Kiesha Garrison is the Founder & CEO of Hey, Black Seattle!, a company that supports people of the African diaspora in finding the cultural experiences and community resources they need to thrive while living in the Seattle area. With a 20+ year career that spans technology, media, and performing arts, her overarching mission is to connect people to the insight, resources, and experiences they need to thrive in their fullest self-expression.

Kiesha began her technology career as the data partnerships lead at Vitals, one of the nation's leading providers of online tools for helping consumers find healthcare providers. She continued shaping digital products at Microsoft as a business development lead negotiating strategic data and content partnerships for the MSN global network and ultimately landing as the Director of Communications & Culture for the AI Platform engineering team. She also served as a founding board member for The Live Music Project, an organization that supports access to the arts through community-centered nonprofit tech - specifically a free community-driven calendar for thousands of orchestras, ensembles, choirs, schools & independent musicians.

A devoted student of humanity and self-actualization, Kiesha's work as a performer and speaker focuses on highlighting the ways that systemic oppression stifles personhood and weaponizes culture. She leans on this insight when guiding learning experiences as an emcee and moderator, having interviewed many well-known subjects like Will Smith, Lenny Kravitz, Ed Catmull, and countless corporate, nonprofit, and community leaders. This is also the focus of her work as a comedian, poet, and host of her self-discovery podcast YOU Better!.

With Hey, Black Seattle, the Spelman alumna hopes to honor creative tenacity of Black Seattleites and contribute to a sense of wellbeing and hope in this region that she and her daughter, Lauryn have called home for the past 10 years.