Nia McAllister

Nia McAllister is a Bay Area born poet, writer, environmental justice advocate working at the intersection of art, activism, and public engagement. She received her B.A. in Environmental Analysis: Race, Class, Gender, and the Environment from Pomona College. Nia went on to join MoAD in December 2017 where she worked in the Visitor Experience Department and managed the museum bookstore.

In her current role as the Senior Public Programs Manager, Nia creates participatory spaces for creative expression and literary dialogue. She leads the museum’s literary events under the MoAD Lit program and is the host and founder of the Open Mic series at MoAD. Since launching the series in April 2018, Nia has been integral in growing a vibrant poetry community at the Museum. At MoAD and beyond, Nia creates platforms for amplifying the work of Black artists on a global scale. Nia’s writing and poetry have been featured on Poets of Color Podcast and published in Radicle magazine, Meridians journal, and Painting the Streets: Oakland Uprising in the Time of Rebellion (Nomadic Press, 2022).