Essmaa Litim is a multi-disciplinary artist and activist from Boston who uses her voice as her medium to distribute a wealth of information from both a social and political lens. She is the author of the memoir, Speechless, which centers her family’s journey immigrating to the United States in the 90s and shares the cultural adversity they faced in raising five children in a new world. In addition to her book, Essmaa uses her art of storytelling to bring spoken word to the forefront of her experiences and those of her community, powering the stage with effortless wordplay. She has performed in spaces like SOB’s in NYC, WGBH, Museum of Poets and her work has recently been published in the anthology How We Take Up Space. Essmaa is founder of Femme Flo, a poetic collective curated to cultivate a community of femme poets in celebration of us. In March 2023, Essmaa was awarded the EXTRAordinary Woman award by the Mayor's Office of Women's Advancement for her commitment and dedication to her community, neighborhood, and workplace. As a first-generation American, Essmaa continues to work hard to help build the community that helped build her through believing it, speaking it, and being it.