Available Formats: Keynote Lectures, Lecture-Performances, Conference Presentations, Campus Programs, Community Engagement Events, Multi-Day Residencies, Customized Institutional Experiences 

Institutional Experiences & Partnerships

Meaningful Learning. Creative Engagement. Lasting Impact.

 Turning Lived Experience Into Knowledge, Art & Transformation.

Yao Kahlil Newkirk is a multidisciplinary artist-scholar, educator, keynote speaker, and creator of The EMBODY Praxis™, an embodied framework connecting performance, education, Black cultural memory, and transformational learning.

Through collaborations with schools, universities, corporations, museums, cultural institutions, and community organizations, Newkirk develops engaging experiences that bring scholarship, history, storytelling, and lived experience into meaningful dialogue.

Grounded in The EMBODY Praxis™, his keynotes, workshops, and residencies integrate performance, embodied storytelling, cultural archiving, guided reflection, and creative expression. These experiences invite participants to move beyond passive observation toward active inquiry, deeper connection, and collaborative learning.

Whether exploring personal identity, uncovering overlooked histories, strengthening educational practices, or preserving cultural memory, Newkirk's work creates opportunities for individuals and communities to recognize, express, and engage with the knowledge carried through their bodies, stories, and shared experiences.

Two Signature Experiences

#1: The Living Archive Experience

Our stories are more than memories. They are sources of knowledge, creativity, and possibility.

The Living Archive Experience is a participatory cultural arts and storytelling program that explores how personal histories, family narratives, oral traditions, and collective memory can become living sources of knowledge.

Drawing inspiration from African storytelling traditions, oral history practices, embodied learning, and collaborative artistic expression, participants engage in guided experiences that connect memory, identity, culture, and creative practice.

Participants may explore:

• Storytelling and oral traditions as ways of preserving knowledge across generations.

• The relationship between memory, identity, and lived experience.

• Guided embodiment and reflection as pathways to deeper understanding.

• African-inspired rhythms, live djembe, and participatory musical experiences.

• Collaborative visual artmaking through the creation of individual contributions to a collective Living Archive.

Depending on the selected engagement, the experience may culminate in a collaborative artwork, installation, exhibition, or presentation that reflects the voices and stories of its participants.

Ideal for: K–12 schools, colleges and universities, museums, libraries, cultural institutions, community organizations, and organizational heritage initiatives.

Available year-round. The Living Archive Experience can complement Black History Month programming, cultural celebrations, school enrichment initiatives, community history projects, and ongoing educational programming throughout the year.

#2: The EMBODY Experience™

What we carry shapes how we learn, lead, connect, and experience the world.

The EMBODY Experience™ invites participants to explore the relationship between lived experience, the body, identity, memory, culture, and human connection.

Through guided embodied exercises, storytelling, artistic inquiry, performance-based activities, and facilitated reflection, participants are encouraged to move beyond passive learning and engage with knowledge through experience.

Depending on institutional objectives, the experience can explore:

• Presence, self-awareness, and reflective leadership.

• Identity, belonging, and human connection.

• Embodied approaches to teaching and learning.

• Memory, cultural experience, and artistic expression.

• Creativity, reflection, and collective understanding.

The EMBODY Experience™ is designed to encourage meaningful inquiry and dialogue while providing participants with practical opportunities to apply reflection and embodied awareness in educational, professional, and community settings.

Ideal for: Corporations, universities, faculty and staff development, educational leaders, student programs, organizational retreats, and community organizations.

Our Approach

Every engagement is grounded in artistic practice, scholarship, experiential learning, and a commitment to meaningful human connection.

Programs follow established frameworks while allowing for thoughtful adaptation to the institution's audience, learning objectives, and context.

Engagements are designed with clear expectations, defined deliverables, and an intentional balance between preparation, facilitation, and participant experience.

Bring an Experience to Your Institution

Whether you are planning a professional development initiative, campus program, cultural arts experience, community engagement project, or institutional residency, we welcome opportunities to explore a meaningful partnership.

Request an Institutional Proposal

Inquiries: info@YaoKahlil.com

Institutional engagements are contracted through Black Feather, LLC.