Kellie (she/her) is a Black, queer interdisciplinary artist, writer, and educator born and raised in Tacoma, Washington. Kellie’s work primarily explores themes of love, loss and longing, with particular attention to how those themes intersect with Black American humanity. Working primarily with mixed media and collage, Kellie’s relationship with art is defined by the metamorphosis that happens when art is a liberatory practice. As Tacoma’s Poet Laureate from 2017-2019, Kellie leveraged her role to experiment with form, incorporating collage and interactive performance into her poetry. She created and curated three Tacoma Summer SOULstice Festivals, an event centering LGBTQ and BIPOC artists.

 

Each of Kellie’s projects is another re-invention and re-imagining of form and technique. Kellie has released two collections of her work, What Us Is and The Art of Naming My Pain, both published by Blue Cactus Press. Sometimes through provocation or confession, other times through belly laughs or tears,

Kellie works to celebrate the beauty and power of everyday folk

and put some funk into the dread we call survival.

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Kellie is a highly skilled trainer and facilitator with 20 years' experience building the capacity of leaders and organizations. Kellie specializes in the guiding organizations through equity and inclusion initiatives . Kellie believes that while training is critical, sustainable change is only achieved through individual reflection, accountability, and building new connections. Kellie thrives in designing and delivering content in a myriad of subjects including organizational effectiveness, leadership development, and evaluation.  Kellie a certified racial justice facilitator, and holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology from Washington State University, as well as Master’s in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Washington.

 

Kellie is a certified coach who is deeply honored to walk alongside those seeking opportunities to align with their true purpose through discovery, radical imagination and courageous self-compassion. Learn more about her coaching here.

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