Award-winning multimedia producer-editor-creator Abhita Austin is an indisputable talent who has innovatively mastered both the creative and the technical aspects of the entertainment industry for over 20 years. As an alumna of New York University’s Music Technology program, Abhita began her career in the late ’90s developing her music and audio production skills while working with artists such as Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliot, Common and R&B legend Roy Ayers.In 2009, Abhita expanded her creative vision and opened Hidden Chapel Studios, a post-production facility in the heart of Long Island, NY dedicated to amplifying original voices and telling untold stories. After a decade, Hidden Chapel Studios continues to provide a range of creative, technical & logistical media services for artists, experts and companies such as Warner Music Group, Simon & Schuster, Carnegie Hall, The Apollo, American Express, Serato, Clinique and Audible. In addition, Abhita’s work has been featured in films designated as official selections at the Urbanworld and Sundance film festivals.

Carolyn Malachi is a GRAMMY-nominated artist, producer, engineer, and educator whose work explores the intersections of hip hop, jazz, immersive audio, and cultural memory. As an Assistant Professor and Assistant Chair at Howard University, she teaches within the university’s pioneering Hip Hop Studies Minor curriculum, preparing students for careers across music, media, and emerging audio technologies while connecting them to professional opportunities at organizations including Spotify, SiriusXM, and the Smithsonian.

Her creative and scholarly work spans award-winning recordings, immersive sound design, cultural diplomacy, and research on the role of sound in human connection and care. Whether behind the microphone, in the studio, or in the classroom, Malachi is committed to advancing hip hop as both an artistic practice and a catalyst for innovation, education, and community impact.

Chen Lo is a multi-talented artist, creative director and educator. As an emcee and songwriter he has shared the stage with The Roots, Common, Erykah Badu, A Tribe Called Quest, Rapsody, Leon Bridges, Rhiannon Giddens and the Last Poets. He has toured extensively performing and conducting music workshops and master classes in 15 countries on 5 continents. As a co-founder of Soul Science Lab (SSL), a music and multimedia company, he released a series of album projects, including Footprints, Plan for Paradise and Make A Joyful Noize. SSL has also performed or produced work with premier arts institutions like Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Apollo Theater, etc. SSL’s current projects include Soundtrack ’63 (commissioned by 651 Arts), Make a Joyful Noize (commissioned by Carnegie Hall), and The Renaissance Mixtape (commissioned by the Apollo Theater).

He is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor in Vocal Performance at the Roc Nation School of Music. He holds a Bachelors of Arts from Penn State in Media Studies and an interdisciplinary Masters from NYU.

Distinguished as a prominent thought leader in public music education, Chiho Okuizumi Feindler is the Chief Programs Officer for Save The Music Foundation where she is responsible for designing and overseeing the implementation of national programs aimed at ensuring equity and access to comprehensive music education.

Chiho has presented at numerous conferences, including the National Endowment for the Arts, SXSW Edu, and the NAMM Show. She was a recipient of Honorary West Virginian Award and currently serves on multiple national and regional boards and was a co-chair of Grantmakers for Education Arts Ed Impact Group.

DJ Bella J (Jasmine Coan) is a DJ, educator, and curriculum developer dedicated to expanding how Hip-Hop culture is recognized in education. She is the founder of On The One, a DJ education program where she has mentored aspiring DJs and created learning spaces for young people and adults to explore the art, history, and discipline of DJing. Bella J is the creator of “More Than The Mix: DJ Curriculum as Leadership and Legitimate Education,” a framework that explores how DJing can be used to teach creativity, music production, cultural history, and leadership skills in classrooms and community programs.

With over a decade of experience performing, teaching, and building community-based music programs, her work bridges the worlds of Hip-Hop culture, education, and technology. She is passionate about helping educators understand the deeper learning that happens through DJing and music production. Through her work, Bella J continues to advocate for Hip-Hop as both a cultural movement and a powerful educational tool for the next generation.

