Dequan Gambrell has been in the nonprofit sector for over ten years, where he enjoys blending his background in education with his creative interests as a playwright, poet, and aspiring author. His passion for advocacy was first actualized at his internship for the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, where he was acquainted with professional-standard research practices and statistical analysis methodologies that rendered palpable change. After pursuing an A.A. in Childhood Education from BMCC, he pursued multiple avenues for artistic development in order to affect more change with his mentorship within the nonprofit realms. After a production internship with Frame:Runner, a post-production studio in New York City, he pursued his B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan’s Residential College, with a minor in Text-to-Performance, where he continued to advocate for the unheard within and outside of the classroom. As house president of his co-operative house, he resolved high stakes conflicts for a house of over sixteen members, administering relevant resources as difficult conversations arose and managing simultaneous bureaucratic timelines. Outside of these responsibilities, he also organized over twenty resume and career building workshops, book clubs, writers' circles and craft studio days in his community, safely and without outbreak during the pandemic. Gambrell has experience with theater as an assistant director, actor and co-playwright on a number of plays, and is eager to continue work in this field in an administrative capacity, either by engaging new audiences or problem solving innovatively. His mixed media work has appeared in the Residential College Review, and he has also done freelance editorial work for Current, a lifestyle magazine focused on events in Washtenaw County, Michigan.He is now exploring MFA programs in Film, Fiction, and Digital Media and MBA dual degree programs for the 2026 school year while writing and seeking publication of his work. Current research interests include the Black mundane in American cinema, nonviolent video game design and corporate horror.