Aziza Taylor is the Founder, Own Your Narrative 54. She is an expert storyteller, culture cultivator and brand & content strategist.
She seeks to live in and help build a world where the untold narratives of the past and present “everyday” heroines and heroes from marginalized and minoritized communities are amplified.
She is also dedicated to creating and contributing to spaces that help cultivate young people as future leaders and connects them with equal access to quality education, employment, professional training and socio-economic justice.
This life-long passion for empowerment, especially youth empowerment has inspired her as founder of Own Your Narrative 54 to travel to several countries and across 6 continents to create and lead national and international workshops for organizations and groups which uplift, enrich and encourage youth to own their narratives as change agents and future global leaders.
Aziza recognizes that the narratives of a nation are like a quilt and when the stories of some underrepresented groups remain untold, that quilt has holes and gaps which render it incomplete and drafty, exposing that which the community sought to hide. This is why she remains committed to seeking out such peoples and creating platforms for them to tell their story.
Over the course of her professional career in media, Aziza has developed a unique range of highly sought-after skill-set and in-depth knowledge across branding, marketing, social media, television, film, non-profit and corporate communications.
She previously served as the inaugural Communications and Marketing Manager for the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Center for Health Equity. During her time leading communications for the center, she ensured the center’s mission was executed by launching innovative external initiatives and events, building communication channels across multiple business units, highlighting authentic narratives and developing digital media and tools that fostered pathways for truth, reconciliation, racial healing and transformation.
She has also held positions as the Interim Press Information Officer and Director of Social Media for the New York City Department of Finance and as the first ever, Senior Talent Branding Specialist for the Talent and Acquisitions division at NBC Universal.
As a communications expert with a diverse range of experience, Aziza has worked for some of the nation’s top syndicated shows and programs, including the Dr. Phil Show and Divorce Court. Her work as a Producer has been aired on national and global networks and applauded by many in the industry for its strengths in in-depth storytelling and multilayered characters.
Aziza’s work as a documentary researcher, field producer and editor has included a variety of projects such as the historical docu-series “Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise” from PBS and Henry Louis Gates Jr., and the environmental doc, “The Capital Buzz”, which snagged top honors, including the DC Shorts Film Festival’s “Golden Pineapple Award” and the La Jolla Film Festival’s coveted “Best Shorts Award of Excellence”.
She has also used her work as a filmmaker to advocate against issues like gender based violence through the film, “Give Dreams”. “Give Dreams” was a part of a national campaign for the Mary Kay Foundation and helped raise a significant donation for domestic violence shelters across the U.S.
Aziza holds a Master of Science degree in Global Affairs from New York University, a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism and Mass Media from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a graduate certificate in documentary filmmaking from The George Washington University.
Well done!!
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