MEET MORE 2026 UNITY AWARD WINNERS
ELEMENT EVEREST-BLANKS IS A DISRUPTOR, and you will address her as such, thank you very much. And she wants you (yes, YOU) to know that we are all hyphens. We are all many things.
Everest-Blanks, for example, is a founding DJ at 88Nine Radio Milwaukee who left for more than a decade only to return to the airwaves. She is now the program director at HYFIN, a Radio Milwaukee channel broadcasting Black music 24/7.
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
She’s also: A middle-daughter of a hippie mom – and a bit of a hippie herself. A vegetarian. A Michigander and Milwaukeean. An official artist advocate and music advocate. A content creator with The Recording Academy (the org that puts on the Grammys), mentor in its Grammy U program, and member of its Music Advocacy Committee. A speaker and moderator. A member of the National Independent Venue Association’s I.D.E.A. Committee and Visit Milwaukee’s IDEA Committee.
And she is, in her newest passion, Amplifier-in-Residence with the Marcus Performing Arts Center. “I showcase all of the incredible shows that you should go to,” she says. “My campaign with them is called ‘Marcus Centers You,’ and the reason I wanted that to be my platform is because they really do center every person in the community.” To her, it is “hugely important” how the Marcus Center continues to do the things that seem simple but go a long way toward making sure its culture is for any- and everyone. This includes providing for people with hearing impairments and ensuring pamphlets are printed in braille for every single show.
“I am one of 1% of Black female program directors globally. Globally. You are looking at a unicorn right now; I don’t exist. When I walk into all these conferences and on all these panels, I am the only one who looks like me,” she says. “I walk in with everybody who’s influenced me and helped me get to where I am. And if I don’t see those people at the table, or at least a representative of those people at the table, my job is to speak up for them because they’re not here.”
How can we create more unity in Milwaukee?
“Be a professional disruptor. Access without investment is performative. You can give me access to a million opportunities, but are you going to advocate on my behalf? Are you going to open that door? If I have a platform, I want to share it.”
