Louis Alemayehu is a writer, educator, activist, poet and mentor of younger artists and activist. His writing has appeared in national and international publications. Alemayehu is a founding member of the seminal, award winning poetry/jazz ensemble, Ancestor Energy, strongly influence by Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. In 2009 the Minnesota Spoken Word Association gave Alemayehu an Urban Griot award for 30 years of excellence as a pioneering spoken word artist. In 2012 the Process Work Institute in Portland Oregon certified Louis as a “World Work Elder” as he engages in art as a "spirit weaver" or community builder, connecting diverse populations. Much of his non-artistic work today is centered on Food Security, Climate Change, Human Rights, Environmental Justice and always performance. Alemayehu has been Community Faculty or “Wisdom Carrier” for the Environmental Sustainability class at the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs where he has taught for 12 years. His performances work draws richly diverse audiences in terms of age, race, class, gender, nationality and education. For him storytelling is essential tool of community building. Over the years his collaborators have included master musicians and composers Carei Thomas, David Wright III, Mick LaBriola, Gary Schulte, Donald Washington, Davu Seru, Mankwe Ndosi, Anthony Cox, Dean McGraw and Douglas Ewart.