Otis L. Sharp Jr., known professionally as DJ O Sharp, is a Columbus-based DJ, educator, designer, and community arts advocate with more than thirty years of experience in music, visual art, and youth development. With over twenty-five years behind the turntables, he has built a career using DJ culture as both a creative practice and an educational tool. Sharp serves as the Creative Director at Arts Impact Middle School and as a Lecturer in the School of Music at The Ohio State University, where he teaches in the Hip-Hop Studies DJ Lab.

His work sits at the intersection of culture, education, and technology, integrating DJ history, music production, and visual art into classrooms, community programs, and public events. Through his platforms Fresh Elements and The Freshest Events, he produces workshops, gatherings, and cultural programming that center mentorship, creative entrepreneurship, and the creation of spaces where communities can experience connection, expression, and joy through music.

Dope Candi is a Detroit-born international DJ, music producer, and immersive audio engineer known for her genre-expanding blends of Hip Hop, house, future beats, R&B, and soul. Influenced by her mother’s work as a singer-songwriter and her late uncle’s career performing alongside artists including Bob Seger, Parliament-Funkadelic, The Four Tops, and The Dramatics, she cultivated a sound that bridges classic musical traditions with contemporary production.

She has collaborated with major brands including Google, Nissan, H&M, DKNY, Bacardi, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. She created music for Nissan’s award-winning campaigns and has performed at venues and events including Webster Hall, Barclays Center, Allegiant Stadium, ComplexCon, and NCAA March Madness activations. Dope Candi is a member of the Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing, she has helped develop music technology programs that have impacted more than 1,500 students while mentoring through Serato, Grammy U, She Is The Music, and Symphonic Distribution.

GrandMixer DXT’s mentor, jazz great Herbie Hancock, uniquely dubbed him the world’s first “Turntablist”, and is best known for utilizing the turntable as a musical instrument within a band. This technique earned him, Herbie Hancock, and the RockIt Band a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance in 1983, marking the first Grammy awarded to a Hip-Hop artist before the Best Rap Performance category was established in 1989. He was inducted into the Guitar Center Rock Walk of Fame in 2014 and contributed to the music for HBO’s Grammy Award-winning documentary, “The Defiant Ones,”. Most recently, he was presented with the Hip-Hop Innovator Award at the TEC Experience during The NAMM Show. A music arranger, vocalist, and producer on numerous urban and pop releases, he innovated a technique called “Forensic Editing,” which he used to restore the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall.

DJ HAPA sits at the intersection of music, education, and technology. He’s shared stages with artists as diverse as his musical selection: Michael Jackson to Snoop to Miles Davis’ Electric Band. Dubbed “The DJ Coach,” HAPA leverages his 25+ years of DJ and entrepreneurial experience blended with a sociology degree from UCLA to mentor aspiring DJs from 192 countries with his industry leading, project learning based curriculum and book. With a mission to help others find their passion and unlock their potential, HAPA creates access through building programs for aspiring DJs in schools (Start to DJ Program) and online in virtual reality (TRIBE XR).

J Rawls is known for his music production work with artists like Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, Mos Def, Domo Genesis (Odd Future), Capital Steez (Pro Era), Beastie Boys, Del tha Funky Homosapien, Aloe Blacc and more. Still an active practitioner in the music industry, in 2024, Rawls released an album with Talib Kweli called “The Confidence of Knowing”. Dr. Jason Rawls is an educator with over two decades of teaching experience.

A leader of the #HipHopEd movement, Dr. Rawls is an Assistant Professor of Hip Hop at THE Ohio State University. He is part of the team that is creating one of the first Hip Hop Studies program in a School of Music in the United States. Previously at Ohio University, Dr. Rawls helped develop the first Hip-Hop Based Education program in a College of Education. The program, called H.O.P.E., is a series of four courses rooted in Hip-Hop Based Education using both Culturally Relevant and Relational Pedagogy. Dr. Rawls is also co-author of a book entitled, Youth Culture Power: A #HipHopEd Guide to Building Teacher-Student Relationships and Increasing Student Engagement. He is also featured in an exhibit on Hip Hop at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Jada is an arts administrator and artist located in Louisville, Kentucky. She has primarily worked alongside arts entrepreneurs of color (and consulting firms) as an Executive Assistant since 2021. Passionate about anti-racism and inclusivity, Jada is a 2020 KCACTF ASPIRE Alumni as well as a John Cauble Emerging Producer/Leader and Charlene Gordon Arts Impact Award recipient. a playwright, she was an author and editor for the Uncle Junior Project and a featured playwright at the American College Theatre Festival for her play, Hip Hop Heaven. Jada graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a Bachelor’s degree for Theatre Performance and is currently working for Live Nation, the Hip Hop Education Center, and pursuing roles in festival and event planning.

