U-MELENI MHLABA-ADEBO founder, MAOKO PROJECT| Cultural Strategist+Creative Leader

I am a Zimbabwean-American cultural strategist, educator, and endurance athlete working at the intersection of art, education, wellness, endurance, and public space.

I design cultural infrastructure—creating experiences that shape how people learn, move, connect, and belong across Boston, Africa, and the global diaspora.

My work bridges creative practice and civic life, guided by a central question:
How do we design ways of living in which people can think, feel, move, and belong more fully in the places they inhabit?

PRACTICE

My practice moves across poetry, performance, experimental film, education, facilitation, and endurance sport.

I use storytelling, embodiment, and relational learning to design participatory experiences that support:

reflection

emotional awareness

cultural memory

collective imagination

embodied leadership

Across all of my work, I am interested in how storytelling and movement function as cultural infrastructure.