Meklit Hadero

Meklit Hadero is an Ethiopian-born, San Francisco-based vocalist, composer, cultural strategist and former refugee, known for her electric performances and vibrant cultural activism. Her Ethio-Jazz music has reached the top of world music charts across the US and Europe and been featured by the New York Times, BBC, NPR, CNN, San Francisco Chronicle, and many more. Meklit’s latest EP, Ethio Blue, was released this past March. She has performed on four continents, and is a household name in her home country of Ethiopia, where her music videos air daily on national television.

Meklit straddles her creative practice with her passion for cultural activism. She is the former Chief of Program at YBCA (2020-2022), former co-director of the Red Poppy Art House, co-founder of the Nile Project, and a featured voice in UN Women’s theme song. Meklit has given talks on multiple TED Stages, at the UN, and at the National Geographic Storytellers Summit.

Meklit is a National Geographic Explorer, and a TED Sr. Fellow, and has collaborated with world renowned musicians, such as Kronos Quartet, Andrew Bird, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and the legendary founder of funk music, Pee Wee Eliis. Meklit is host and co-founder of Movement, a podcast, radio series and live show uplifting the songs and stories of immigrant musicians, airing to nearly 3 million listeners as a nationally syndicated feature on PRX’s The World. Meklit’s five year old son is one of her greatest musical inspirations.

Being a Taproot Artist is an incredible support, which I am so grateful for. I *especially* appreciate the fact that this is general operating support, and that so much care and cultural sensitivity has gone into every step of designing the program. This fellowship is based in trusting artists who are on a lifelong path to do work that blooms from community practice. We feel it. I am also so excited to have the opportunity to further invest in my community through this fellowship.