2016 National Conference

Alicia Garza is an organizer, writer, and freedom dreamer living and working in Oakland, CA. She is the Special Projects Director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the nation’s leading voice for dignity and fairness for the millions of domestic workers in the United States, most of whom are women. She is also the co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter, a national organizing project focused on combatting anti-Black state sanctioned violence. Alicia's work challenges us to celebrate the contributions of Black queer women's work within popular narratives of Black movements, and reminds us that the Black radical tradition is long, complex and international. Her activism reflects organizational strategies and visions that connect emerging social movements without diminishing the specificity of the structural violence facing Black lives. She has been the recipient of numerous awards for her organizing work, including the Root 100 2015 list of African American achievers and influencers between the ages of 25 and 45, and was featured in the Politico 50 guide to the thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics in 2015.

Justin Laing works as a Program Officer in the Arts and Culture Program of The Heinz Endowments, a private foundation that contributes roughly $9 million annually to arts and culture programs in Southwestern PA.  Justin’s major responsibilities include the Endowments’ work in the Transformative Arts Process and its program for small arts organizations, the Small Arts Initiative. Justin is also a member the Endowments’ team focused on African American men and boys and has responsibility for its work focused on Rites of Passage programs as well as evaluation. Before coming to The Heinz Endowments, Justin served as the Assistant Director of Nego Gato, Inc. (NGI), an African-Brazilian arts organization where he managed, taught and performed under Mestre Nego Gato.  Justin received his B.A. in Black Studies & Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and has a Master’s in Public Management from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College. Justin has served as a grants panelist for the National Endowments on the Arts and also serves on the board of Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA), the national organization of private and public arts. Justin is currently chairing GIA’s work focused on increasing racial equity in arts and culture grantmaking. He is the very appreciative son of Clarence and Susan Laing, the proud father of Kufere, Etana and Adeyemi, and the inspired husband of Dr. Bonnie Young Laing.