Princess A. Hairston
Princess A. Hairston is a creative director, producer, cinematographer, and Emmy-nominated editor based in New York City. Princess was supervising editor forPier Kids which premiered at DOCNYC 2019. She was an editor on Fresh Dressed, an official 2015 Sundance Film Festival selection, and edited the first two episodes of the Emmy-nominated series Capture with Mark Seliger. Her strong storytelling skills have developed through editing in film and television for the past 16 years, working with several advertising agencies, production companies, and independent film makerson impactful media content. Her work has been recognized with nominations and awards from the Emmys, The Webbys, and many film festivals. Princess earned her Baccalaureate of English with a concentration in Mass Communications from Virginia State University. Princess is affiliated with several organizations that focus on the advancement and equal opportunities for Black people in the entertainment industry. She is an inclusion and access activist within the film industry.
Kakita Smith
Kakita Smith, RN,BSN,OGNP, MA,CCE,LCCE, works as a Nurse Administrator at a renowned hospital in New York City. She earned her Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing and a Minor in African American Studies from Syracuse University. She also holds aMaster ofArts in Midwifery from New York University. She has 20 years of nursing experience and is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. In her spare time, she enjoys cheering on the sidelines for her children at their wrestling tournaments, basketball games and track meets. Moreover, she continuously instills the importance of education in her children and strives to lead them by example. She has served as a mentor to others and has often volunteered her time to speak about the profession of nursing at career day events.
Marta Effinger-Crichlow
Marta Effinger-Crichlow is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose work in theater and performance, literature, and film focuses upon the lived experiences of black women. She is the author of Staging Migrations toward an American West: From Ida B. Wells to Rhodessa Jones published by University Press of Colorado (2014). The book has led to invited lectures at institutions like The Rosie the Riveter Museum of the National Park Service in Richmond, CA; Syracuse University; and The African Burial Ground Museum and Monument of the National Park Service in New York City. Marta, who is a proud product of Washington, DC’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts, is a past recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. Marta is on the faculty of African American Studies at New York City College of Technology-CUNY. She received her BA in Black Studies and English Writing from the University of Pittsburgh; her MA in African American Studies from Yale University; and an Interdisciplinary PhD inTheatre and Drama from Northwestern University. Marta, who resides in New York City, attributes a significant portion of her professional and personal success to the nurturing she received from black communities.