Natasha Elle Thomas is a writer, artist, policy advocate, educator, and healing practitioner whose work is grounded in social justice, embodied spirituality, and transformative change. Drawing from the wisdom traditions of her cultural and ancestral mothers and foremothers, she specializes in reclaiming, decolonizing, and preserving practices, rituals, and technologies that support spiritual healing and collective liberation.

Throughout her professional and creative journey, Natasha has been deeply involved in organizations that foster social change. She co-founded and served as Executive Director of  RAISE IT UP! Youth Arts & Awareness, empowering young voices to catalyze transformation through artistic expression. There, she had the honor of serving as the writing and performance coach for exceptionally talented youth poets in the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival. Additionally, she served as a Regional Organizing Director for NextGen America, leveraging her skills to drive community organizing efforts. Today, Natasha holds the role of Culture and Advocacy Officer for the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health, where she leads and facilitates the Michigan Youth Racial Equity Council (MY REC).  

Natasha’s partnered with former Vice President Al Gore's Climate Reality Project where she served as a presenter during the Climate Reality Leadership Corps Global Training. She also worked as a policy consultant for the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC) and presented a training on building sociopolitical solidarity between Black and Asian communities at their national convening (in partnership with The UndocuBlack Network) in Los Angeles, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Los Angeles Uprising.

Natasha’s work in youth development, policy/advocacy, political organizing, and public art has been recognized and highlighted in publications such as Teen Vogue, National Public Radio (NPR), PBS NewsHour, The Poetry Foundation, Okayplayer,  Americans for the Arts, Broadway World, Huffington Post, Hyperallergic, Mashable, Vulture, Yahoo, Revolt, Blavity, and more. Her youth advocacy work is highlighted in Environmental Justice in a Moment of Danger written by Dr. Julie Sze and published by University of California Press.

As a writer and author, Natasha's works have been featured in publications such  The Hollywood Reporter, The Body is Not an Apology (TBINAA), Womanly Magazine, Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies, The Assisi Institute Journal: Memes & Memories, and more. She also wrote the poetic foreword for IMAGN – Increasing Minority Awareness of Genetics Now, a report published by the Black Congressional Caucus and John Hopkins University Genetics and Public Policy Center.

Natasha has served as a lecturer and presenter at symposiums, colleges/universities, conferences, and summits. She was a TEDx speaker and her talk is featured in America’s Promise Alliance’s Youth Engagement Toolkit sponsored by AT&T. She regularly serves as a lecturer and presenter at colleges, universities, conferences, and summits including University of California’s Department of Global Studies, The Allied Media Conference, University of Michigan, Wayne State University, Planned Parenthood’s Powering Change Summit, The National Organization for Women’s Michigan Conference, The Place-Based Education Conference, The Michigan Sociological Association Conference, Sloan Museum, and more.

Natasha has performed, spoken, and organized alongside notable figures such as Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw for her Breaking the Silence initiative at Vassar College, the late Harry Belafonte at his Many Rivers to Cross Music & Social Justice Festival, Stevie Wonder, Janelle Monáe, Ryan Coogler, and Jesse Williams at the  BlackOut for Human Right’s Justice for Flint concert,t. She has also collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma on the  Culture, Community, & Resilience - Day of Action and Living Room Open Mic , and with pianist and composer, Adriene Torf (June Jordan’s longtime partner) and Voices of the Revolution on a tribute show to the late June Jordan. She has shared the stage with Angela Davis, Danny Glover, Robert Redford, Dave Matthews Band, the late bell hooks, and more.

Her work extends into arts-integrated education, where she serves as a Teaching Artist-in-Residence for Michigan Arts Access, promoting creativity, education, and accessibility to the arts for youth with disabilities. She is also a Teaching Artist for the Race, Equity, Arts, and Cultural History (REACH) Initiative, which aims to establish a nationally replicable model for arts learning in U.S. schools. In this capacity, she served as a consultant at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, collaborating with biology teacher Alex Cassidy to develop an arts-integrated curriculum exploring the intersection of genetic medicine, genetic engineering, and social justice.

Currently, Natasha is an independent writing coach and writing instructor at midnight & indigo, a small publisher and literary journal dedicated to providing a platform for Black women writers to share narratives. Specializing in short fiction and essay writing, midnight & indigo contributes to the rich Black literary tradition while amplifying marginalized voices. There, Natasha teaches a course titled "Narrative Essay Writing for Healing & Liberation." She will also teach an upcoming course called Women, Writing, & Resistance for Literary Liberation, a community of artists, writers, and activists across multiple creative concentrations working towards collective liberation.

Natasha’s honors include being selected as a Writer-in-Residence for Sea Salted Honey's 2024 Sojourn of Return Writing Residency in Dakar and La Petite Cote, Senegal. Prior to that, she was a Windcall Institute Residency Awardee and also one of three people to receive the first-ever $25,000 Impact Award from the Detroit Pistons’ Foundation in recognition of her “outstanding leadership and community contributions in the area of youth leadership and entertainment.”