A Conversation With Cultural Arts Ambassador, International Cultural Arts & Healing Sciences Institute Founder, Musician and Healer, Amikaeyla Gaston

Amikaeyla Gaston is the Executive Director and Founder of International Cultural Arts & Healing Sciences Institute (ICAHSI). She is a force for change. Proclaimed as one of the “purest contemporary voices” by National Public Radio (NPR), Amikaeyla is a public keynote speaker, performer, educator, and author. She travels the world serving as a Cultural Arts Ambassador for the State Department and is the Founder of the International Cultural Arts and Healing Sciences Institute and co-Executive Director for World Trust Educational Services Organization. With over 25 years experience in the Behavioral Health arena, Amikaeyla has been bringing together artists and healers of all forms and specialties to promote healing and wellness through the arts & activism. She leads corporations, universities and organizations through cultural competency, restorative justice, and racial equity training designed to facilitate, engage and support people in exploring challenging conversations. She does expansive work with political refugees, war survivors and at-risk populations worldwide and is often called into difficult scenarios to offer inter-cultural literacy and deep restorative justice work in support of transformative and peaceful solutions. Her international program of public dialogue is designed to allow different traditions and nationalities to gather together and address issues concerning our communities at large. Her programming has been utilized by the Department of Health & Human Services, USAID, The American Psychological Association, SAMHSA, and the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, taking her around the world doing peace work in Israel, Beirut, Amman, Damascus, Palestine, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, just to name a few. Appearing internationally on television, radio and film, with appearances on PBS, HBO and in the Sundance Film Festival, Amikaeyla is the winner of twelve WAMMY Awards for Best Jazz, World and Urban Contemporary Vocalist, and is the proud recipient of the United Nations Global Woman Award, the Voss Foundation Emerging Women Leaders Award, the Pioneer Award for Exemplary Leadership and Outstanding Service in Social Justice and Advocacy and the International Hero for Peace and Forgiveness award. Her extensive studies with traditional healers and cultural artists around the healing effects of music led to the commemorative Golden Buddha performance at personal invitation by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in India.

Amikaeyla uses music as medicine to connect people and to practice cultural diplomacy. "When words defy us, music can touch our hearts in certain ways you cannot otherwise do," she says. Ami recognizes the power of art as advocacy and has used her art to build bridges by appealing to people's emotions. Her stories are powerful and I feel blessed to have had this tremendous light and change agent on the Becoming Your Best Version podcast.

Amikaeyla grew up in Potomac, Maryland, and now is bi-coastal, with a home in the DC area and in California. She will be performing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. this fall.

You can learn more about Ami's work at www.Amikaeyla.com and follow Amikaeyla on social media at @amikaeyla and @Amikaeyla Gaston.