First Wave announced Sofía Snow as the new director of UW-Madison’s Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives and the First Wave Scholarship Program on Thursday via Twitter.
Born and raised in Boston, Snow graduated from UW-Madison in 2011 with a degree in Social Work and was a member of First Wave’s very first cohort.
First Wave is a full-tuition, four-year scholarship program administered by OMAI, and is the first university program in the country centered on urban arts, spoken word and hip-hop culture, according to their website.
Snow previously held the position of education coordinator with OMAI before serving as Executive Director at Urban Word, a program that amplifies youth voice through literary workshops in Manhattan.
Snow spoke to the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives in 2014 about being a firsthand witness to institutional injustices faced by poor communities of color. She credits that exposure to guiding her work today as an artist, educator and community organizer.
“We’re really excited to have Sofía come back here,” said James Gavins, the arts education outreach specialist for OMAI and First Wave. “Especially being an alum [of First Wave], it’s really exciting for new energy, new ideas and taking this program to another level.”
