BlackStar
Shaakira D. is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in project management, business development, and communications. As the Founder of Ginja Snap since August 2020, Shaakira has demonstrated entrepreneurial expertise. In addition, Shaakira serves as the Press Coordinator for BlackStar and previously held the role of Project Manager at Eastern Standard. Prior experience includes positions as Project Coordinator at Hoffman Design Group, Features Editor & Program Manager at The Vibe Room, and Project Management Intern at Harlem's Fashion Row. Early career roles include Sales Operations Associate at SmartBrief and Business Development & Merchandising Assistant at Ruby Sampson. Shaakira's educational background includes a Bachelor's degree in Communications from the University of Maryland and participation in Babson College's Santander’s Cultivate Small Business Program in fall 2023, focusing on entrepreneurial and small business operations.
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.