Kristina Gray-Akpa

Kristina Gray-Akpa is the co-founder of the Septima Project. She is a writer, activist, performer, and educator whose work is rooted in fostering transformative change. For the past 20 years, she has worked with national and community-based organizations to advance social justice through education, advocacy, philanthropy, arts, and grassroots action.

She began her career leading youth development and youth organizing programs in DC public high school schools. In addition to working on campaigns to bring comprehensive sexual education to students, she designed and facilitated workshops for teens on topics such as anti-oppression, reproductive justice, workforce development, and financial literacy.

Prior to launching the Septima Project, she led the health equity program at Grantmakers In Health where she educated and advised foundations addressing disparities and the social determinants of health. Previously, she worked at the National Association of County and City Health Officials where she helped build a network of public health officials taking action against health inequities.

She has spoken widely on race, gender, arts activism, and social justice. She has presented at workshops, panel discussions, and conferences including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and Allied Media Conference. As a performer, her work has focused on making space for voices along the margins on and off stage. In 2002, she co-founded the all-woman DJ crew the First Ladies DJ Collective. She was also the lead singer of the band Coup Sauvage and the Snips.

She served on the boards of the Diverse City Fund and Girls Rock! DC. Her writing has appeared in publications including Health Affairs and Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism. She holds a BA from Goucher College and MSW from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She challenges you to find a question about “A Different World” that she cannot answer.