Jason Reyes is the Founding Principal of the Bronx School of Hip Hop, a Bronx-born educator shaped by the culture that raised him. Blending Hip-Hop pedagogy, project-based learning, and CTE, he is reimagining high school, creating pathways to college, careers, entrepreneurship, and ownership while honoring student voice, identity, and excellence.

Juliette Jones is a violinist, composer, arranger, and cultural entrepreneur whose work sits at the intersection of orchestral music and equity-centered movement building. As Founding CEO of Passing the Crown Foundation, Inc. and Founder of Wondersmith Entertainment, she creates bold productions that center women, girls, and gender-expansive artists across orchestral music, dance, and DJ culture.

She is the creator of Passing the Crown: Celebrating the Queens of Hip-Hop, commissioned by and premiered at Lincoln Center in 2024, and now a nationally touring work featuring Grammy Award-winner Rapsody, hip-hop icon MC Lyte, and 2x DMC Champion DJ Perly. Her original works have been commissioned by Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, and her performing credits include Beyoncé, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Shakira, Kehlani, Cynthia Erivo, Jon Batiste, Janelle Monáe, Stevie Wonder, and Solange. A newly elected member of the Recording Academy, Juliette brings both lived cultural authority and institutional credibility to the work of expanding access, representation, and joy in arts through cultural storytelling.

Dr. Justis Lopez, also known as DJ Faro, is a healing-centered leader, educator, and creative strategist who blends scholarship, sound, and systems to cultivate joy, justice, and liberation. He completed his doctorate at Harvard, where his work focused on healing-centered youth development, leadership, and emancipatory research. Rooted in diasporic identity and currently based in the Bronx, Justis is a community organizer, sound healer, and artivist who brings soul to every space he enters.

His journey spans public education, national equity strategy, and global stages as a DJ, weaving together cultural storytelling, learning, and collective transformation. He currently serves as the Director of Teaching and Learning at the Hip-Hop Education Center and is the founder of Just Experience LLC and co-founder of Project Happyvism, designing experiences, curriculum, and gatherings that uplift and mobilize communities. His work has reached audiences from local classrooms to international platforms, and his writing explores hip-hop pedagogy, healing-centered leadership, and culturally sustaining practice. Whether facilitating, creating, or performing, Justis is committed to helping people and systems move from surviving to thriving.

Ken ‘K-Boogie’ Varas, owner of Spanish Fly Media, is a creative professional with over 26 years of music production, 18 years in audio engineering and 12+ years in cinematography and post-production. An accomplished Re-Recording Mixer with roughly 25 IMDb credits delivering content across Film, TV, and digital platforms such as VH1, BET Plus, AMC, Paramount+, and Peacock. Bridging the gap between production and post-production. His expertise spans Sound Design, Audio Mixing & Mastering, Cinematography, and Creative Production roles.

