FOUNDER, RESEARCHER & LEAD ARTIST

Naila H. Ansari, MFA

A native of Buffalo, New York, Naila Ansari is a Cum Laude graduate of Point Park University's Conservatory of Performing Arts program and is a distinguished MFA from the University at Buffalo. Ansari is a SUNY Buffalo State University Assistant Professor in Theater and Africana Studies. Ansari recently served as the choreographer for "Black Roots Summer," named Best Theater by the New York Times and praised by Broadway World for her Directing and Choreography of her adaptation of Shea's first produced show, “Once on this Island.” Ansari merges artistry and scholarship to tell Black stories in America. Her research and performance project "The Movement of Joy" archives stories of Black women's joy nationwide. In addition to the film documentary of these stories, Ansari has a podcast entitled "This is Joy" on the Alive Podcast network, the first Black woman-owned podcast distribution company in the country. She is a current Interfaith America fellow for the Black Interfaith Project, where she recently presented her production of the "Movement of Joy." Ansari consults with Cerebro Neurotech on Health Equity and Community Relations.