Asile (uh-sigh-yul) is a writer, facilitator, and strategic consultant from Atlanta, Georgia. As founder of Asile Strategies, LLC, she focuses on racial justice, systemic change, and advocacy for mission-based organizations, promoting internal and external freedom. Using reflection and journaling as a means for healing and liberation, Asile is the author of The Sankofa Series, a blog series embodying the adinkra symbol Sankofa, a Twi word from the Akan Tribe of Ghana that loosely translates to, “go back and get it”. Internationally, Asile researched Black business movements and social mobility in Paris, France, through Syracuse University's Paris Noir program. She was a 2020 Georgia Women’s Policy Institute Fellow, advocating for gender pay equity legislation. Additionally, Asile received the Highlander Center ‘Seeds of Fire’ grant to conduct focus groups on Georgia's political landscape. She also developed a methodology to enhance civic engagement, conducting the first study of Atlanta's Neighborhood Planning Unit system in over 40 years. Asile is a Phillips Exeter Academy graduate with a dual Bachelor of Arts Degree in African American Studies & Civic Engagement from Syracuse University. Outside of her professional work, Asile is an emerging yogi, a plant mom, a wine enthusiast, and a proud member of the #Beyhive.

Jerome B. Meadows is a full-time studio artist working in a historic Ice House in Savannah, Georgia. Originally from New York City, he’s been living in Savannah since 1997. A graduate with a BFA degree from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA degree from the University of Maryland, Mr. Meadows has been self-employed as a visual artist and public space designer since 1992. His focus in the arts has been in the creation of large-scale public art projects, including site layout, landscape issues, as well as the creation of sculptural components all integrated into a cohesive whole. Recently Mr. Meadows was selected from a pool of internationally acclaimed Architects, Landscape Architects, and artists to design The Ed Johnson Memorial for the city of Chattanooga, TN., commemorating the unjust mob lynching of Mr. Johnson and the two African American lawyers who boldly took his case to the US Supreme Court.  In 2012 Mr. Meadows was selected to create the Portsmouth African Burying Ground Memorial in Portsmouth, NH. This project was awarded a 2013 NEA Art Works Grant for "The creation of art that meets the highest standards of  excellence."  Mr. Meadows has been the recipient of a Brown Foundation Residency Fellowship at the  Dora Maar House in Menerbes, France, administered through the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.  His academic background includes teaching positions and residencies at the University of  Maryland, College Park, Howard University, the College of Charleston, the Maryland Institute College of Art and a Fulbright Lecture Award to the National College of Art in Lahore, Pakistan, preceded by a Fulbright-Hayes study tour throughout the country.

Ashley Cornelius (She/her) is the first Black Pikes Peak Region Poet Laureate. She is a nationally recognized and multi-award-winning spoken-word poet, facilitator, cultural worker and keynote speaker. Her poetry focuses on her intersectional identities, ancestral connection, and revolutionary joy. Ashley Cornelius is a Licensed Professional Counselor and uses poetry as her modality for healing. Ashley has a master’s in International Disaster Psychology from DU. Ashley won the Prism Award from One Colorado, the Mayor’s Young Leader Award in Creative Industry, the CBCA EY Next Wave Leadership Award, and many more. Notably, Ashley has opened up for former U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo and performed for the Grandmother of Juneteenth, Opal Lee. She is a two-time Tedx speaker. Ashley is the Co-Director of Poetry719, a Black-led poetry group lifting the voices of marginalized communities and BIPOC folks through art. Ashley is committed to using poetry as a platform to speak up and out for marginalized groups and be a voice for those who have been historically silenced.