Clarissa Clay, Blerd City’s Founder and Executive Producer
Lady Clairesa Clay (Brooklyn Born) takes intellectual talk on black, brown, and poor folks storytelling, and how they tell our stories. She’s a creative entrepreneur ready to accept a seat a the Urban Academics RoundTable.
Clairesa Clay (BLERD CITY’s Founder and Executive Producer) is an educator, entrepreneur, and writer who has developed cultural programs in films, visual arts, and literature serving in conjunction with academic and artistic organizations as well as many independent artists with whom she’s had the pleasure of working with.
Blerd City’s vision came out of Lady Clairessa’s vision for combining education with the arts that are stimulating and captivate both sides of the brain. Black Nerds (BLERDs) are probably the most underutilized group in the country and abroad. The conference, which is normally held in July will be postponed due to the current NO Events happening around the world. When new dates and venues are announced, whether face-to-face or virtual, you can find it here at Urban Academics Online!
Clairesa’s debut film garnered notable awards and she is also a published writer. For the past 20 years, she has taught English with the New York City Department of Education serving urban inner-city students.
Getting on the LIVE Call is Easy, just send an email: contact@urban-academics.com
Get On The Live Call Thursday, June 11, 2020): Dial-In #: 712.770.5605, Access Code: 508941
About Young Brittanye …
Brittanye J. Mackey grew up in Haverhill, MA, a city 45 minutes north of Boston in the state’s Merrimack Valley area. Her parents are midwest transplants to MA, so she grew up traveling domestically to visit family regularly.
As a proud #calvarykid of Calvary Baptist Church in Haverhill, where members served more like family and source inspiration, which motivated her in all she does. Loving to travel sparked her interest in different and worldwide cultures while traveling with her cousin and uncle to Munich, Paris. Then a trip to Amsterdam the summer before her final year of middle school pretty much began the germination process of early seeds planted.
Young Brittanye attended Brooks School, a private co-educational boarding school in North Andover, where she was a day student for four years.
During her time at Brooks, she wanted to enroll in the School Year Abroad (SYA) program in France, but her father was not keen on the idea. Instead, the rising Junior spent the summer in a French Language Immersion Program in Montreal, Canada. Another travel adventure, with her mother and a family friend, on another road trip. She also spent six-weeks in Szeged, Hungary, through a Brooks exchange program.
When she was not allowed to participate in SYA in high school, she made her father promise to allow her to spend a year abroad in college. He agreed – She began her college search with “free study abroad” key terms. Brittanye didn’t believe students should be paying for both school and the experience abroad.
Spelman College Class of 2011
After graduating high school, Brittanye matriculated to Spelman College, where she found her “people” or niche in the Model United Nations Team. Ms. Mackey represented Spelman internationally at Harvard University’s WorldMUN Conferences in The Hague, Netherlands, and another in Singapore, Asia. The conference targets college students from all over the world who have a passion and interest in international affairs and/or a desire to become a diplomat in future
Brittnay’s father made good on his promise, and she spent her junior year abroad studying in Rennes, France, and Dakar, Senegal. In Rennes, France- studied French language and French culture at a French university; Dakar, Senegal: studied culture/sociology with Senegalese professors.
After graduating from Spelman College with B.A.s in French and International Studies in 2011, Brittanye taught English for a year in Vietnam and France respectively-returning to the region she studied abroad.
The Audacity of Brittanye MAckey
Audacity is Boldness on a Mission – Get Some, Join the Urban Academics Roundtable Now
Audacity, according to the Dictionary.Com website, is the willingness to take bold risks. Synonyms include boldness, daring, fearlessness, bravery, courage, valor, and heroism, which perfectly describes Lady Brittanye. You can find a word and synonyms to match for yourself, team, family members, or others HERE in this book The Synonym Finder, published by Grand Central Publishing.
Professional Experience
Upon returning to the U.S., Ms. Mackey accepted a job with a local non-profit called L’Arche, an Ecumenical Community of people with and without intellectual disabilities. Brittanye was a part of the L’Arche team for two years while strategizing about her next life steps. While there, she spends time with a L’Arche community in Belgium.
Ultimately, Ms. Mackey believed the next steps should include additional education and decided to pursue a graduate degree. With help from the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers (IRT) Associate’s Program, she was able to earn a Master’s Degree in Higher Education from the University of Michigan (December 2016).
At Michigan, she accompanied a faculty-led course to Morocco during Spring break as an intern in a study abroad office. About six months after graduating UMich, Brittanye returned home to Massachusetts to work advising international university students and is presently in her second position in the field.
Brittanye Mackey, among many things, loves to travel and is looking forward to regular travel-tours to the African Continent annually. She speaks French fluently and owes her strong foundation in the language to her studies at Brooks School, Spelman College, and her time living in France and Senegal.
The Urban Academics RoundTableHOT SEAT – June 11, 2020
Brittanye Mackey serves Bentley University as an International Student Advisor and is extremely young, holding down such a prestigious academic position. Find out how you can do what you love now. Apply to Bentley University (Waltham, MA) NOW.
