Shalom Haileselassie earned her BA in Anthropology from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an MA in Applied Anthropology from the University of North Texas. For her master’s thesis, Shalom partnered with a NYC art nonprofit to explore how young people are impacted by public arts programming. By and large, her research is a power analysis on the nonprofit sector and a deep dive into New York City’s unique relationship to the arts. 

In her home city of Pittsburgh, Shalom worked with The Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education (ARYSE) in various capacities. Her most recent role was as Co-Director of their summer camp, PRYSE Academy. While there, Shalom collaborated to build a successful virtual summer camp in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shalom continued supporting young people in Pittsburgh during the pandemic by advocating for, designing, and implementing a 1:1 tutoring program through Hello Neighbor. Internationally, Shalom worked as a Youth Development Specialist in Tafingoult, Morocco.

Shalom is a multi-faceted artist, polyglot, and academic who enjoys archival research and teaching young people about lesser known diasporic histories.