I am a scholar, author, educator, artist, creative producer and Hip-Hop head. My work sits at the intersections of critical arts pedagogies, education change, pushout re-engagement, teacher preparation, and social justice. I hold a Ph.D. in Education Studies with a focus on culturally revitalizing school change from McGill University and an Ed.M. in the Arts in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. My writing has been published by Phi Delta Kappan, the McGill Journal of Education, Forbes, Rowman & Littlefield, the Montreal AI Ethics Institute, Urban Education, and more. I produced the Spotify Original podcast RecordEd Arts, which tells stories from the nexus of the recording arts and education. As a Doctoral Intern at the K12 Lab in Stanford University’s d.school, I produced Sound Practice alongside sam seidel, Jessica Brown and Louie Montoya. For three years I served as Faculty Lead for Critical Digital & Media Literacies at McGill University where I teach pre-service teachers and graduate students. I also serve as Executive Director of 4 Learning, an international nonprofit working on school transformation through the recording arts and culturally sustaining pedagogies. Winner of McGill University’s Educator-Practitioner Award, winner of McGill University’s Community Engagement Award, recognized as one of four top Changemakers in Québec by Urbania Magazine, former Jeanne Sauvé Public Leadership Fellow.

Lyric Jones is a genre-fluid recording artist, songwriter, producer, DJ, drummer, and university educator at UCLA whose work bridges hip-hop, soul, house, R&B, and live musicianship. Known for her sharp lyricism, warm vocal tone, and deep sense of groove, Lyric has built a career rooted in versatility, authenticity, and creative evolution.

Over the years, she has worked with and alongside respected artists including Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest, Rah Digga, Planet Asia, Phonte of Little Brother, Moon Boots, Tall Black Guy, Slum Village, and Terry Hunter.

Her music and voice have also reached audiences through sync placements and media appearances across platforms including BET, NFL, Fox, Netflix, Nickelodeon, Paramount, etc. As a performer, Lyric has performed at Coachella 2025 and the Chosen Few Picnic & Festival in Chicago. A founder of Tempo Soul Records, she continues to expand her creative world through releases, live shows, DJ sets, education, and storytelling rooted in rhythm, culture, and soul.

Monique Brooks Roberts, a violinist originally from Louisville, KY, has established herself as a powerful voice in the soul and jazz fusion circuit with her sultry, soulful violin sound.

She has built a dynamic and fulfilling career, performing and recording with world-renowned artists including Christina Aguilera, Lizzo, Alicia Keys, Common, Jill Scott, Mos Def, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, J. Cole, Shawn Mendes, Mumu Fresh, and many more. She was a touring member of the Philadelphia String Quartet for seven years and has also performed with ensembles such as the Soulful Symphony Orchestra, Gateways Festival Orchestra, Harlem Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey (where she served as Principal Second Violin), and the Color of Noize Orchestra under the direction of Derrick Hodge. Her artistry has been featured on national and international stages, including live television appearances on the Grammy Awards, VH1 Storytellers, NPR’s Tiny Desk, CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, MTV Video Music Awards, and BET Honors.

She has performed at iconic venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Radio City Music Hall, The Kimmel Center, the Hollywood Bowl, Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, etc.

Currently, Monique performs with Passing the Crown—serving as co-orchestrator, associate producer, and performer—alongside Camille A. Brown & Dancers, Toshi Reagon, and as a solo artist. In 2020, she released her debut album Free, which charted at #12 on the iTunes Soul charts, further solidifying her voice as a unique and powerful force blending classical training with soulful expression.

Rich Nice made music history as the first rapper signed to Motown before touring and co-founding Track Masters Entertainment with Poke & Tone, where he served as VP of Marketing and VP of A&R. As an A&R Executive at Columbia Records under Tommy Mottola, he helped shape projects for artists including Maxwell, Fugees, Nas, 50 cent, Destiny’s Child, multiple soundtracks, Mariah Carey, and Michael Jackson, among many others. Expanding into Broadway with the Tony Award–winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway and later consulting and producing for multi-platinum talent and major brands. Working in TV & Film as a Music Technical Advisor on the Hulu Wu Tang an American Saga series. He now leads The A&R Room platform, serves as an emeritus board member of the Hip Hop Education Center, contributes curriculum development for the Hip Hop Museum, and teaches Music Entrepreneurship and Broadcast Theory and The History of Hip Hop and Urban Culture as an adjunct professor.

Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo is a Black feminist rapper, beatmaker, and scholar from Ithaca, NY with family roots in Côte D’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is the David S. Josephson Assistant Professor of Music at Brown University as well as the Faculty Director of the Black Music Lab. Since 2010 she has written, produced, and recorded six albums alongside several collaborations with notable artists including Moor Mother, Open Mike Eagle, and William Brittelle. She has also produced work for a diverse range of video game developers, podcasters, and filmmakers. As noted by the Los Angeles Times, SAMMUS “has a gift for getting a message across.”

Dr. Lumumba-Kasongo received her PhD from Cornell University in Science and Technology Studies in 2019. Her scholarly areas of interest include Black feminist sound studies and hip-hop praxis, particularly as it intersects with AI and gaming technocultures. She is on the steering committee for Brown’s science, technology, and society program and served as the Director of Audio at Glow Up Games, the first women-of-color led game studio.

Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky is currently at work on two books – one about the impact of algorithms on how we think of storytelling – Digital Fiction for Duke University Press, and The Future of Food, about the impact of AI on how we think of the production of food in the 21st Century. He was Artist in Residence at Yale University Center for Collaborative Arts and Media. Miller has collaborated with an array of recording artists, including Ryuichi Sakamoto, Metallica, Chuck D, Steve Reich, and Yoko Ono amongst many others. His 2018 album, DJ Spooky Presents: Phantom Dancehall, debuted at #3 on Billboard Reggae.

His large-scale, multimedia performance pieces include “Rebirth of a Nation,” Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica, commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Seoul Counterpoint. His multimedia project Sonic Web premiered at San Francisco’s Internet Archive in 2019. He was also the inaugural artist-in-residency at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s The Met Reframed. In 2014, he was named National Geographic Emerging Explorer. Miller’s artwork has appeared in the Whitney Biennial, The Venice Biennial for Architecture, the Miami/Art Basel fair, and many other museums and galleries.

Adam is the co-founder and 2nd President of College Unbound; a nationwide degree completion college for adults both inside and outside carceral spaces working to ensure all learners can be valued as scholar-practitioners and have access to a Bachelor’s degree that sees their full humanity and capacity. Adam has always loved to see how things work and take them apart. His work and practice has always revolved around improvisation, learning, collective action, and imagination. Adam sits on the board of the American Association of Colleges & Universities, the American Council on Education, and the Court Theater and he splits his time between Providence & Chicago.

Suzi Analogue is an Afro-Indigenous music producer, award-winning professor, and interdisciplinary artist whose work bridges beat culture, sound design, and community-driven learning. She is the founder of Never Normal Records and has over a decade of experience at the intersection of music, technology, and education, with collaborations including MoMA PS1, Cornell University, Brown University, and the U.S. State Department. She has also lectured at Harvard University. As the founding Music Director of UNC Chapel Hill’s Hip-Hop Ensemble and former director of the UNC Beat Lab, her practice centers sonic experimentation, cultural storytelling, and empowering the next generation of creators.

Tony Simmons is the Executive Director of HSRA and Co-Founder of 4 Learning and the New School Creation Fellowship at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education. An attorney-turned-educator who has spent decades building national models for learner-centered, creativity-driven, justice-oriented school design.

UnLearn The World is a chart-topping Hip Hop artist, award-winning educator, and cultural strategist whose work bridges music, social impact, and education. Raised in the late-’90s New York City underground scene, he has built a global reputation for sharp lyricism and powerful live performances, sharing stages with icons including members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Rakim, KRS-One, Freddie Gibbs, and Talib Kweli.

His recent releases — including CROWNS, The God That Sins, and 2026’s Midnight Crysis — position him at the intersection of culture and commentary, tackling themes of mental health, spirituality, and social justice. Beyond the stage, UnLearn serves as Executive Director of Hip Hop For Change, the Oakland-based nonprofit using Hip Hop education to empower the next generation of artists and leaders.

