’s University, where she majored in law. Intending to go on to law school, she decided to switch careers and enter the film and television industry instead. She earned her master's of fine arts degree in creative producing and television writing from Columbia University in the City of New York in May of 2018. Having interned for Safehouse Pictures (Underground, King Arthur, Robin Hood) and the Netflix series, Spike Lee’s She Gotta Have It, she moved on to work in Media Rights at one of the big four talent agencies, ICM Partners. Denton currently works in film & television development at Reese Witherspoon's media company, Hello Sunshine, where she covers many projects, including The Morning Show.

Hanifa Washington

Hanifa Nayo Washington is an award winning cultural producer & artivist. Hanifa has been combining arts and social justice to make the world a better place for 20+ years. 

Hanifa is a certified Usui/Holy Fire Reiki Master Practitioner who graduated from Beloit College in 2001 with a B.A. in Communications & Russian & Soviet Studies.



Currently Hanifa works as the Director of Community Engagement for CEIO- working with heart-centered attunement to grow beloved community by increasing equity, conscious co-creation, and belonging. 


As a cultural artivist Hanifa views her creativity as a radical tool for liberation, healing, and community building. In 2018 Hanifa was awarded a Phenomenal Woman in the Arts Award by the Arts Council of Greater New Haven and completed her Arts Fellowhship with the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund.

Tyler Maclerath

Tyler McElrath, 33, Born and raised in Waterbury, CT is a progressive strategist and community leader that has served the community as a consummate professional and champion of grassroots organizations that are committed to innovation, change, and providing solutions that directly impact the black community. Tyler’s experience in these fields allow for him to bring a unique but necessary command of attention to conversation, strategy and or project development. Tyler has advised on congressional and municipal political campaigns, led political strategy for activist groups and also helped organize the largest voter turnout in Waterbury’s recent history. Moreover, with 12+ years of experience in arts & entertainment as a venue manager, project specialist and a Festival director his experiences come far and wide. While directly servicing the community McElrath has founded and helped build organizations and businesses such as WaterburyStrong Community Collective, FreeGame Consulting Agency, Notasound Creative Agency, DOExLive Ent not to mention many arts & entertainment venues across the region. He continues to find opportunities to engage and empower black creatives and leaders at large through direct guidance, organizing, and laying out strategies, plans, and advisement.

Vincent Deas

Vincent Deas is a proud father, an innovator, a thinker, activist, and most importantly, a child of the African Diaspora dedicated to the liberation of Black people. He works as a program manager for NYC Men teach the nation’s boldest effort to diversify the teaching force and one of New York’s premier equity initiatives. The majority of his work is dedicated to addressing the issues of systemic and institutionalized racism within education and the way in which it creates unequitable outcomes for students of color, by utilizing the lens of cultural competency and culturally responsive education. Educational consultant, and owner of Cultural Curators Educational Equity Consulting Company.

Aisha O’Malley

Dr. Aisha K. O’Mally is an assistant professor at The State University of New York at Buffalo. She teaches Business Communication and Leadership in the School of Management. She serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committees for both her department and the Academy of Healthcare Communication (ACH).

Aisha attended The State University at Geneseo where she graduated with a B.A. in Sociology. Not too long after, Aisha fell ill and received a life-saving heart transplant, which led to her developing her skills as an inspirational speaker, and advocate for organ donation. Aisha’s motto is “A New Heart, A New Life, A New Way.” Aisha received her M.S. in Media Technologies at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She completed her Ph.D. in 2018 at The University at Buffalo.

Ana Maria Alvarez

Ana Maria Alvarez, a 2020 Doris Duke Artist and an inaugural Dance/USA Artist Fellow, is a prolific choreographer, skilled dancer, masterful teaching artist, and movement activist who has achieved multiple accolades for her dynamic works. Alvarez received a BA in Dance and Politics from Oberlin College and an MFA in Choreography from UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures. Her thesis work exploring the abstraction of Latin dance, specifically Salsa, as a way to express social resistance as related to the U.S. immigration battle, became the impetus for founding CONTRA-TIEMPO Activist Dance Theater in 2005 in Los Angeles, CA.

