Du’Bois A’Keen

Du'Bois A'Keen is an artist, composer, entrepreneur, and educator whose work centers sustainability and resilience strategy across culture, fashion, and enterprise. For over a decade, he has advised and partnered with organizations including Nike, Allbirds, Superdigital, and Tapestry's Capri Holdings, helping them build more resilient systems through brand strategy, ESG alignment, and inclusive policies and practices. As co-founder of R3 Studios, he advances circular design solutions focused on material reuse and waste reduction within the fashion industry. His scholarship examines the cultural and historical foundations of sustainability, centering the often-uncredited contributions of Black communities to the frameworks now embedded in enterprise and academic discourse. As a composer and creative collaborator, he has created and presented work with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Lincoln Center. In addition to his faculty roles at Columbia University School of Professional Studies and Barnard College, A'Keen remains deeply rooted in Harlem as founder of the Harlem Gospel Ensemble, leading monthly performances and community-centered engagements, and headlining the Apollo Music Cafe with his band, Sacred Groove.