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Porshia A. Derival
Porshia A. Derival (she/her/hers) is a first-generation Caribbean American who was born in Brooklyn, New York City. She started her professional dance career while still a young child, and because of the tremendous potential that her dance teacher saw in her, she was single-handedly chosen out of her class to continue her studies and hone her leadership abilities at H+ | The Hip-Hop Dance Conservatory. She was appointed the organization's executive director in 2012.
Since then, she has attentively overseen the organization's creative affiliations with corporations which include Coca-Cola, Target, Scotch Porter, and many others. In conjunction with her legendary contributions to H+, she also represents H+ at the UN Economic and Social Council, sits on the selection committee for the New York Dance and Performance Awards/The Bessies, is a member of the board of trustees for Ladies of Hip-Hop, and is the NYC ambassador for the #SHE_BUILDS Global Initiative.
Porshia has shared her expansive knowledge of dance and leadership in numerous publications like, “Dance Perspectives” by Stephanie Smith in 2015, and “Own Your Vulnerability” by Elizabeth Barry in 2016. Her goal as a Haitian-Trinidadian woman is to guarantee black women throughout the Hip-Hop dance discipline a place where they can be authentically themselves, to act, live, and love unencumbered by restraint, fear, or criticism from others.
