ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE
Dallas Austin
A Grammy-winning record producer, songwriter, musician and filmmaker. He has worked with renowned music artists like Babyface, Boyz II Men, Madonna and Gwen Stefani and is known for his collaboration on TLC’s debut album. Austin produced the films “Drum Line” and “ATL.”

Andrew Aydin
A creator and co-author of the graphic memoir series, MARCH, which chronicles the life of Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis. MARCH is the first comics work to ever win the National Book Award. Aydin’s prose works include articles for the Atlanta alt-weekly Creative Loafing and the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance Magazine.

Chris Bridges
Known professionally as Ludacris – is a multi-platinum, GRAMMY® award-winning artist, actor and entrepreneur. Bridges attended Georgia State before becoming a major recording star. He’s also avid in pursuing philanthropic endeavors through The Ludacris Foundation (TLF), a platform to serve youth and families in our communities. TLF has been named as one of the top 20 “Leading Philanthropy Foundations” by Black Enterprise magazine.

Erik Gordon
A proactive consultant / entrepreneur who has a proven track record of leadership in the areas of innovation, strategy, marketing and relationship building. He has served as a professor of business and of marketing at a number of academic institutions and has a strong network and foothold in the media entrepreneurship sector. Erik’s leadership role in 100 Black Men of Atlanta and his prominence in the black entrepreneurial community has already had an impact on CMII.

Tom Luse
B.S. ’74, M.S. ’81
The executive producer of “The Walking Dead.” Recognized by the College of Arts and Sciences in the Outstanding Alumni Awards in 2017, he was the first Georgia State student to submit a film as a master’s thesis.

Dedren Snead
A a writer, technologist and futurist from Atlanta, Georgia. Snead is the CEO of SUBSUME, a technology startup that seeks to connect the Creative Class within the Black Diaspora and champion its unique needs, expectations, voice, and collaborative futures.