Whitney Taber is a highly respected music business industry expert with more than 17 years of experience, Los Angeles Recording Academy member, Grammy U Mentor, Essence GU Mentor and sits on the board of numerous Non Profit Boards. Throughout her career, she has worked with many major artists such as Rihana, Ariana Grande, Will I Am, Nipsey Hussle, Justin Bieber, Beyonce n and more as former Vice President of The Record Plant Recording Studios. In addition to her music industry work, Whitney is a TV and radio personality and serves as the Director of Partnerships & Business Development for Non profit organization Girls Make Beats. Solidifying strategic partners like Apple, Starbucks, Mattel, Paramount Global, Spotify, RocNation, The Recording Academy many more. She also owns and operates Pretty Funny Productions, a production company specializing in creating top-tier UGC content, music videos, TV shows, and podcasts. Whitney is passionate about producing impactful content & creative philanthropic partnerships that advance culture and create meaningful, positive and educational opportunities for people to express their creativity without limits.

Dr. Elliot Gann (aka Phillipdrummond / “Dr. Beats” to youth) is a Psy.D. child/adolescent clinical psychologist, active beat maker, and Executive Director of Today’s Future Sound (TFS). Pioneer of the Therapeutic Beat Making (TBM) model, he uses Hip Hop culture for mental health, educational, and cross-cultural interventions, impacting 100,000+ youth across six continents. He has published peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters on TBM based on original collaborative study.

A 4-time Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund grantee and U.S. State Department Hip Hop ambassador, Dr. Gann leads global TEAMBeats projects—training practitioners, donating gear, and hosting beat cyphers in 25+ countries across LATAM and worldwide. A prolific producer with an active catalog of albums and singles, he has completed 10 Australian tours and organized the Bay Area’s longest-running monthly beat battle for over two decades.

Anne Fennell is the Senior Director of Education for Music for All, a Past President of the California Music Educators Association (CMEA), and a former national and state association leader with the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education and educational leadership studies and completed Orff-Schulwerk Levels I–III. With 38 years in education, including six years in district administration and 32 years teaching, Anne has led innovative music programs spanning elementary through high school and served as an adjunct university professor. A published author, national and international presenter, and consultant, she speaks on music education, leadership, advocacy, creativity, and learner-centered practices. Her honors include the 2024 NAMM Believe in Music Award, MSA National Teacher of the Year, GRAMMY Music Educator Top 10 Finalist and TI:ME’s National Teacher of the Year.

Dr. Bryan Powell is Chief Program Officer at Music Will, where he has served in leadership roles since 2014. A former New York City public school music teacher, he is also an Assistant Professor of Music Education and Music Technology and Coordinator of the Recording Arts and Production degree at Montclair State University. Since 2013, he has served as Executive Director of the Association for Popular Music Education.

An internationally recognized clinician, researcher, author, and ensemble director, Dr. Powell has presented at more than 100 music education conferences and led workshops at over 50 colleges and universities worldwide. He is the founding co-editor of the Journal of Popular Music Education and has co-edited and co-authored numerous books on popular music education, modern band, and music learning.

He holds degrees from Pepperdine University, Chapman University, and Boston University. His research focuses on popular music education, music technology education, and community music.

UniQue Webster is a Strategic Partnerships, External Affairs, and Marketing leader with more than 20 years of experience helping nonprofit, cultural, and mission-driven organizations grow their revenue, visibility, and impact. She has built and managed high-value partnerships, secured multimillion-dollar support, and overseen seven-figure budgets for organizations including AAPD, Right To Be, and the VH1 Save the Music Foundation. Her work has connected organizations with leading brands and institutions such as L’Oréal Paris, the NFL, AARP, and Uber, creating partnerships that deliver meaningful value for both the organization and its partners.

UniQue brings together relationship-building, creative strategy, marketing, fundraising, and operational execution. Her results include increasing corporate sponsorship revenue by 60%, helping raise more than $4 million to support music education programs in underserved schools and producing major fundraising events generating as much as $700,000 in net revenue. She has also developed and led national awareness initiatives, including the “Stand Up Against Street Harassment” campaign.

UniQue works at the intersection of partnerships, marketing, fundraising, and public engagement. She combines strong relationship management with data, CRM expertise, and creative tools including Adobe Creative Suite to help organizations strengthen their brand, deepen stakeholder engagement, and create sustainable opportunities for growth.

