AKeem Jamal Rollins is a sexual health educator and writer from Cleveland, OH. He first began educating himself and his peers on HIV/AIDS and other STIs with The Street Crew of Greater Cleveland at the LGBT Community Center. As a safer sexual health educator, he has worked for Kaiser Permanente, City Year Cleveland, The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, Recovery Resources, and MetroHealth System where he is currently a PrEP Navigator. While not teaching sexual health, AKeem is a poet working on two book, Post Traumatic Hood Disorder and The Lynching of the God Ghost.

Allie Von Spreckelsen, freshman at American University. Passionate about social justice issues, and would like to pursue a career around that passion.

Allyson was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, and currently works in North Carolina and Georgia in the film industry. She has worked on a variety of shoots throughout the past 4 years, ranging from thriller feature films to reality television shows, and many more in between. Allyson has a deep appreciation for humankind, and wants her work to reflect the idea that every human is valuable and important in the world. Her passion for storytelling through cameras drives her to continue pursuing her dream as a director of photography, has brought her to many new parts of the country and taught valuable life lessons along the way.

A singer-songwriter from the Philippines who has been writing songs since 2011. He entered university as an architecture student but after two years switched over to English as his major to try learning more ways of writing. Taking inspiration from artists like Jason Mraz, Maroon 5, and Sam Smith, he likes to tell stories of his emotions through sometimes playful-sometimes somber music.

Arunima is a senior at the Academy for Math, Science, and Engineering in Rockaway, NJ. She is extremely passionate about education, cognitive science, and mental health. Outside of school Arunima enjoys singing, dancing, playing tennis, volunteering, and talking to friends!

Aseelah Shareef offers a unique combination and understanding of inspirational leadership, operations and logistics, organizational programming, and artistry, developed through intense non-profit environments demanding excellence, flexibility and the capacity to master multiple roles. Just a few of those roles include performing in Step Afrika!, the world’s only professional dance company dedicated to the art of stepping (body percussion), which toured nationally and internationally, and teaching and co-creating new curriculum for Dance at Cuyahoga Community College. Aseelah was the former executive director of Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatre, Events Manager for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, and Director of Dance for Cleveland School of the Arts. Her most recent role is Director of Operations and Community Engagement at Karamu House, where she implements operational efficiencies across product lines, has developed new arts residency programs, as well as curates socially and culturally responsive community arts experiences including after-school and weekend arts education models for life-long learners. She is also currently serving as the Interim Executive Director of the Cleveland Arts Prize, the nation’s oldest municipal arts award. She was a member of the inaugural 2019 Arts and Culture Leaders of Color Fellowship cohort sponsored by Americans for the Arts, The Joyce Foundation and American Express. Her community involvement includes membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Cleveland Arts Prize (Board Trustee), Ohio Citizens for the Arts (Board Member), the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Foundation (Board Member), Future Heights Grantmaking Committee (member) and College Now Greater Cleveland (mentor). Aseelah holds an MA in Arts Administration and BS in Exercise Science from The Florida State University.

Ayana Gray is a New York Times bestselling young adult fantasy author and a lover of all things monsters, mythos, and magic. Originally from Atlanta, she now lives in Little Rock, Arkansas where she reads avidly, follows Formula One racing, and worries over the varying moods of her adopted baby black rhino, Apollo, and her mini goldendoodle, Dolly. Her debut novel, BEASTS OF PREY, is being translated in 10 languages across five continents, and is in feature film development with Netflix.

Brianna Clay is a writer, filmmaker, and content curator from Chicago who aims to tell stories that inspire change, fosters healing, and empowers underrepresented communities. She believes art is activism and sees storytelling as a vehicle for social change. In 2018 she co-directed the film Black Bones while attending the Nate Parker Film Institute which was screened at the 27th Annual Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. In 2020 she curated and produced a short video entitled Breathe as a response to the unjust killing of George Floyd and the protests that took place shortly after.

Brianna continues to write, direct, and produce stories that positively impact society by using visual storytelling as a platform to raise awareness and cultivate empathy. She continues to work on personal projects focusing on stories that are often left untold.

Byron Johnson is a Louisiana bred, Atlanta-living actor and storyteller driven by his love for God and impact. He dedicates his life to educate and be educated. He uses his creative platform to inspire others to search deep within themselves to become the best that they can be. Byron did not go to acting school, nor did he have a passion for it growing up. This lane chose him and now he walks a path by faith leading him along his journey. In addition to his time spent on set, Byron enjoys fitness, reading, adventures, time with family and friends and growing deeper in his relationship with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is currently starring as Trent Tisdell on American Rust on SHOWTIME. You can catch Byron on Sunday nights at 9c/10 eastern to follow his latest project.

