Resume

Co-Founder + Creative Director | January 2020 - present

Habibi Festival is a celebration of contemporary and ancient music from the Middle East and North Africa. It was founded by arts producer Meera Dugal and French-Tunisian composer and saxophonist Yacine Boulares with the support of Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater. The inaugural edition took place over 4 sold out nights November 2-5, 2021 at Joe’s Pub in NYC featuring artists such as Kinan Azmeh (Syria), Esraa Warda (Algeria), Alsarah + the Nubatones (Sudan), Haig Papazian (Lebanon), and Innov Gnawa (Morocco). Partners included the Artistic Freedom Initiative, Safe Haven Incubator for Music NYC, Sabah Shoes, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Tamizdat, and Villa Albertine. Volume II will take place Oct 11-15, 2022 at Joe’s Pub.

www.habibi-festival.com

Responsibilities

• Design the festival experience by curating musical performances, salon events, and brand collaborations.

• As Creative Director, conceptualize and execute the full brand identity and content strategy across website and social platforms.

• Oversee administrative tasks including accounting, artist contracting, artist relations, fundraising, and securing partnerships.

“If there could be a sonic expression for the joys and sorrows of SWANA natives and exiles, last night’s @habibifestival created a space for it. @kinan_azmeh’s warm clarinet explorations took me back to the soft nay melodies of our childhood. I traveled through our landscapes and melancholy and hopes. @ajoyomusic’s wild fusions celebrated our rich heritage, moving from jazz to percussive rhythms, funk and desert blues, Sarah’s vocals rooting it firmly in New York’s experimental spirit. It was the best show I’ve seen in a long time, and the love and unity on stage were contagious. حبيبي شكرا ”

- DJ Shirine Saad

Communications Director + Strategy Consultant | August 2020 - present

Brooklyn Raga Massive (BRM) is a prolific musicians' collective that creates cross-cultural understanding through the lens of South Asian (Raga) classical music by preserving and expanding this rich music genre. As a 501 (c) 3 organization, BRM provides direct support to musicians, facilitates cultural exchange and harmony through performances, collaborations, new compositions, and a robust offering of related educational programs. www.brooklynragamassive.org

Responsibilities

• Oversee content strategy across website, newsletter, and social platforms.

• Oversee current comprehensive branding and website redesign project.

• Strategize on all organization wide initiatives including public programming, donor and board engagement, partnerships, and fundraising.

• Advise in event strategy and audience engagement for larger brand events including Ragas Live Festival and Women's Raga Massive Festival.

Consultant - BRIClab Performing Arts Residency | June 2022 - Dec 2022

BRIC is a leading arts and media institution anchored in Downtown Brooklyn whose work spans contemporary visual and performing arts, media, and civic action. For over forty years, BRIC has shaped Brooklyn’s cultural and media landscape by presenting and incubating artists, creators, students, and media makers. As a creative catalyst for our community, we ignite learning in people of all ages and centralize diverse voices that take risks and drive culture forward. BRIC is building Brooklyn’s creative future. www.bricartsmedia.org

Responsibilities

• Project management for the BRIClab Performing Arts residency applicant review process.

• Coordinate artist and vendor contracting and payments.

• Oversee production of artist residencies and live, in-person work in progress performances.

• Coordinate processes between internal and external partners across marketing, public relations, production, and operations teams.

Program Manager; Program Coordinator; Curatorial Fellow | 2014-2019

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is the world's leading performing arts center, uniting 11 key arts organizations on one campus. The David Rubenstein Atrium is the only year-round, completely free, performance space on campus that presents all genres of music as well as theatre, film, and humanities events. www.lincolncenter.org

Responsibilities

• Facilitated the presentation of 90+ events a year in the 299-person capacity David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center.

• Supported event advancing with artist curation, issuing contracts, liaising with the production, front of house, and marketing teams, and securing partnerships.

• Created contextual/education content for the shows such as hosting and moderating artist interviews and pre/post show panels and writing event copy.

• Partnered with the Gnaoua World Music Festival in Morocco to produce a 5 day Gnaoua Festival in NYC and DC; secured $20,000 in sponsorship, moderated a panel on the gnawa music at The New School, and cultivated 4 new presenting partners for Lincoln Center.

• Oversaw the curation and execution of a 4-part Outside (In)dia concert series presented in collaboration with The India Center Foundation and Brooklyn Raga Massive helping to attract new and diverse audiences to the venue.

Program Manager, Global Curation | 2019-2020

Shared_Studios began as an art project in 2014 and was founded on the idea of bringing distant strangers together using immersive technology for powerful first-person encounters. Through a global network of immersive Shared_Spaces called portals, the company fosters a global community of inspiring artists, entrepreneurs, change-makers, and community leaders around the world that share their stories and inspire others in the spirit of making the world a better place with the power of conversation. www.sharedstudios.com

Responsibilities

• Ideated and hosted, in-person, and virtual programming in over 20 global portal locations on topics ranging from innovation, leadership, tech, and culture.

• Managed global programming initiatives across cultural, educational, and enterprise clients.

"With projects in 20+ cities around the world, Meera has strong organizational skills with giving her the ability to balance numerous demands, goals, working styles and cultures. With partners ranging from universities, arts centers, tech companies, and festivals - she was able to successfully manage a portfolio of diverse clients with positivity, humor, cultural sensitivity, and creativity."

