BlackStar
Akua Maat is an experienced operations and program management professional currently serving as an Operations Associate at BlackStar since January 2023. Previously, Akua worked as a Client Coordinator at PearsonRavitz from July 2021 to January 2023 and held multiple roles, including Program Manager, Senior Program Fellow, and Program Fellow at the Spark Program between August 2018 and June 2021. Akua began a career as an Americorps Member at City Year, serving from August 2017 to June 2018, and gained foundational experience as a Research & Outreach Intern at Triad NOW from September 2016 to May 2017. Akua earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Languages and Women's & Gender Studies from Wake Forest University, graduating in 2017.
BlackStar
BlackStar creates the spaces and resources needed to uplift the work of Black, Brown and Indigenous artists working outside of the confines of genre. We do this by producing year-round programs including film screenings, exhibitions, an annual film festival, a filmmaker seminar, a film production lab, and a journal of visual culture. These programs provide artists opportunities for viable strategies for collaborations with other artists, audiences, funders, and distributors. We prioritize visionary work that is experimental in its aesthetics, content, and form and builds on the work of elders and ancestors to imagine a new world. We elevate artists who are overlooked, invisibilized or misunderstood and celebrate the wide spectrum of aesthetics, storytelling and experiences that they bring. We bring that work to new audiences as well as place it in dialog with other past and contemporary work. And, we curate every aspect of our events to be intentional community building efforts, connecting diverse audiences in a Black-led space centered on joy and thriving.