Najaa Young is an award-winning filmmaker, educator, and creative strategist originally from Cleveland, Ohio. Her interdisciplinary practice brings together filmmaking, theatre, education, and creative strategy, with a focus on culturally grounded storytelling, creative empowerment, and social impact.
Young earned an MFA in Film Production from Florida State University’s Graduate Conservatory of Motion Picture, Television, and Recording Arts and a BA in Theatre Arts from Chatham University. Her academic and professional career spans screenwriting, directing, producing, editing, theatre, and higher education. She has taught film and media courses at Dillard University, Atlanta Metropolitan State College, Atlanta Technical College, and American InterContinental University. At Atlanta Metropolitan State College, she served as a Full-Time Instructor and Film & Entertainment Studies Program Coordinator, where she taught various courses while developing curriculum and mentoring emerging filmmakers.
As a filmmaker, Young has written, directed, and produced narrative films, documentaries, music videos, and educational media. Her selected filmography includes Stranger, Coochie, Black Dance in Louisiana, and the feature narrative Blood First. Her work has been presented at and recognized by prominent film festivals and cultural institutions, including the Pan African Film Festival, Black Harvest Film Festival, Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival, Atlanta Pan African Film Festival, Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival, Hamburg International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, and Yale University’s Visual Connexx symposium.
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Young has maintained a career rooted in community, culture, and the arts while working across Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Her professional experience includes serving as Theatre Arts Program Manager at Karamu House, the historic African American theater in Cleveland, where she helped cultivate opportunities for emerging artists and storytellers.
Young is also the founder and CEO of Orunmila’s Daughter, LLC, a creative consulting and storytelling practice providing story development, editing, digital content production, and other strategic storytelling services. Across her creative and academic work, she is committed to helping students, artists, organizations, and communities develop stories that are clear, compelling, culturally authentic, and transformative.