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Collective Members:

Valerie Troutt, Founder

Earning her BFA in Jazz studies at the New School University in New York, this Oakland, California girl is one of few young modern singers creating stylistic change in the Vocal Jazz Tradition. Some of Valerie Troutt's accomplishments include touring as a member of Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, being a resident artist at the Red Poppy Art House of San Francisco, and performing at the 2009 "Best of the East Bay Festival". Valerie is currently singing with "The Reclaim Music All Star Band" featuring Valentino, Howard Wiley, Kito Gamble and Dana Stephens. She is the director of the DivintyVoice music & art series at New Community Fellowship Church in Oakland, California which presents monthly community events such as "The ShePeople's" all female artists showcase.


Corinna Nicole, Event Planning and Media

Corinna Nicole Brewer is a visual artist currently residing in Oakland, California and pursuing her MFA in Studio Art at UC Berkeley. In 2008 she received her B.A. in Art from the University of Montevallo in Alabama. Since she began painting in 2005, the human form has always been of interest to her. Typically, her work deals with identity or  human relationships, often using herself as inspiration for her subject matters.


Nadine Wilmot, Funding

Nadine Wilmot is a writer and a community historian.  She has worked as an environmental planner, nonprofit management consultant, oral historian, and in the field of documentary film. Her work has focused on issues of race, place, and power and generally the movements of people, culture, and capital. She is from Oakland, California.

Niva Flor, Workshops and Education

Niva Ayodele Flor is an artist and vocalist in the Bay Area. She holds a BA in music from Spelman College, an MA in ethnomusicology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is currently a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology at UCLA.  Her dissertation focuses on the use of music in the promulgation of black identity, community building and cultural tourism in Salvador, Bahia Brazil.

Peace Harmony, Outreach and Volunteer
Peace Harmony is a 28 year old Oakland native. Since her girlhood, Peace has dreamed of becoming a professional writer. She is a passionate freethinker who will change the world with her love for words.


Siaira Harris, Media
Siaira Shawn is a singer/songwriter/performer/youth worker/ purveyor of aesthetics. She was born and raised in San Francisco, California and currently resides in Oakland. She attended Howard University and graduated in 2006 from San Francisco State University with a degree in Communication Studies. SiairaShawn wants to bring a much needed light to the up and coming talent in the Bay Area and bring a level of artistry, creativity, and purpose to music that she believes the people deserve.


Tai Rockett, Outreach and Volunteer

Taijhet Nyobi, known by many as Tai, is a poet and educator who believes in the power of storytelling. Currently working on her MA in English, she has worked within the Oakland Unified School District for two years, focusing on language and literacy development in begining education. She is currently working with Streetside stories, a program that brings theater, storytelling and literacy into the after- school hours, helping students from elementary through high school to write, share and perform their personal stories. Her first poetry book called A Life Worth Living is in the early stages of publishing.


Valerie Brown-Troutt, Workshops and Education

Valerie Brown-Troutt is a Visual Artist, Pastor, and Educator. She is deeply interested in human services and education. Her vision for ministry is fresh, innovative and exciting, embracing the best of traditional and contemporary insight for faithful living. Her adventurous spirit has empowered her to find new ways by which the gospel can be incorporated within contemporary social experience.  She doesn’t confess to having it all figured out; someone has said, ”There is no map, but I am not lost.”  She is walking by faith and listening to God daily.  These are the directions so far.  She loves God and people. Her church roots are Baptist and Pentecostal. She is a UCC ordained pastor with more than 30 years of ministerial services.

Willow, Workshops and Education

Tangie Young aka Willow is skilled in many creative activities while continuing to explore more. A woman who wears many hats floating between costume design for one man shows, writings and drawings which are safely confined in her notebook, waiting to be born into a voice. She works as a counselor and mentor for children and families. Much of her work is geared around community enrichment, sustainability of human development and restoring the soul through mind, body and creative release.



About our committees:

• Event Planning: Artist booking, organize and plan events, communicate to other committees what is needed for events

• Media/Documentation: Design flyers, website upkeep, online announcements, create and distribute (online) invitations and notices, photograph events

• Outreach/Volunteer: Get others involved with ShePeople's, find volunteers for showcases and other events, increase attendance

• Workshops and Education: Organize and lead workshops or informative events

• Funding: Distribute requests for donations, search and apply for grants, grant writing



If you are interested in becoming a member of our collective, please submit the following information:

•Your name, e-mail and phone number

•Which committee(s) you are interested in joining

•A brief statement about why you want to join the collective and what you have to offer

 

Collective Inquiry