Dasha Kelly
Dasha Kelly is a nationally-respected advocate for writers and the art of
spoken word. Locally, she is founder and director of Still Waters
Collective, an outreach initiative utilizing creative writing as tool to build
new models of leadership and empowerment. Kelly’s brand of training
and development has been widely requested: colleges, K-12,
correctional institutions, non-profit groups, corporate teams, artists and
arts organizations. In addition, Dasha works to broker professional
development and performance opportunities for local artists and writers.
Most recently, she was invited to work with the University of Wisconsin's
First Wave Urban Arts Scholarship as National Recruitment Director.
In her own craft, Dasha is an accomplished writer, a seasoned performer
and engaging public speaker: She has written for magazines such as
Upscale, Black Enterprise and Milwaukee; her narrative essays appear
regularly online, to include OnMilwaukee.com; her 2003 novel, All Fall
Down, earned her a place in Written Word Magazine as one of the Top
Ten Up-and-Coming Writers of the Midwest; she performed on the
season six premiere of HBO presents Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam;
her one-woman show, Anthems for Grown Folks, is being developed into
a traveling production; and she works extensively as a keynote and
motivational speaker. Dasha has recently released a collection of
writings on Penmanship Books and is working on her second novel.
Milwaukee-born, Dasha is a self-described “Army brat,” living with her
family in various locales around the world. She now resides in
Milwaukee with her two daughters.
