Celeste C. Smith is a cultural leader with a finger on the pulse of race and social discourse. She works to advance racial justice, center the voices of people and communities most impacted by racism, and respond to critical community issues. She is a national 2018 SXSW Community Service Award honoree bringing to her role deep experience as a celebrated non-profit and community leader, arts administrator, artist, and co-founder of 1Hood Media, whose mission is to build liberated communities through art, education, and social justice. She is also the senior program manager for arts and culture at The Pittsburgh Foundation and manager of Pittsburgh-based hip hop artist Jasiri X. Celeste has quickly emerged as a thought-leader in philanthropy as indicated by her appointment as co-chair of the national Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) Support for Individual Artists Committee, Americans for the Arts Arts Education Network Advisory Council, and participation as an invited panelist and presenter at dozens of events and conferences. Lastly, Celeste continues to produce her own artistic works, most recently appearing in the published literary anthology, Tender, edited by Vanessa German, award-winning visual and performance artist and Deesha Philyaw, finalists for the National Book Award.
