Loki Karuna
President
A proud native of Memphis, TN, Loki Karuna (formerly Garrett McQueen) is a bassoonist who has performed with various ensembles including the Memphis Repertory Orchestra, and the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Loki has been featured as both a performer and host on "Performance Today" and "Music Through the Night" from American Public Media, and has appeared in various television programs.
Loki is the host and producer of local and nationally-syndicated radio programs including "The Sound of 13", "Noteworthy", "Gateways Radio", and "The Sounds of Kwanzaa". Loki offers guest lectures, presentations, and trainings at the intersections of race, culture, Black liberation, and classical music. In 2024, Loki received the Sphinx Organization's MPower Artist Grants for his work in broadcast and digital media.
Loki holds a Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance from the University of Memphis, and a Master of Music in Bassoon Performance from the University of Southern California. He is the Executive Producer and co-host of the TRILLOQUY podcast and President of TrillWerks Media, the previous Director of Artist Equity for the American Composers Orchestra, and recently assumed the role of Executive Director of the American Composers Forum. He serves on the board of directors for the American Composers Forum, the Beethoven Festival Orchestra, Lyrica Baroque, and the Cedar Cultural Center, and maintains leadership and artistic advisory positions with the Black Opera Alliance, the Gateways Music Festival, and the Lakes Area Music Festival.
Sür Easley
Secretary
Sür (he/they/theirs) is a Fort Worth local experienced in nonprofit development with a strong background in fundraising and donor relations. He established a career in hospitality early on, progressing into roles that developed cocktail programs, exclusive wine clubs and instilling a culturally enriched understanding of hospitality in his teams. Beyond sales goals, his training provided the answers to “why we do this the way we do.” Sür excels at building relationships with clients, coordinating on a variety of events, and is an effective communicator. A graduate of TCU with a focus on political science, Sür is committed to improving access to funding and infrastructure that provides services for communities. As a global citizen, more value is placed on diversity of thought to inform and complete every project. With a steadfast commitment to accountability, collaboration, and sponsorship, Sür drives meaningful change in the nonprofit sector while advancing community agendas.
Ashley Shabankareh
Treasurer
Ashley Shabankareh (she/they) is a New Orleans musician, music educator, and arts administrator. Ashley received her M.M. and B.M.E. from Loyola University, New Orleans, with a concentration on conducting and brass instruments. Ashley is a certified K-12 music educator and spent her early years in New Orleans teaching PK4 through 8th grade students. is a musician, arts administrator, and music educator. Ashley serves as the Director of Operations and Programs for Trombone Shorty Foundation, and also works as an Adjunct Professor at Loyola University, New Orleans, Xavier University, and Tulane University. Ashley is a curriculum writer and recently wrote the curriculum for Take Me to the River New Orleans, released via Berklee PULSE. Ashley has worked with numerous arts organizations in their career, including Preservation Hall Foundation, Artist Corps New Orleans, Ashley has worked with numerous arts organizations in their career, including Preservation Hall Foundation, Artist Corps New Orleans, New Orleans Jazz Museum, New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and Upbeat Academy. Ashley is the Board President of Folk Alliance International, Vice President for the Jazz Education Network, Board Member for Decolonizing the Music Room, Chapter Governor for the Recording Academy Memphis Chapter and Board Secretary for Second Line Arts Collective. Ashley is a trombonist and vocalist and has performed with notable musicians including Aretha Franklin, Allen Toussaint, Jimmy Buffett, and Theresa Andersson, and in her own projects, Marina Orchestra, The Asylum Chorus, and Bra’s Band Brass Band.
Rhiannon Giddens
Rhiannon Giddens (she/her) is an acclaimed musician, who uses her art to excavate the past and reveal bold truths about our present. A MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, Giddens co-founded the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops. She most recently won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album for They're Calling Me Home, which she made with multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi.
Giddens was name artistic director of Silkroad in 2020. She has served as a Carnegie Hall Perspectives curator, and received an inaugural Legacy of Americana Award from Nashville’s National Museum of African American History in partnership with the Americana Music Association. She wrote the music for an original ballet, Lucy Negro Redux, for Nashville Ballet, and the libretto and music for an original opera, Omar, based on the autobiography of the enslaved man Omar Ibn Said for the Spoleto USA Festival. As an actor, Giddens had a featured role on the television series Nashville.
