Leatrice Ellzy

Leatrice Ellzy is a seasoned arts leader, curator, producer, thinker and fan of disruption. For over two and a half decades she has committed herself to amplifying Black art and culture and the conjurers of the work. She is currently the President and CEO of the National Black Arts Festival where she is fostering an ecosystem where Black art continues to thrive across disciplines. Before returning to lead NBAF, Leatrice served as Senior Director of Programming at the Apollo Theater in New York City, where she curated performances and festivals that continued to define the institution’s relationship to contemporary Black creativity. She also served as Executive Director of Hammonds House Museum, where she strengthened the museum’s curatorial framework and deepened its engagement with Atlanta’s artistic community. Across all of her roles, Leatrice has been guided by a singular purpose which is to ensure that Black art and the communities that create it, are honored not as peripheral to culture, but as central to the story of who we have been, who we are and who we are becoming.