TEAM

LEAD ARTISTS

Co-Founders: Tommy Soulati Shepherd & Kaitlin McGaw

Tommy Soulati Shepherd (he/him/they) is an internationally renowned actor, playwright, composer, educator, rapper, drummer, beatboxer and music producer. Tommy is a member of Campo Santo, Antique Naked Soul, and co-founder of Alphabet Rockers. Tommy has composed, performed and toured internationally with Marc Bamuthi Joseph, collaborating on Scourge, the break/s, Spoken World, red, black and GREEN: a blues and /peh-LO-tah/. Tommy won a 2018 Isadora Duncan Award and is a two-time GRAMMY nominee. Tommy brings love for family, art, activism and community building to all of his work, sparking inspiration for a more joyful and equitable world. He is the proud father of Tommy Shepherd III (one of Alphabet Rockers youth artists), whom he is raising with his wife Anna.

Kaitlin McGaw (she/her) is a writer, listener and co-founder of Alphabet Rockers based in Oakland, CA on Ohlone lands. Her path in anti-racism and art began as a youth in Belmont, MA, where community dialogue, activism, and poetry framed her purpose and relationship with the world. She is a graduate of Harvard University with a BA in Afro-American Studies, a two-time GRAMMY nominee, artist fellow and deeply committed partner for change. Kaitlin believes radical imagination begins with the way we read, sing, and ask questions of the world with our children. She is the mother of two creative children of her own, whom she is raising with her husband Adhi.

Youth Rockers: Kali de Jesus, Maya Fleming and Tommy Shepherd III  

Alphabet Rockers youth artists are professional artists, who have been creating and touring with the collective since 2017. Kali de Jesus (he/him), Maya Fleming (she/her), and Tommy Shepherd III (he/him) and are brilliant writers, impactful community workers and dynamic performers while excelling in high school at Oakland School of the Arts. In addition to performing on 3 GRAMMY-nominated albums, they have been interviewed by CBS Mornings, amongst many local TV Networks, all while living their lives as basketball players, actors and saxophonists. On the new album, The Movement, the artists penned their own songs and interviewed restorative justice practitioners to understand more about transformative justice. 

“We got strength - it’s in our community / We got power - that’s unity / Standing up on your shoulders / Lifting our voices higher!”