Gabe Benn

Gabriel “Asheru” Benn, M.Ed. is a Peabody award winning writer and international Hip Hop artist, veteran educator, and social entrepreneur, hailing from Washington DC.  He has a career spanning over 20 years as a teacher and administrator in Washington DC schools, and is nationally recognized as a pioneer of the Hip Hop Education movement.  In 2014, as a Faculty member with Discovery Education,  and later with the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), Benn has provided training and other supports for teachers and school leaders in districts across the country, namely in the areas of culturally responsive teaching, arts and technology integration, social emotional learning,  and restorative practices.

In addition,  Benn has served as Founding Director of Guerilla Arts Ink,  a full service media, arts and education consulting agency that seeks to recruit, train and hire artists and creative professionals to serve as teaching artists in underserved communities and schools.  He is also the co-founder of the Hip Hop Educational Literacy Program curriculum series, and managing partner for ed-tech start up, Words Liive, and Team facilitator for A Long Talk About the Uncomfortable Truth, a virtual anti-racism experience.

Benn earned his Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Virginia in 1996, a Masters in Education from National-Louis University in 2004, and earned an Executive Certificate in Arts & Culture Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania in 2018.