Meet The
Creative Soul Team
Meet The Creative & Executive Director
Brittany Barker is an educator, performance artist, poet and enrichment program designer. Born & raised in Harlem, she's remained deeply connected to her community both culturally and academically. She has studied in the US and UK, obtaining her Bachelors Degree in English, and a Masters Degree (MAT) in Secondary Education. She's taught in Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Brooklyn, Harlem and the South Bronx.
As a former Dean of Programs where she directed school-wide youth and socio-emotional development at an East Harlem high school, her work in the education field centers holistic growth, imagination-work and self-actualization, which has been recognized by the Walton Foundation in their Teachers Inspire series.
Brittany served as a classroom teacher for several years, first as a 10th grade ELA instructor, then piloted several arts wellness and social justice courses as an Arts & Consciousness, and Arts & Activism instructor. Her work in the classroom helped refined her professional passions.
She currently designs arts,social justice and mind body spirit programs and experiences for youth and adults. Since the summer of 2020, she’s piloted (designed and managed) DREAM Charter High School’s Project-Based Learning employment series, which provides opportunities for Bronx, Harlem, and Brooklyn teens to work while actualizing their passions through interest-based workshops. She's connected her services to many communities as a teaching artist and performer, facilitating arts wellness and intensive workshops, saloons and community discussions to non-profit organizations and educational institutions, such as Girls Write Now, The Harlem Bomb Shelter, Dickinson College, etc.
Her creative work is closely aligned to her professional profile, as she’s produced several projects for her shared communities that push the bounds of what it means to mitigate and navigate the twists and turns of life. Her creative work has been recognized by Dickinson College, DREAM Charter School and Girls Write Now to name a few.
Her Portfolio
Voiceover & Screenwriting
Performance
Community Impact
Girls Write
Walton Foundation, In Harlem, An Education In the Imagination & the Arts Drives Success
Girls Write Now, Mentee Alum Performs Her First One Woman Show
Professional Development Design
designed and facilitated by Brittany Barker
Dickinson College
Women of Color Summit, Spring 2020 Retreat
Ally Day: Intersectional Allyship
Dream Charter School Network
Instructional Leadership Team (Quarterly Retreat) Adult Socio-Emotional Learning
Juggling Hats: On Balancing Many Roles, 2020
The Leadership Diaries: Assessing Your Practice, 2021
Whole Staff Inquiry
Supporting Students: Effective Advisement, May 2021
Responsive Teaching: Embedding Socio-Emotional Learning in Performance Tasks, May 2021
Cultivating Genius: Building Culturally Responsive Curricula
Wellness Circle: Mitigating a Pandemic, April 2020
Youth Development Team (Quarterly Retreats)
Curricular Vision: Designing the Studio Course (Backwards Design, Scope & Sequence)
Developing Youth Relationships: 1:1 Caseload Management
Network Data Day: Social Emotional Learning & Student Life
DCHS Data Day, Fall 2020 (Program Metrics & Assessment, Student Interventions)
DCHS Data Day, Spring 2021 (Program Metrics & Assessment, Student Interventions)
EHE Health
Where I'm From: Diversity & Creative Wellness Workshop, Oct 2021
Girls Write Now
Wellness Wednesdays: Explore Your Feelings, Mentor Edition, 2021
Public Service Enterprise Group
Where I'm From: Diversity & Creative Wellness Workshop, Oct 2021
Publications