Strategic experience designer with over 10 years of experience synergizing art, wellness, & community through high-impact program implementation, dynamic strategic planning, and stewardship of a multimillion-dollar artist development initiative.

Afeni Grace is a cultural strategist, experience designer, and certified meditation & yoga instructor, recognized for transforming visionary ideas into impactful, human-centered initiatives. She specializes in crafting convenings where art, wellness, and community intersect, resulting in experiences that further individual and collective wellbeing. 

From spring 2015 to the close of 2017, Afeni managed long-term community projects across three inner-city neighborhoods in Milwaukee, WI, with Habitat for Humanity and Safe & Sound, Inc., where she also steered a landlord membership program and an intergenerational wellness workshop series. During this time, she led meditation sessions with the Mindfulness Community of Milwaukee and began creating live and pre-recorded guided meditation programs with themes such as chakra healing and visualizations.

Since relocating to Charlotte, NC, in 2018, Afeni has taught her own wellness curricula to a wide range of audiences, including Growga, Mood House, Mecklenburg County’s Juvenile Detention Center, the Bechtler Museum’s TOY Teen Summer Program, Comunidad Colectiva’s Youth Group Mindfulness Series, and others. After four years, she recently transitioned from teaching virtual workshops to Google employees worldwide, integrating hands-on art practices with mindful activities and meditation.

Afeni designed and implemented the Harvey B. Gantt Center’s public programs for 6.5 years. She now directs their multi-million-dollar project, the Black Carolina Initiative (BCI), an artist development effort serving creatives across North and South Carolina. She is a recipient of the Arts & Science Council’s 2026 Creative Growth Grant, supporting her latest initiative, Connected Creatives, a 2026 wellness series for artists of all demographics, rooted in self-care, thoughtful exchange, and solidarity.

Afeni leads public conversations centering art, community, and wellness — most recently panels from the 2026 BHM and WHM film talkback series with Independent Picture House.

Afeni led her first international cultural wellness residency, Unearthing: CDMX, in November 2025. The residency blended yoga and mindfulness, catalytic conversations, and a comprehensive itinerary of activities. Her next cultural wellness residency will be in Italy, in partnership with cultural analyst Amy Carleton, in fall 2026. Her debut guided journal, Unearthing: Guided Journal for Self-Exploration, will be released in summer 2026.