The Arts Executive
The greatest creative minds of our time are the ones who continue to push past historic cultural boundaries and explore the realm of new possibilities while showing compassion for what’s in the now.
Kori Coleman, Founder & Executive/Artistic Director of D-Composed, a Black chamber music collective, is navigating culture towards a new frontier - one where her intentional and strategic mind leads her to create unconventional experiences in strict traditional spaces. And she does it from a lens of fulfilling community needs, making accessible quality experiences and expressions the norm for Black people, creating with their well-being in mind.
In the city that Jean-Baptist-Point Du Sable built, the creative and collaborative energy of Chicago gives the leader a backdrop to create opportunities where people can come together to build, grow, connect, and breathe.
“As artists, our duty is to reflect the times,” Kori in full agreement with the incredible composer Nina Simone smartly uses this as a tool of discernment: “Are we making an impact, is this challenging us, and whose story do we get to tell?” Those three questions are the guiding force for everything that Kori places her hand in.
Her distinct belief that Black composers create worlds and possibilities is her strategic and purposeful foundation for D-Composed, which gives her the space to expand. Music is more than just entertainment, storytelling is the heart of the medium. As an experiential marketer, Kori loves the unlimited possibilities of Black people, art, music, and how many stories you can tell through that vehicle.
Her experience as a young kid creating her own opportunities, and burning CDs of Get Rich Or Die Trying, showed her the power of betting on herself. Her experience at Spelman College instilled in her the power of purpose for the greater good. The leading HBCU institution leads with the declaration that it “empowers the whole person to engage the many cultures of the world and inspires a commitment to positive social change”. Kori embodies that mission statement with her relentless ambition and her commitment to being a creative strategist that serves as an expert in many worlds.
Her experience at Momentum Worldwide and Twitter showed her the great deal of thought and storytelling that experiential marketing requires. Having worked with Fortune 500 companies such as Walmart, Amazon, Southwest Airlines, & American Express, Kori leads with a culture-first approach that centers the histories, present-day realities, and future dreams of people from marginalized communities in marketing campaigns designed to solve society’s biggest creative challenges.
“I really do want people to feel the sense that they’re special when we work together. I’ve always liked to feel special - especially coming from an event background. Personal touches really stand out and are what you always remember,” Kori shares about her personal approach and natural touch. “Numbers and stats don’t matter - the weight really happens at the small interactions during in-person events.”
This practice has made space for Kori to not only be instrumental in facilitating partnerships between D-Composed and esteemed institutions and platforms such as the University of Chicago, The Kennedy Center, The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert alongside Jamila Woods, it’s also created a lane for Kori has an in-demand speaker on the power of Black creativity and storytelling through collaborations with AT&T, Apple, and Athleta.
An encounter with Kori is not only well-designed and intentional, but it’s also an environment that lends itself to a true ecosystem built on creativity, empowerment, and wellness. You’ll walk away inspired to aligned action that elevates the culture in your own life and community.
