Shaymar leading an Artrepreneurship cohort on laser engraving.

Designing Spaces Where People and Ideas Grow

I design and launch human-centered creative frameworks that help schools, organizations, and civic partners turn imagination into opportunity.

My work includes keynote conversations, hands-on creative labs, entrepreneurship programs, and the development of scalable models that continue growing long after launch.

From classrooms to public spaces, my focus is simple: activate people, not just programs.

How I Help Organizations

Creative Ecosystem Design

Who it's for: Libraries, museums, nonprofits, municipalities, schools

What it includes: Space and program design, community engagement strategy, access frameworks

Proof: The SPACE Free Art For All, built from a three-week popup within a vacant storefront into a multi-generational creative hub serving Greenbelt, MD, expanded into a second site, Third SPACE Lounge, a workforce center, gift shop, makerspace annex, and community living room built on the "third space" idea.

Makerspace & Workforce Development

Who it's for: Workforce boards, nonprofits, schools, city agencies

What it includes: Fabrication lab setup, entrepreneurship curriculum, hands-on skill-building program design

Proof:Artrepreneurship Lab, and the American Job Center Community Network, physically hosted inside Third SPACE Lounge, plus an Employ Prince George's partnership.

Strategic Facilitation & Speaking

Who it's for: Boards, conference organizers, leadership teams

What it includes:Board retreats, visioning sessions, program design facilitation, community engagement sessions

Keynote topics:Creativity as Infrastructure · ARTrepreneurship™ · Neurodivergent Nonprofit Leadership · Building Community Through Making

Proof: 2025 Nonprofit Marketing Summit keynote. 2025 Laurel High School Student Art Student Conference

Every engagement is scoped to the organization. Reach out and I'll walk you through investment ranges based on scope.

Civic & Creative Infrastructure

The SPACE Free Art For All

Greenbelt, Maryland
Founder & Executive Director

I founded and built The SPACE Free Art For All as a cultural anchor — a community-based creative hub expanding access to tools, skill-building, and entrepreneurship.

Under my leadership, The SPACE grew into a drop-in learning environment, workforce partner site, and home of the Artrepreneurship Lab — serving multi-generational participants across skill levels and backgrounds.

The model demonstrates how creative infrastructure can increase access, dignity, and economic opportunity at the local level.

"I've always believed in the motto and pledge of Greenbelt. This is what happens in Greenbelt: you go to the grocery store, it's a five-minute walk, and it turns into an hour."

-from the Washington Post article.


A skatepark with a skater on the ramp surrounded by green trees and a grassy area, with colorful graffiti art on the walls and signs indicating skatepark rules.

Cosca Regional Skateboard Park

Clinton, Maryland

I served as community organizer and project lead throughout the full lifecycle of this public space — from petitioning and advocacy to fundraising, design coordination, and long-term implementation.

A central priority was embedding community art and youth voice directly into the park’s permanent structure, ensuring cultural ownership alongside civic investment.

This project laid the foundation for my ongoing work in community-driven design, public engagement, and creative placemaking.

Cosca Skate Park Competition Video - 2014

Partners

Annual Partners National Building Museum · DCPS

Signature Event Partner Deloitte, hosted two large annual events, drawing local schools and volunteers from around the country.

Community Supporters City of Greenbelt · Greenbelt Business Alliance · Prince George's County Memorial Library System · Employ Prince George's · George Washington University (Art Therapy collaboration) · Kingsman Academy Public Charter School · Pathways School · Planned Parenthood · AIDS Healthcare Foundation · GATE TV


Featured Speaking & Public Engagements

I speak nationally on creativity, leadership, identity, and building human-centered futures.

Event flyer for a virtual nonprofit conference titled 'Evolve: Adapt + Thrive in 2025'. The event features a session on neurodivergent nonprofit leadership with speakers Kelly McLaughlin and Shaymar Higgs. The flyer shows photos of the speakers and includes logos of From Scratch Fundraising and The SPACE Free Art For All. The event is scheduled for Thursday, March 6, at 12 PM PT, 2 PM CT, 3 PM ET.

Nonprofit Marketing Summit 2025
Keynote session on thriving as a neurodivergent leader in high-impact nonprofit environments.

Guest Speaker, Greenbelt Rotary Club (2019)
Shared the story behind The SPACE Free Art For All, shortly after opening: community placemaking, the vision for the space, and how the work ties back to personal history.


Proof

The SPACE Free Art For All | Greenbelt, MD | Founder & Executive Director • Not one location, two. The SPACE is the original drop-in creative hub, home to the Artrepreneurship Lab. Third SPACE Lounge is its extension: a workforce development center, gift shop, makerspace annex, and community living room, all in one, and the physical home of an American Job Center location. The name is deliberate, not home, not work, the third place in between.

Cosca Regional Skateboard Park | Clinton, MD | Community Organizer & Project Lead • Led the project from petitioning and advocacy through fundraising and design, embedding youth voice and community art into permanent public infrastructure.

Greenbelt’s Emerald City Pride | Greenbelt, MD | Director, via The SPACE Free Art For All • Now in its fifth year. In 2025, it grew from a single event into a summer-long "Summer of Love": a season of programming running June through August. The 2026 edition (June 27–August 2) includes a makeup workshop, a vogue workshop, drag bingo, a full-day Pride Parade & Festival at Roosevelt Center, a community bonfire, and a community screening of The Wiz.

Free Market & Community Library | Greenbelt, MD | Founder • A mutual-aid initiative providing free clothes, books, and household goods, all donated by community members, so neighbors have access to dignity-first necessities, no matter what chapter of life they're in, without added financial stress.

Featured on Fox5 DC's Zip Trip - Greenbelt. The only non-government organization showcased!
A still from that Skate Le Monde documentary shoot at Cosca Regional Skateboard Park.
Daughters of the American Revolution's Constitution Chapter dropped off books for our Free Market!