Who We Are

Cynthia C. Harris, MPH
Founding Playwright

Cynthia Harris, MPH , has been committed to the advancement of women through art, education, research, activism, and outreach for over 20 years.   Her public health career began at Emory University, Vanderbilt University, and Meharry Medical College, focused on health disparities and adolescent health within chronic and communicable diseases. After completing her Master of Public Health degree in 2017, she innovated education programs, community screening and patient services with Tennessee Kidney Foundation ultimately rising to the role VP of Programs and Outreach. Currently, Ms. Harris is the Program Manager for Meharry’s Maternal Health Excellence Research Center.

In addition to public health research and services, Ms. Harris has been dedicated to the ways that health and theater can be combined to create engaging community experiences.  Ms. Harris has served as a frequent collaborator, performer and facilitator for Actors Bridge Ensemble’s Act Like a GRRRL autobiographical writing and performance program for girls 12-18 and the adult version, Act Like a Big GRRRL. The programs have been successfully conducted in k-12, community and institutional settings. 

Ms. Harris has continuously created and performed  works that capture the experiences of Black women and girls. Her preferred format is the choreopoem, which she views as a culturally specific form of performance and audience engagement, based on the work of Ntozake Shange, who originated the choreopoem in the late 70s to authentically express the personal and social experience of Black women. It has come to represent a body of work that combines personal narrative, oral history, movement, and music. Choreopoems are a particular form of artmaking that speak directly to the experience of being Black or marginalized in America, playing on Black Aesthetics of performance like call and response. The choreopoem focuses on creating an emotional response from the audience. Ms. Harris believes this emotional response to be an important tool for sharing and processing factors that impact the health of communities of color. 

Cynthia’s  original choreopoems explore issues of gender, Southern identity, women’s intimacy, health, spirituality, community and African heritage. Ms. Harris uses recorded interviews, qualitative data, and cultural media to create her work. Ms. Harris’s choreopoems include Phrases of Womanhood (2002). Why Won’t She Leave (2005), How to Catch a Flying Woman (2018) The Calling is in the Body (2022), Health Narratives (2023, 2024, 2025) Mama Stories (2025).

Contact Cynthia C. Harris, MPH

OlaOmi Amoloku, MA, ABD
Master Strategist – Literary and Creative Arts

OlaOmi Amoloku is a PhD student of Comparative Studies in Literature at Florida Atlantic University. Her research focuses on the rich inner lives of Black women, non-binary people and femmes and how it informs Afrofuturism as a literary genre. Her Master’s degree is from Middle Tennessee State University, where she received the Scholar’s Week Award for best research project among liberal arts students for her essay “Hellcats, Bitches and Succubi: Afrofuturism and Black Female Selfhood in Lilith’s Brood,” in 2018. As a graduate student instructor at Florida Atlantic University she has taught courses on Africanjujuism, Global Perspectives in Afrofuturism and Interpretation of Fiction. She is the founder of the Got2BOshun organization that uses the principles of traditional African religion to empower Black women and femmes.

Dia Hodnett, MPH
Master Strategist – Health, Environment and Justice

Dia S. Hodnett, MPH, is a steward of social transformation and creative engagement. Recognized for innovative applications of public health practice, building multidisciplinary creative teams, and managing collaborative partnerships through an intersectional lens, Dia has contributed to initiatives addressing women’s health, anti-black racism, reproductive justice, arts-based health education, outdoor learning and environmental stewardship, and community-based research. Dia’s work in leadership development, organizational technical assistance, curriculum and training design, and communications strategy have supported health advocacy and social justice efforts across the globe. Dia’s formal education includes a B.A. in English Literature from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Public Health degree, with a Behavioral Science and Health Education concentration, from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. As a research partner and development advisor, she co-creates a process model for producing work centered around Southern Black women’s ethos and practice of interacting, communing, and aligning with nature, specifically trees, and plants.