Giddens’ brilliant work traces the 19th century evolution of the banjo from its West African origins and its subsequent travels among black and white communities within the U.S. and ultimately across the globe. She unmasks the little-known, painful history of black erasure in grassroots “American” music and cultures, guiding audiences to think about music in racialized terms. Her lifelong mission is to lift up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been erased, and to work toward a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins.
Janaé Willis-Beard
Janaé Willis-Beard is a storyteller forged in the sacred spaces where art becomes memory, and memory becomes a map for collective liberation. An arts and nonprofit executive, strategic storyteller, and equity-centered leader, she has spent more than fifteen years shaping spaces where creativity, culture, and community rise together. Rooted in faith, guided by lived experience, and moved by a deep reverence for Black artistic lineage, her work honors the voices often unheard—and amplifies the futures they deserve.
Currently serving as a Development Director, Janaé builds systems that elevate community voice, advance equity, and strengthen the institutions shaping tomorrow’s cultural landscape. Her leadership is marked by clarity, courage, and a profound commitment to creating spaces where people—and their stories—can flourish.
As Managing Director of Jubilee Theatre, she inherited a 45-year legacy and led it into renewed strength, rebuilding infrastructure, reimagining advancement, and restoring trust through values-aligned stewardship. She launched major fundraising campaigns, diversified revenue streams, and positioned the theatre as a regional force in arts-based economic development.
Beyond the boardrooms and stages, Janaé’s artistry is deeply shaped by her life as a mother of five, a devoted wife, and a proud “Honey” to one beautiful grandchild. These roles anchor her leadership in tenderness and truth, reminding her that the work of liberation begins at home—with the stories we inherit, protect, and pass on.
As founder of a boutique consulting practice, she has guided nonprofit leaders, grassroots organizers, and ecosystem builders through the work of re-storying their missions—aligning voice, vision, and values to create lasting impact. Her practice is rooted in equity, narrative clarity, and the belief that art is not ornamental; it is instructional. It teaches us who we were, who we are, and who we might yet become.
Janaé brings to Decolonizing the Music Room a steady hand, a prophetic imagination, and a heart anchored in service—ready to help expand the future of music education by uplifting the brilliance that has always been present, even when it was overlooked.
James E. Earl II
James E. Earl II is a Fort Worth–based health and wellness practitioner, speaker, and community leader whose work sits at the intersection of movement, emotional health, and cultural integrity. He is the founder of The Sankofa Method, a coaching and community framework rooted in the principle of learning from the past to build a grounded, self-sufficient future. Through this lens, James weaves strength training, biomechanics, mindfulness, and trauma-informed practice to help individuals move with confidence, deepen self-awareness, and navigate wellness with cultural intention.
Holding an MPA, BSW, and certifications as a Personal Trainer, Biomechanics Specialist, Community Health Worker Instructor, and Reiki Level 1 Practitioner, James has dedicated more than a decade to integrating movement, narrative, and community care. He has served on the Texas Health Leadership Council, the McDonald’s YMCA Board, and The Bridge Fort Worth Executive Board. His work consistently centers equity, access, and culturally rooted healing.
As a speaker, James has facilitated workshops, trainings, and wellness sessions for organizations and municipalities that bridge physical health with emotional literacy. Across every space, James brings a reflective, integrity-centered, and culturally grounded approach, honoring lived experience, challenging traditional power structures in wellness, and creating environments where people can reclaim agency over their bodies and stories. His commitment to community impact aligns with the mission of Decolonizing the Music Room: building liberated, culturally anchored spaces where people can learn, heal, and thrive.
EJ Carrión
EJ Carrión (he/him) is an Afro-Latino activistpreneur and cohost of the 817 podcast, a weekly show that covers politics, culture, and news in Fort Worth, Texas. The 817 podcast was awarded Fort Worth Weekly's Critics' Choice Best Podcast in 2024 and 2025. He is also an active member of 817 Gather, a grassroots community that connects local organizers and progressives to stay engaged with civic issues across the city. EJ lives in Eastside Fort Worth with his wife and rescued Rottweiler, Genesis, and is a proud resident of the West Meadowbrook neighborhood.