Martha Diaz (MD), a Colombian-American futurist, award-winning social entrepreneur, producer, educator, archivist, and curator, advances social equity through Hip-Hop education. As founder, president, and CEO of the Hip-Hop Education Center, her 30-year career spans culture, media, technology, and storytelling.

MD founded the highly acclaimed H2O (Hip-Hop Odyssey) International Film Festival in 2002. Her exhibitions, films, research reports, books, and curricula chronicle and archive Hip-Hop history, preserving cultural value and memory. MD has worked with Parkwood Entertainment, the Tupac Shakur Estate, The Hip Hop Museum, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Music Will.

Diaz holds two master’s degrees from NYU Gallatin and Tisch. She is Lab Faculty at College Unbound and a Senior Producer and Arts2Work consultant with The Alliance for Media Arts + Culture. She has served as a A’Lelia Bundles Community Scholar at Columbia, Nasir Jones Fellow at Harvard, and MacArthur Civic Media Senior Fellow at USC Annenberg.

Born and bred in Chicago, Pinqy Ring first shook hands with the mic at 15, when memorizing and studying Hip Hop songs lit the spark to pen her own story. A tough childhood, troubled teens, and a catastrophic car accident that left her in a coma all forged the artist she would become. From that near-death moment, she rose like a phoenix from the fire, claiming Hip Hop as her lifeline and liberation. Sharing her story was no longer a choice — it became her purpose. Today, Pinqy decolonizes minds one rhyme at a time as a rapper, Hip Hop educator, mentor, speaker, and U.S. Hip Hop Cultural Ambassador.

Dr. James Weaver is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Music for All, where he leads the organization’s work to create positively life-changing experiences for students, educators, and communities through music.

Appointed in August 2025 as Music for All marked its 50th anniversary, Weaver brings a national perspective on music education, advocacy, student opportunity, and organizational innovation. Before joining Music for All, Weaver served nearly a decade as Director of Performing Arts and Sports for the National Federation of State High School Associations, where he guided national policy, professional learning, copyright education, and health-and-safety initiatives impacting millions of students. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he co-chaired the International Performing Arts Aerosol Study, helping coordinate more than 125 organizations worldwide to support the safe return of music and performing arts education.

Weaver began his career as an orchestra director and later served as a district fine arts administrator and state activities association leader. He is President of the National Music Council, serves on the board of United Sound, co-chairs the TeachMusic! Coalition, and is a recognized national voice in arts education, intellectual property, and student-centered performing arts policy. Throughout his career, Weaver has remained committed to a simple but powerful belief: access to high-quality music education changes lives and strengthens communities.

Franklin Willis is an Emmy Award-winning music educator and arts leader who serves as Director of Visual and Performing Arts for Metro Nashville Public Schools. A former elementary music teacher and instructional leader, he has been recognized three times as a CMA Foundation Music Teacher of Excellence.

His work centers equitable access to high-quality arts education, student voice, culturally responsive teaching, and professional learning for educators. Willis is also an author and national music education clinician and serves as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music, where he helps prepare future music educators in student-centered practice.

David T.C. Ellis is an exceptional charter school pioneer given that he hails from the world of music and has written that it was his music career that brought him to the founding of the High School for Recording Arts (HSRA). David is a musician who early in his career worked with Minnesota’s music icon – Prince.

It was after that stint in his career that David’s journey to his Life’s work began. TC is also the Founder and CEO of Studio-4.

Tiffany Vega is a senior arts executive, educator, and entrepreneur whose career spans nonprofit leadership, executive search, theatrical producing, and academia. She serves as Executive Director of the Hip-Hop Education Center, where she is building the organization’s first professional staff and operational infrastructure, and as Managing Partner of Evolution Management Consultants (EMC), an executive search and leadership advisory firm that has served 21 clients and doubled the representation of Leaders of Color in nonprofit theatre leadership since its 2023 founding. Vega holds an MFA in Theatre Management & Producing from Columbia University and a certification in Leading DEI from Northwestern University. She has taught at Loyola University–New Orleans for the past six years and at Dillard University, and has spoken at venues including the Apollo Theater, Howlround, and the Latinx Theatre Commons. Her writing has been published in Howlround and the Yale School of Drama Theater Management Knowledge Database.

