D.B. Maroon

D.B. Maroon is the author of Black Lives, American Love, a book of hard-hitting essays on American culture, race, and the path to reconciliation within. She is an author, anthropologist, and speaker. Recognized for evoking the literary and ethnographic grace of Zora Neale Hurston with a bold fusion of cultural observation and sun-woven truth-telling, D.B. Maroon writes critical essays, poetry, and fiction. Her work has been published in Spirit and Flame: An Anthology of Contemporary African American Poetry; Spirited: Affirming the Soul and Black Gay Lesbian Identity; and Publics, Politics, and Participation.   As an applied anthropologist, D.B. Maroon has designed and improved social good programs nationally that have impacted millions of lives for the better. She draws on ethnographic research, human-centered design thinking, behavioral economics, and asset-based development practices to amplify solutions that matter. Currently, she is the CEO of a research and engagement institute focused on equitable urban revitalization. Dr. Maroon is proud to be part of creating genuine shifts in equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice as part of her ongoing applied research and practice. D.B. Maroon holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from UC Santa Cruz.  Having lived for lengthy periods in the world’s most storied cities – Casablanca, New York, and San Francisco – she now spends her time in the heated invitations of the American South.