Alvarez is a two-time grantee of NEFA National Dance Project (2014, 2016), seven-time grantee of National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, five-time grantee of the Center for Creative Innovation and the recipient of the 2015 and 2017 Engaging Dance Audiences Grant administered by DanceUSA. She has been awarded and recognized for her work including the prestigious Mujeres Destacadas award in 2012 by LA Opinion, and in 2016 she earned a Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival Rainbow Award for her work, “Agua Furiosa”. Alvarez was honored to be selected as the 2018 BiNational Artist in Residence, connecting cultural communities in the Sonoran Desert (Phoenix (US), Douglas (US), Tucson (US), and Agua Prieta (MX). Alvarez worked with artists, cultural workers, and students, leading artistic workshops, collaborative performances, and public talks, concluding with a performance at the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2012 Alvarez was invited by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and American Dance Abroad, to represent Los Angeles and CONTRA-TIEMPO at the Internationale Tanzmesse, in Dusseldorf, Germany. Several months later she was invited back to Dusseldorf, to participate in a choreographers laboratory called Kindling/Fresh Tracks, where she began the creative work of “Agua Furiosa”.  Her choreographic works have been presented in theaters all over the country and world, including Lincoln Center (2009, 2018), House of Culture in Plovdiv, Bulgaria (2018), The Joyce Theater NY (2017), UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance (2016, 2017, 2018), The Music Center (Moves after Dark 2015), Arizona State University in Tempe (2016, 2020), The Ordway (2010, 2014, 2019), The Adrienne Arsht Center (2015, 2018), Dance Place (2008, 2010, 2016, 2019), NC State University Live (2016, 2019), Jacob’s Pillow (2008) Teatro Favorito (Cuba 2009) and USC’s Voices and Visions (2015, 2018) among others. Alvarez and CONTRA-TIEMPO were also invited to represent the best of American Contemporary Dance Abroad through DanceMotionUSA, a program of BAM and the US Department of the State. Through DanceMotionUSA her work was shared throughout Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.

Mouse Jones

Mouse Jones is a host, TV personality and social commentator. Mouse is currently building his media empire in NYC and is never afraid to speak complete truth on “GND” podcast. Mouse Jones thrives to connect with people through cultural resonance and comedy. Veheent in providing a platform for the lesser heard communities. Mouse continues to push the envelope for progression of marginalized communities.

Calida Jones

Calida Jones began studying the piano at the age of 3 while attending Nursery School, and switched to violin at the age of 6 when she entered Thomas G. Pullen Performing Arts School in Landover, Maryland. Currently, Calida is the Director of Engagement at University of Hartford’s The Hartt School. Previously, she served as Program Director for Music Matters, and the Conductor of the Hartford All-City Youth Orchestra in conjunction with the Charter Oak Culture Center. Prior to those roles, Calida was appointed Director of Development and Advocacy for the El Sistema inspired program PROJECT MUSIC from 2018-2019. In 2012, Calida was hired by the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra to design and implement the El Sistema inspired program “Bravo Waterbury!” (Bravo). She continued her work in Waterbury until August of 2018. She continues to consult with organizations all over the country.

An accomplished musician, social justice & arts advocate and educator, Calida’s work has taken her all over the world teaching and performing. Calida is passionate about intentional purposeful teaching and community engagement. Her personal mission is to ensure that children who have limited resources also have access to musical opportunities and activities. She knows that this type of musical exposure and education will benefit them and build their confidence which will catapult them to successful careers, regardless of the career path. She is committed to correlating the art of teaching to life skills, and community building.

Calida has had the privilege of speaking multiple times at the prestigious Yale School of Music, Duke University, Ravinia, The Connecticut State Capitol, The Hartt School of Music, and was a Tedx speaker in San Jose, CA. Most recently, Calida has consulted with Sphinx Organization, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Utah Cultural Alliance, and a host of other organizations.

A graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Bachelors of Fine Arts in Violin Performance), she received her Masters in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy from The Hartt School of Music.

Calida is honored and humbled to have received awards, and honors during her career including a scholar fellowship at the Aspen Festival of Ideas, The Elizabeth Mahaffey Fellowship, a Grammy nomination for the Music Educator Excellence Award, the Father Thomas H. Dwyer Humanitarian Award for her work in Waterbury, Connecticut, and the 2018 CT Arts Hero Award in Waterbury CT.

Calida serves on the Board (ex officio) of The Hartt School, El Sistema USA (Board Clerk), and chairs the Racial Diversity and Cultural Understanding Committee; she also serves as the President of the Connecticut Arts Alliance.