-Michelle Moghtader, Shared_Studios Co-Founder

Freelance Associate Producer | 2019

The NYUAD Arts Center is a central figure in the Abu Dhabi arts and entertainment scene. As a vibrant laboratory for performance that both presents and develops work, The Arts Center fosters a dynamic relationship between the arts, scholarship, and community. The Arts Center presents distinguished professional artists from around the world alongside student, faculty, and community productions. www.nyuad.nyu.edu

Responsibilities

• Logistics and company management for the large-scale Arturo O’Farrill Cuban-Khaleeji residency and the multi-day Barzakh Festival under the leadership of Executive Artistic Director Bill Bragin.

• Facilitate outreach and engagement activities including workshops, artist masterclasses, classroom visits, and panels.

Band Manager + Creative + Strategic Director | 2015-2018

Innov Gnawa is a Grammy-nominated traditional Moroccan gnawa ensemble based in Brooklyn. Gnawa is an ancient music tradition born out of the migration of enslaved people from West and North African. In its original context, it is a healing, trance-inducing, spiritual music but is also performed in secular, celebratory contexts. www.innovgnawa.com

Responsibilities

• Managed the career strategy of Moroccan gnawa band from an emerging subway-performing ensemble to Grammy-nominated band who have played venues such as The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Pioneer Works, National Sawdust, Music Hall of Williamsburg, and the Big Ears Music Festival.

• Handled all aspects social media, website design, merchandise, contracts, concert advancement, educational and speaking engagements, and scholarship on the genre.

Festival Adminstrator | 2012-2013; 2014-2016

* globalFEST 2023 Guest Curator*

Founded in 2003, globalFEST is one of the most dynamic global music platforms in North America, growing from an acclaimed annual festival into a catalytic non-profit organization for curators, artists, and the performing arts field. The directors of the festival are Bill Bragin, Shanta Thake, and Isabel Soffer. www.globalfest.org

Responsibilities

• Oversaw administrative tasks for the annual 12-artist, 3-stage music festival including ticket sales tracking, liaising with artists/managers for marketing materials, technical advancement, travel/housing arrangement, per diem payment, and hospitality.

• Managed all external communications and newsletters including administering the annual crowdfunding campaign as well as the submission and judging process for the globalFEST Touring Fund.

• Created context materials and a Community Engagement Toolkit for the Creole Carnival Tour.

Event Manager | 2019

Arts Brookfield supports innovation in music, dance, theater, film, and visual art presented for free in the public spaces of Brookfield Properties. www.brookfieldproperties.com

Responsibilities

• Advance, contract, curate, and manage free, public events in the Brookfield Place indoor and outdoor spaces, six regional buildings, and the newly acquired Tata Innovation Center on Roosevelt Island. 

• Advance and oversee private events and large-scale brand activations in Brookfield Place and the Tata Innovation Center.

Music Expert + Writer | 2019

What Should We Do (WSWD) was created to make arts and culture accessible to all. As an activity/event concierge service, they curate and connect people to the best food, music, sites, and experiences in NYC. www.whatshouldwedo.com

Responsibilities

• Discover, research, and write recommendations for concerts for WSWD to include in their blog and custom itineraries for clients.

• Conduct and write musician interviews and profiles for the WSWD blog.

• globalFEST 2023 Guest Curator

• “Being an Ally to Global Artists” globalFEST Wavelengths Conference Panel

• Speaker, NYU Creative Careers Accelerator (2022)

• Member, Women of Color in the Arts (Current)

• Advisory Board Member, Brooklyn Raga Massive (Current)

• Speaker, Asian American Arts Alliance Table Dish: Music (2021)

• Speaker, “Careers in the Performing Arts Outside of Being a Creative” at Product of Culture Festival (2021)

• Cohost, Women’s Raga Festival (2021)

• Host, “Old Traditions, New Narratives: Reflections in Sound” concert with South Asia Institute (2021)

• Host, globalFEST Wavelengths Conference (2021)

• Producer, Raga Maqam Ensemble (2018-2020)

• Speaker, “Power Dynamics: Interrogating Systems in World Music” panel at globalFEST APAP Pre-Conference (2019)

• Co-Organizer, Gnaoua Festival Tour USA (2017)

• Curator/Host, Women in Sound Roundtable Series at Pioneer Works ft. DJ Rekha, Martha Redbone, & Sascha Von Oertzen (2017)

Georgetown Law Executive Education Certificate Program on Art and Cultural Heritage Law (2021)

Association of Performing Arts Professional Emerging Leadership Program (2018)

New York University | 2008-2012

• Bachelors Degree, Gallatin School of Individualized Study

• Concentration: Music + Identity in Diaspora Communities

• Clyde Taylor Award for Excellence in African-American and Africana Studies

• Emotional intelligence

• In-person + virtual event curation + production

• Excellent written and oral communication

• Dialogue/panel moderation

• Website + editorial content design and strategy

• Social media management

• Project management

• Client + donor engagement

• Tools

  • MAC + PC proficient 

  • Google Suite & Microsoft Office

  • Asana; Notion; Slack; Airtable

  • Wordpress; Squarespace; Wix

  • Canva; Hootsuite; Procreate; elementary photoshop

  • Mail Chimp; Constant Contact; Indiegogo