Let’s commit to showing up.

Je Naè is a Cultural Strategist, Black Dyke with a Black dog living and learning in The South. A native of Washington D.C. who loves playing Scrabble, writing Haikus, and having porch sits with her neighbors. She is a founding member of BYP100, where she has co-founded two chapters, the Healing and Safety Council, founding C4 Board member, and a co-founder of The Black Joy Experience. In her role as theatre director, she has devised new works with Regina Taylor, the South Side Community Art Center, the Highlander Research and Education Center, and the Goodman Theatre. For the last twenty years, she has been using roleplay as a forum to engage the community in solving problems more creatively. Her favorite roles are sister and friend.
 

Octavia Yearwood is an acclaimed conceptual artist, producer, and life coach known for creating powerful spaces of transformation through art. A native New Yorker with roots in Miami’s cultural scene, she has curated and produced work for institutions like ICA Miami, The Bass, HistoryMiami, AppleTV, and OUTtv. Named “Best Author in Miami” by Miami New Times and honored by Americans for the Arts, Legacy Magazine, and the Knight Foundation, Yearwood’s influence spans mediums—from publishing to public art. Her docuseries The Tranz Form was picked up by AppleTV and OUTtv, and her book How The Hell Did You DO That?! is archived in 50 Miami-Dade libraries. Octavia's work amplifies underheard voices and champions self-actualization through creativity and care. Motto: Create dope things while elevating unheard voices.

Natalia Carter is a creative shapeshifter: photographer, filmmaker, event curator, and full-time dreamer in service of Black queer futures. As Director of Storytelling for Black in Space, a vibrant collective of Black queer, Afrofuturist artists, Natalia helps conjure immersive worlds where imagination leads and liberation follows.

Whether she’s behind the lens or curating spaces that pulse with joy and intention, Natalia brings a keen eye and a wild heart to everything she touches. Her creative magic has flowed through institutions like the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, DC Black Pride, World Pride, DC Public Library, and the Highlander Research and Education Center; but her true canvas is community, connection, and the stories that refuse to be boxed in.

Natalia doesn’t just document the moment, she curates space and time, and invites us all to imagine what’s next.

Patience Rowe is a Black queer femme artist, cultural organizer, and healer based in Washington, D.C., whose work breathes at the crossroads of Black liberation, spiritual practice, and collective liberation. As a performing artist and curator, Patience creates liberatory spaces that affirm Black queer femme identities and nourish deep healing.

As a cultural organizing facilitator, Patience has built ritual spaces that honor the collective grief, joy, and transformation of living and working in movement spaces. Their work has held space for communities through organizations including Black Youth Project 100, the Highlander Research and Education Center, and Hollistree LLC—with activations across Curaçao, Morocco, New York City and the DC Metro Area. 

Whether through her performance work as half of the musical duo BOOMscat, her healing practice as an internationally traveled Reiki practitioner and sound healer, or her role as Director of Operations for Black in Space, Patience activates deeply intentional containers for remembrance, resistance, and reimagining—especially for Black, Brown, Indigenous, and queer communities.

Jonathan Lykes is a Black queer artist, activist and academic. His interdisciplinary approach to art, activism and anti-oppression work, merges policy change, artistic expression and activism. Combining these forms of social transformation—and harnessing their synergy—Jonathan works to create awareness, promote personal healing, surmount institutional barriers and generate systemic change. Jonathan is also a founding member of Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), a movement of young adults using a Black Queer Feminist lens to advocate for community and institutional change. Through BYP100, Jonathan curated a freedom song and chant album, The Black Joy Experience, helping to teach holistic energy through the Black radical tradition. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago, where he also received his master’s degree from the Crown School for Social Work and Policy.

E.C. Pizarro III is a technology experience strategist and owner of 1Z2R, a design and technology management firm specializing in audits, website design, and content capture. His work strategically positions clients and communities for long-term growth and success in their businesses and digital ecosystems. His portfolio includes Seagate Technology, Highlander Center, The Trans Capitalist, Hope Giselle, and Miss Ross Inc. A former Executive Director of TransTech Social (2021-2024), he secured funding from JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Uber, and more, while forging partnerships with AfroTech, Google.org, and Masterclass. Recognized by the Out100, LGBT Tech, and Trans Life Awards, E.C. is dedicated to inclusive innovation and digital equity.