Meet Our Team
Pendambaye Zenisha Smith (she/her/hers)
Pendambaye Zenisha Smith is an emerging poet and scientist/researcher who is invested in how Black women sustain themselves amidst antiblackness. She holds a degree in neurobiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the co-founder of the UpRise Poetry Collective, the assistant poetry editor for New Delta Review, guest editor for the 2020 Tennesee Literary Writing Festival, and a First Wave scholar. Her work has been published by Rattle Magazine, Wusgood.black, Interim Poetics, and Decomp magazine. Currently, she is a First-Year MFA candidate for poetry at Louisiana State University. Penda loves a good cup of coffee, warm afternoons, and laughing with her friends.
Kyla V Martin (she, her, hers)
Kyla (she/her/hers) received her Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN and her Master of Science in College Student Development and Counseling from Northeastern University in Boston, MA. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at LSU in Leadership and Human Resources Development. At LSU she serves as the Graduate Assistant for the LSU Women's Center and sits on the University Council on Gender Equity (UCGE). As part of her work in UCGE she co-chairs a subcommittee focused on the experiences of Women of Color at LSU.
Through her personal, professional, and academic journey she has had the opportunity to live in NY, MI, CT, MN, NY, NJ, MA, RI, and now LA so the question "where are you from" is always a hard one for her to answer. In her downtime she enjoys spending time with her puppy Amina, her partner Jonathan, or hosting friends for a meal.
Kennedi Smith (she/her/hers)
Kennedi Smith is a Louisiana State University graduate student pursuing her master’s degree in Mass Communication with a focus in Strategic Communication. She received her B.A. in Journalism with a Communication minor at the University of New Hampshire in May 2020 while being a four-year starter on the women’s volleyball team. Smith currently works as a Diversity, Advocacy, & Civic Engagement Graduate Assistant in the College of Human Sciences and Education where she works on diversity initiatives. Smith is also a co-founder and co-host of Unlimited Podcast, a podcast where they discuss important and current topics surrounding sports. Smith has worked as an intern for VYPE Magazine where she conducted on-camera interviews. She has also worked as a social media intern for Texas Footwork where she conducted athlete interviews and wrote articles about them as well as writing and designing images and content for all social media platforms. Smith was raised in The Woodlands, TX