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Yao Kahlil Newkirk
Art. Education. Embodiment. Transformation.
Art. Education. Embodiment. Transformation.
Stories that deepen understanding. Experiences that bring people together.
Keynotes, interactive workshops, and creative residencies for organizations seeking meaningful ways to explore identity, culture, leadership, and human connection.
Through storytelling, performance, and guided reflection, Yao helps participants recognize the knowledge within their lived experiences—and consider how it shapes the way they learn, work, and connect.
For Teams, Leaders & Organizations
Create space for deeper listening, thoughtful reflection, and meaningful connection.
Yao’s facilitated experiences invite participants to explore how personal histories, cultural perspectives, and lived experiences influence the ways they communicate, collaborate, and lead.
Through storytelling, guided reflection, and creative participation, participants practice listening across differences, recognizing assumptions, and considering perspectives beyond their own.
Available for staff development, leadership retreats, employee gatherings, and conferences.
Keynote Speaking
Keynote Speaking
Available for universities, schools, corporations, museums, cultural institutions, and community organizations.
Through keynote presentations, interactive workshops, and institutional residencies, his work invites audiences to engage more deeply with the stories we carry, the histories that shape us, and the possibilities we create together.
Grounded in The EMBODY Praxis™, his approach connects artistic practice with experiential learning, cultural preservation, leadership development, and social transformation.
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EMBODY Praxis™
EMBODY Praxis™
Learning through lived experience.
Created by Yao Kahlil Newkirk, The EMBODY Praxis™ brings together storytelling, performance, reflection, and creative expression to explore how experience becomes knowledge.
Rooted in Black cultural memory and artistic practice, the framework invites participants to consider what they carry, how it shapes their perspectives, and what they can learn through engaging with others.
In a workshop, this may involve listening to a story, responding to a guided prompt, participating in an accessible creative activity, and reflecting together on its meaning.
Artist Bio
Artist Bio
Yao Kahlil Newkirk is an artist-scholar, keynote speaker, and educator who brings history and lived experience into conversation through storytelling, performance, and participatory learning.
His work draws on Black cultural memory, original research, and artistic practice to help audiences explore identity, leadership, learning, and human connection. He collaborates with schools, universities, museums, cultural institutions, community organizations, and corporate teams.
Yao is the creator of The EMBODY Praxis™, a framework connecting lived experience, creative expression, and reflective learning.
Media
Media
Yao Kahlil Newkirk delivers keynote lectures and lecture-performances that explore embodiment, memory, performance, education, leadership, and Black cultural history.
Rooted in EMBODY Praxis™, his keynote experiences invite audiences to engage embodiment as a site of inquiry, reflection, and transformation. Drawing from original scholarship, artistic practice, and lived experience, his presentations challenge audiences to engage critically with the stories we carry, the histories that shape us, and the possibilities they create for personal and collective change.
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