Adriane V. Jefferson (She/Her/Hers) is a nationally award-winning Cultural Equity expert, Arts Administrator, and Public Speaker. Initiator of the Cultural Equity Plan in the City of New Haven, she has worked professionally in the Arts & Culture sector for over 18 years, and has dedicated her career to cultural shift advocacy.
Adriane Jefferson is currently the Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of New Haven and the Executive Director of New Haven Festivals Inc. in Connecticut, where she leads the city on cultural equity and anti-racism initiatives. Adriane and her department have created the Arts for Anti-racism Pledge, The Unapologetically Radical Conference, the City of New Haven’s inaugural Black Wall Street festival, and the first Cultural Equity Plan in the State of Connecticut.
As part of her work with the City of New Haven, Adriane oversees the City’s membership in the Government Alliance of Race & Equity and has formed the Core Race Equity Task Force. The Task Force plays an advisory and leadership role to the Mayor and Executive Leadership on internal and external race equity issues and equitable system improvements. Adriane is also a member of the Closing Gaps Network, Living Cities Initiative, which provides ongoing leadership training on community organizing, anti-racism principles, equity assessments and capacity building.
Adriane’s professional career began in 2004, when she worked behind the scenes in local television, production and special event planning in the city of Miami, Florida. Simultaneously, she was pursuing her B.A. in Popular Music from Florida Memorial University, graduating Cum Laude in 2009. She then obtained an M.A. in Arts Administration from Savannah College of Arts and Design.
Developing much of her professional career in Miami, Florida from 2004 to 2015, Adriane has worked in arts education as an educator in both music and theater. Between 2008 and 2010, she helped to develop the drama program for Alonzo Mourning Charities’ Over Town Youth Center and The Gibson Charter School. Adriane returned to The State of CT in 2015 to serve as the Executive Director and Senior Director of programs for the Writers Block Ink in New London, CT. She was later confirmed as a member of their Board of Directors. In 2016, she became an Arts Program Manager for the State of CT, Department of Economic and Community Development/Office of the Arts. In this role, she developed groundbreaking programs for the State of CT such as The Arts Workforce Initiative paid Employment Program and the READI (Relevance, Equity, Access, Diversity and Inclusion) Music conference, which has placed hundreds of young creative workers of color in arts jobs and professional development opportunities across the state.
Alongside her work as a cultural equity expert, Adriane currently serves as a councilwoman for The State of Connecticut Arts Council, an Advisory Board Member for the New England Foundation for the Arts, an Advisory Board Member for the Yale Center of British Art, and as an Ex-officio Board Member for the Shubert Theater. She has received the 40 under 40 award from the Urban Professional Network, the American Express Emerging Leadership Award from Americans from the Arts, and the 40 Under 40 award from CT magazine. Her anti-racism artwork has been featured in Black Business Enterprise, yahoo news, Fox News, NBC and Americans for the Arts, Art Link publication. New Haven Biz recently named her as one of the Top 5 leaders to watch in 2023. She is mother of one, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated.