Cultural Team

Visionary Credo

Greetings, Seekers. I am Shakara. I work at the crossroads of coaching, priesthood, and cultural analysis, guiding individuals, communities, and institutions toward clarity, sovereignty, and integration. As a coach, I help people govern their inner lives, regulate emotion, and translate insight into disciplined action. As a priest, I steward meaning, values, and ethical alignment, attending to the spiritual dimensions of identity, transition, and responsibility. As an African Renaissance man, I study and teach the hidden and visible architectures of power: how images, symbols, myths, and social structures shape consciousness across time.

Our Cultural Affiliates team are capable, culturally diverse independent practitioners who integrate various best practices from different systems. They work together as specialists, leveraging our collective strengths to provide superior cultural and spiritual services.

Every member of the Cultural Team works within this shared cultural vision: to recover memory, decode power, restore African-centered meaning, and help communities participate consciously in the making of culture.

Member Intake Application

Culturalist Mission Statement

My mission is to examine, interpret, and teach the hidden and visible architectures that shape collective consciousness, particularly as they relate to African presence, power, and symbolism in media, history, and imagination.

Through lectures, writing, and cultural analysis, I explore Afrofuturism, fantasy, and mythic narrative as tools for understanding how images, stories, and symbols influence identity, behavior, and social order. This work emphasizes media literacy, critical interpretation, and the recovery of African-centered perspectives within global visual culture.

I focus on the study of social structures and power systems, including ancient and modern institutions such as kingship, political authority, fraternal orders, and secret societies, examining how governance operates both publicly and invisibly through symbols, rituals, narratives, and social conditioning.

At its core, this mission is about conscious participation: helping individuals and communities recognize how meaning is constructed, how power is transmitted, and how culture can be reclaimed as a site of sovereignty, imagination, and future-making.

HeruMaakhet NebShakara

Founder & CEO

"Together we achieve more."

HeruMaakhet NebShakara works at the crossroads of coaching, priesthood, and cultural analysis — guiding individuals, communities, and institutions toward clarity, sovereignty, and integration. He is a highly-regarded urban educator in New Jersey with extensive experience in curriculum design, professional development, and cultural education.

His mission is to examine, interpret, and teach the hidden and visible architectures that shape collective consciousness, particularly as they relate to African presence, power, and symbolism in media, history, and imagination.

Education: Joint undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and Information Systems from Rutgers University; Master's degree in Information Systems from NJIT; graduate certification in Crisis Management & Business Continuity; NJ mathematics teaching license with endorsements in Economics, Finance, and Business Computer Applications.

📞 973-819-9718

✉️ ifaorisha009@gmail.com

Dr. George Brandon

Cultural Elder & Scholar

Dr. George Brandon is a multidisciplinary cultural worker straddling the domains of art, science, and spirituality through his work as a musician, anthropologist, and integrative sound and music practitioner.

Education & Background: He holds a BA in Literature and Anthropology from Reed College, an MA and Ph.D. from Rutgers University (New Brunswick), and completed further work in medical anthropology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He taught at the African American Studies Department of the University of Maryland at Catonsville (1982–1989), then joined the City University of New York's Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education (now CUNY Medical School) where he taught for 25 years, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 2014.

Throughout his academic career, the core of Dr. Brandon's research has focused on African, African American, and Afro-Caribbean religions and spirituality as healing systems. He has published on African American spiritual healers, Santeria and Yoruba religion, traditional African medicine, and the medical practices of the Jamaican Maroons. He has conducted field research in the United States, Ghana, Nigeria, Jamaica, Brazil, and Suriname.

Dr. Brandon has served as artistic and cultural consultant to dance companies, museums, research organizations, and interfaith groups. He was certified as an Integrative Sound and Music Practitioner by the New York Open Center in June 2015, with a practice rooted in chanting, composition, sound meditation, storytelling, and the therapeutic use of Himalayan singing bowls — all within a framework of Asian, African, and African diasporic cultures.

Sinmisola Kareem

Program Director, Yoruba Language Program

Sinmisola Kareem serves as the Program Director of the Yoruba Language Program, an online educational initiative dedicated to teaching Yoruba language and culture to the African diaspora community. Sinmi bridges the gap between traditional cultural preservation and modern digital education.

Education & Technical Background: Sinmi holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from the University of Michigan (December 2020). His professional experience includes BlackRock as Program Analyst to Associate (2021–2024) and currently as Systems/Application Specialist at Creative Technical Solutions LLC.

Cultural Leadership: As Program Director of the Yoruba Language Program, Sinmi has developed a comprehensive 12-unit curriculum — from foundational greetings to advanced Ifá studies and Yoruba history — serving students across the United States through weekly classes, cultural immersion activities, and partnerships with traditional temples. He mentored under his teacher in Nigeria, deepening his understanding of authentic Yoruba language instruction and culture.

Community Impact: Sinmi spearheaded the BlackRock HYPE Scholars Program, creating support systems for young Black women in computer science. As a member and former Chapter President of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. (Delta Rho Chapter), he facilitated critical discussions on community policing and earned the "Spirit of Connectedness" award for bridging community systems and local enforcement.

✉️ sokareem@umich.edu

Chief Àràbà Awodiran Agboola

Senior Global Ambassador of Ifá & Asoju Awo Agbaye Ile Oodua

Àràbà Awódìran Okanlawon Agboọlá is a world-renowned custodian of Ifá tradition, a prolific author, and a high-ranking traditional leader. Known as the Àràbà of Oworonsoki Kingdom in Lagos, Nigeria, he serves as a vital bridge between the ancestral wisdom of Yorùbáland and the global Diaspora. His work is defined by a commitment to demystifying Ifá and presenting its complex metaphysics as a coherent philosophy of life.

Lineage & Initiation: Born into the illustrious Agboọlá family — a lineage synonymous with high-level Ifá priesthood and the title of Àràbà — his training began in early childhood. He represents a patrilineal succession of Arabas, ensuring that the Aṣẹ he carries is anchored in multi-generational traditional authority. He was trained under the rigorous standards of the Oworonsoki and Ile-Ife traditions, eventually rising to become the Asoju Awo Agbaye of Ile-Ife (Ambassador of Ifá to the World) and the Aara Awo of Lagos Mainland.

Notable Publications: Ifá: Ohun Ìjìnlẹ̬ Ayé (Ifá: The Philosophy of Life) and significant contributions to the "Ifá Tuntun" movement focusing on revitalization and systematic teaching of traditional knowledge.

Global Diplomacy: He has traveled extensively across Europe, the United States, and Brazil, establishing temples and providing spiritual oversight to ensure the sincere practice of Yorùbá spirituality internationally. He serves as the primary Curriculum Authenticator for the Yoruba Language Program, ensuring teachings reflect the authentic depth of the Oworonsoki lineage.

Brother Doshon Farad

Journalist & Publicist

Narrative Changer: Doshon Farad was educated at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ, where he majored in Communications and African-American Studies, and joined as a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Mr. Farad has been pursuing journalism since his freshman year in college in 1996, amassing nearly twenty years of experience in broadcasting, TV, and radio.

He delves into issues affecting people of African descent across the world, lecturing on a wide range of topics from history and politics to Hip-Hop, World Affairs, and economics. He has appeared on television and radio programs including News One Now with Roland Martin, The Michael Imhotep Radio Show, Jesse Lee Peterson's Radio Show, and NYC's Hot 97's Street Soldiers hosted by Lisa Evers.

He has served as head columnist and host of the Movement Magazine. His articles have been published in Experience Reality Magazine, the New Black Panther News, the Amsterdam News, The Grio, and The Black Agenda Report. He co-hosted "FYI: What the Hell is Going On?" and hosted "World Wide" on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network. He currently co-hosts "Change Makers" on New Jersey's 95.9 FM and is a contributor for NewsOne.com.

"I'm Just A Brother."