I’m a 16 year old sophomore at shaker heights school. My journey with EYEJ began with the YODJ program. I am now a member of the EYEJ youth council as a recruiter and speaker. I am also creator and owner of the blog @trulymetanoia on Instagram.

Cederick Taylor is working diligently to bridge the gap between patients and healthcare as a MetroHealth Patient Navigator. As someone who is living with HIV, Cederick is skillful in establishing healthy relationships with his patients and becoming an advocate for individuals in need. This allows him to soar as Admin for the app “Positive Peers”. Cederick is full of curiosity, he finds joy in cycling, musical theatre, canoeing, modeling, DIY projects and massage. With the goal in mind of creating a talkback series around HIV and Community Health & Wellness, he strives to continue his education as a Community Health Worker.

Chanda Bynum is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and has been writing short stories since the age of ten. Introduced to spoken word and playwriting in high school, she has always felt compelled to tell her personal story and the stories of other people around her. Chanda desires to not only direct movies but also to write and produce a television series on a popular television network. Currently, she is interested in servicing others by telling their personal stories through unique perspectives and visuals to inspire diverse readership and viewership and bring people from all different backgrounds together.

Chelsea Battad is the President of the Pilipino American Unity for Progress, AKA UniPro, in Texas, and since the summer of 2020, she serves as a community organizer for NAFCON Texas. Last year, she also graduated from Baylor University with a business degree in Marketing and Corporate Entrepreneurship. Throughout college and post-grad, she has organized programs and events to empower young AAPI to rise up, use their voices, and take action to advocate for causes that pave the way towards genuine liberation, justice, and equality.

Twitter & Instagram: @_chelsearose

Clyde Lawrence and Cody Fitzgerald are a pair of emerging composers from different musical worlds. They met at Brown University after realizing that their respective bands, soul-pop project Lawrence and indie-rock outfit Stolen Jars, were playing competing shows every weekend, and formed an unusual collaboration. With their different musical backgrounds, they found that they were able to mix genres and be more versatile than either could be on his own. The duo have worked on a number of film scores, including Disney’s Christmas feature Noelle, the Hugh Grant and Marisa Tomei feature The Rewrite, indie feature Hard Sell, upcoming Sundance pick Landline, and the Cannes-featured short Open 24 Hours. Outside of film-scoring, both Clyde and Cody have also found success in their songwriting and artist careers. Clyde’s project Lawrence is the first band to be signed with pop star Jon Bellion’s record label, with their latest album Living Room reaching #2 on the iTunes soul charts and appearing on several Spotify editorial playlists including New Music Friday, culminating in a world tour that included stops at festivals like Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Firefly, Hangout Fest, and more. Cody’s project Stolen Jars has garnered praise from a number of sources including The New York Times, David Byrne of The Talking Heads, and NPR’s Bob Boilen, has been featured in an international Apple iPad Commercial, and in multiple feature films.

Dahyo Coleman is currently a senior at Rutgers University, graduating in the Spring of 2022 with her BFA in Digital Filmmaking. Throughout these past years, she has had many opportunities to fuel her passion for creating through projects ranging from short films, music videos, and docu-series. Through film, Dahyo’s goal is to aid in the uplifting and liberation of ALL Black people.

Originally from Cleveland, OH, Danielle Lee is an actress, writer, director and producer. Her most recent works includes the feature film, “12: The Tamir Rice Story”, and the short film “Peace for Justice”. Additionally, Danielle is a cum laude graduate of Los Angeles Valley College, where she earned an Associates of Arts degree in Sociology: Social Welfare. She is also a magna cum laude graduate of California State University, Los Angeles, where

she earned a dual bachelors degree in Theater Performance and Pan African Studies. It was through Pan African Studies that she discovered her passion for creating social justice films for the betterment of her community.

Diego is a TV and comic book writer who loves telling out-of-the-box stories about the migrant experience. He recently won a grant from WarnerMedia to develop THE EXTRA-ORDINARIES a story about superheroes and immigration.

Born in Caracas and raised on a paradise island off the coast of Venezuela, Diego spent most of his childhood watching TV shows too mature for his young, impressionable age. As an adult, Diego has transitioned from watching mature and questionable content to writing mature and questionable content.

Diego enjoys skateboarding, baking desserts and drawing butts. Diego doesn’t enjoy soup.