About
Cortina Jenelle Caldwell (she/they) is a proud millennial and descends from generations of Southern, West African & indigenous farmers, artists, engineers, entrepreneurs and creatives. Cortina is an entrepreneur that learned at her grandmother’s hands, an anti-oppression visionary, racial equity facilitator, published poet, exhibited artist, motivational speaker, community builder, cultural organizer, creative facilitator, experience designer, and consultant for individuals, groups, businesses, and communities seeking to more deeply connect through creative development, strategic planning, and sustainable change management. Cortina is the Founder & Creative Community Organizer of Artists Designing Evolution (adé PROJECT), an artistically-rooted learning organization seeking to create a world beyond oppression, and inequity by building capacity, opportunity, and community with Black, indigenous, people of color (BiPOC).
Over the past 12 years, equipped with management and leadership experience in tourism, social work, marketing, education, nonprofit, art, community organizing, organizational development and event design - Cortina has designed, produced, and facilitated hundreds of trainings, workshops, programs, and community events centered on authenticity, community building, creativity, entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership across the United States. In that time, Cortina has worked alongside nonprofits, entrepreneurs, educators, community leaders, artists, festival producers, conference organizers, small businesses and activists alike. Cortina holds a Master of Arts in Management & Leadership; Bachelors of Science in Business, Education & Social Science; is a Certified Creative Facilitator as well as multi-level trained racial equity educator, historian and facilitator. Throughout her career, Cortina has received recognition as WNC Women’s Leadership Award in Art + Culture (2019); WNC Minority Enterprise Development’s Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year (2012); 40 Under Forty: Asheville (2013); and inductee to Leadership Asheville (2014). Cortina‘s work is guided by ancestral knowledge, collective wisdom, lived experience and community relationships. Ultimately, Cortina’s work is fueled by their personal mission – to shift community, business and organizational culture through authenticity, creativity, entrepreneurship, equity, and collective leadership.