Wendel Patrick is a professor, composer, producer, beatmaker, pianist, sonic architect, photographer, and videographer. He has been referred to as “David Foster Wallace reincarnated as a sound engineer” by Urbanite Magazine and as “wildly talented” by the Baltimore Sun. He has been referred to by XLR8R magazine as “a hip-hop producer that could easily make any fan of Squarepusher, Boards of Canada, or Madlib flip out.” The alter-ego of classical and jazz pianist Kevin Gift, Wendel Patrick has made a name for himself internationally as a music producer of remarkable vision, skill and talent. His five albums: Sound, Forthcoming, JDWP, Passage, and Travel were all produced without the use of sampling, with Patrick playing every note of every instrument. What is perhaps most astounding and perplexing to listeners is that there are actually no instruments…he crafts all of the instruments, and plays every note, electronically. Equally at home performing on stage with his band, behind two turntables, beatboxing, improvising, or playing a Mozart Concerto on stage with orchestra, Wendel Patrick has toured Europe on several occasions and performed throughout the world with renowned spoken word artist and poet Ursula Rucker (The Roots, 4 Hero). In 2014, Wendel Patrick traveled to Australia as a guest lecturer, speaking about music production and entrepreneurship in the arts at The Australian Institute of Music in both Sydney and Melbourne. In 2011, Wendel Patrick co- founded the Baltimore Boom Bap Society, with Erik Spangler (DJ Dubble8) that performs monthly improvised hip hop shows with hand picked musicians and emcees. The group’s collaborative performance with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra of Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale was recently named “Best Mesmerizing Performance of 2016” by Baltimore Magazine. Wendel Patrick’s music has also been heard across the country on NPR stations, most notably on Out of the Blocks, an award winning radio documentary program he co-produces with radio producer Aaron Henkin for NPR affiliate WYPR that has been featured by the Third Coast International Audio Festival and Hearing Voices as well as on the BBC. Recent performances included a new collaboration between the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Boom Bap Society, on which Patrick’s orchestral compositions were performed. An avid photographer and videographer, his photography has been exhibited in several art galleries including the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Ralph Arnold Gallery in Chicago. Patrick shoots all of the accompanying documentary photography and videography for Out of the Blocks . Wendel Patrick/Kevin Gift majored in both music and political science at Emory University and earned his M.M. in Piano Performance as a scholarship student at the Northwestern University School of Music in Evanston Illinois. Patrick is a winner of the 2015 Baker Artist Awards’ Mary Sawyers Baker grand prize and was a member of the faculty at Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland from 2001 to 2013 teaching piano, introduction to music theory, music history and electronic music production. He has taught at the Maryland Institute College of Art and at Loyola University Chicago where he was Department of Fine and Performing Arts Guest Artist- in-Residence for 2019. In 2022, he was named Renaissance Man of the Year at the Baltimore Crown Awards.

Malika brings 20+ years of experience in youth development, nonprofit leadership, and creative education, along with a deep-rooted commitment to expanding access and equity for historically underserved communities. As a native New Yorker and Bedstuy resident, a DJ, and community organizer.

Musician, producer, beat-maker, songwriter, and film composer Raney Antoine, Jr placed his stake in music at age 7 playing drums in his grandfather’s church. His rhythmic roots grew over to melody at age 12, moving to piano as his primary instrument. Gospel, rhythm and blues, hip-hop, and jazz occupy Raney’s musical palette for melody, rhythm, and message. He made his producer-artist debut in the summer of 2018 with two singles: R&B crooner “Lovestruck” and cocky hip-hop offering “The Man”. No matter the genre or venue, Raney’s goal is to create memorable experiences. As an educator, his goal is to demystify both the craft and industry of music. Being a student of the craft is a never ending journey, thus, the journey continues.