Martha Diaz

Colombian-American futurist Martha Diaz (MD) is an award-winning social entrepreneur, media producer, educator, archivist, and curator committed to advancing equity and human rights through Hip-Hop culture, media, technology, and storytelling. In 2010, she founded the Hip-Hop Education Center, where she serves as Executive Director, Chief Curator, and Archivist. Over three decades, she has bridged the Hip-Hop entertainment industry, public arts and education sectors, and academia, connecting initiatives across cultural and educational institutions.

A global thought leader, community organizer, and mentor, MD has chronicled and archived Hip-Hop history through groundbreaking exhibitions, research, and curricula. She founded the pioneering Hip-Hop Odyssey (H2O) International Film Festival in 2002 and co-founded the Hip-Hop Association, catalyzing a global movement to legitimize Hip-Hop as a platform for education, expression, and social change. She curated the first Hip-Hop film series at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and served as a guest curator at the Museum of the Moving Image and The Schomburg Center.

Her media credits include Where My Ladies At? (2007), Black August: A Hip-Hop Concert (2010), Nas: Time Is Illmatic (2014), Dear Mama (2023), and Living Proof: Dr. Khalid’s Black History Mobile Museum (2024).

A graduate of NYU’s Gallatin School and Tisch’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program, MD has worked on archival projects with Parkwood Entertainment, the Tupac Shakur Estate, Ralph McDaniels’ Video Music Box, The Paley Center for Media, and A&E’s Hip-Hop Treasures. She has taught at NYU and Virginia State University and was a visiting scholar at Virginia Union University. She has advised The Hip Hop Museum, Cornell Hip-Hop Collection, and Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive.

Dr. Justis Lopez

Dr. Justis Lopez, aka DJ Faro, is a son, brother, husband, mama’s boy, chocolate chip cookie lover, and funfetti cupcake lover. Dr. Lopez received his doctorate degree from Harvard University focused on fostering ecosystems of healing through healing-centered youth development, healing-centered leadership, and healing-centered research through emancipatory inquiry.

Justis is a community organizer, sound healer, researcher, and artivist who brings soul to every space he enters. From teaching social studies in public schools to designing national equity strategies and rocking global stages as a DJ, his journey blends scholarship and soul, systems thinking and soundwaves.

His work has reached international stages from London to Costa Rica and collaborated with movements, municipalities, and institutions around the world to build cultures of belonging, liberation, and transformation.

As a published author and researcher, Justis has written and co-authored pieces on Hip-Hop pedagogy, healing-centered leadership, and culturally responsive education, including happyvism: a story of choosing joy, and academic contributions spanning educational leadership, youth development, and justice-centered schooling.

Justis is the recipient of multiple awards and fellowships, including the Harvard Alumni Turner Cooper Award for people-first practice in education, the Gates Foundation’s CREATE Fellowship for culturally responsive education, and the Carter G. Woodson Award for educational leadership, among others. His work has been honored by state departments, national associations, and grassroots coalitions for its impact across education, culture, and social change.

Chen Lo & Asante’ Amin

Soul Science Lab is a Brooklyn-based music and multimedia duo that translates stories into soul stirring sounds and dynamic visuals. Soul Science Lab was formed by artist educator and creative director Chen Lo and multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer Asante’ Amin. Soul Science Lab produces high quality music, provides innovative arts education, and creates culturally responsive experiences. In addition to international touring, Soul Science Lab’s projects include Chen Lo’s album Footprints, Amin’s album The Visitor: Alter Destiny, the live concert and multimedia documentary Soundtrack ’63, and their interactive album, Plan for Paradise.

Co-founder Chen Lo is a seasoned artist, educator, and creative director. He has toured the globe, performing and leading master classes with cultural arts institutions including Jazz at Lincoln Center, the August Wilson Center, 651 ARTS, and others. Chen Lo has also shared the stage with Common, Erykah Badu, KRS-ONE, A Tribe Called Quest, Rapsody, Sunni Patterson, and Last Poets. He has recorded notable collaborations with K’Naan and Jean Grae as well as international artists Stogie T and Cheikh Lô.

Co-founder Asante’ Amin is a gifted multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer. Amin has shared the stage with globally renowned artists including Rhiannon Giddens, Jessica Care Moore, Ismael Kouyaté, GZA, and others. Amin is also a MetLife Meet the Composer award-winner.

Dr. Edward “Special Ed” Archer

Dr. Edward “Special Ed” Archer burst onto the Hip-Hop scene at 16 as the “Youngest In Charge” with his 1989 debut and the hits “I Got It Made” and “I’m The Magnificent.” Across a 30+ year career in television, film, and international touring, he produced for Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., and Junior M.A.F.I.A. Jay-Z pays homage to him in “Empire State of Mind,” Rick Ross remixed “I’m The Magnificent,” and his lyricism is enshrined in Yale University’s The Anthology of Rap (2010).

Today, Dr. Archer is a respected educator and cultural scholar, serving as co-instructor at UCLA and Syracuse University and as Founder & Executive Director of SEAL Special Ed Arts & Literacy. A National Hip Hop Museum inductee, he sits on the Associate Board of the Hip Hop Museum (Bronx, NY) and the Board of the UK Hip Hop Museum, and serves on the Board of The Bronx School of Hip Hop.

In Spring 2026 he personally led the “Lunch Cyphers” launch, reaching approximately 10,000 students across New York City public schools. In 2025 he was inducted as an Honorary Member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in Humane Letters from T.I.U.A., and received the White House Lifetime Achievement Award.

Abhita Austin

Award-winning producer-creator-videographer 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 Elliott, 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. For over a decade, Hidden Chapel Studios has continued to provide a range of creative, technical, and logistical media services for artists, experts, and companies such as Warner Music Group, Simon & Schuster, Carnegie Hall, The Apollo Theater, American Express, Serato, and Clinique.

Abhita’s work has been featured in films designated as official selections at the Urbanworld and Sundance film festivals, award-winning stage productions at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival, and most recently in Soul Science Lab’s Renaissance Mixtape, a multimedia stage production produced for The Apollo Theater’s Stages at the Victoria.

Brown Jewel

Brown Jewel is a Hip-Hop and R&B producer, educator, and DJ whose distinctive productions span advertising, television, film, and podcasts. Internationally recognized for her artistry, she has represented American music culture as part of the U.S. Department of State’s Hip Hop Diplomacy residency in the UAE and Germany and led workshops in Buenos Aires, leaving her mark on the global music community.

A passionate advocate for music education, Brown Jewel has led beat-making workshops for the Sound Collective, Serato, Berklee College of Music, and The New School. She has collaborated with Gender Amplified on a Serato Studio sound pack and served as Serato’s resident producer on Twitch’s Serato Kitchen, bringing her signature sound and teaching philosophy to audiences worldwide.