Brian "Dyalekt" Kushner has been a hip-hop MC, theater maker, and educator for nearly 20 years. He’s the director of pedagogy at Pockets Change, where he uses hip-hop pedagogy to demystify personal finance and help students take control of their relationship with money. He is the recipients of Jump$tart’s 2022 Innovation in Financial Literacy award. He’s rocked (performed/taught/keynoted) everywhere from conferences like AFCPE and Prosperity Now, to stages like SXSW and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, to classrooms that range from Harvard & Yale to your cousin’s living room.
“As an educator my work is about Identity, literacy and self efficacy (I get stuff done, I make kids believe themselves) Hip-Hop pedagogy - based in multiple intelligences (we all learn in different ways, all the ways that we learn are all the ways we express, if we can figure out the ways we tend to express, that will help you understand the ways that we learn, this informs people on how they should teach)
I host a podcast with Pamela Capalad called Brunch & Budget about personal finance and racial economic inclusion. We teach and host workshops educating people Founded See Change - Group financial planning specifically designed for POC - Develop education materials and co-founded”
His latest jam is the Museum of Dead Words, an album/play/research presentation about words that turn conversations into fights.