Why is the organization called The Madame X Academy, and why does it have a “fictional” headmistress?

“Fictional?” Well, that’s not exactly true. The headmistress does, indeed, exist, and she’s the silent puppet master behind the secret inner-workings of the academy. Don’t all proper institutions of elevated learning have a strong figure as their headmistress? Madame X is the academy’s curator of curiosities, oddities, people and experiences. The name just adds a sense of mystery, but it isn’t a cultural or historic reference.

I created the “fictional” headmistress of a secret school for clever people’, with the fun, expressed goal of NOT telling you! I was driven to develop the organization for social good, but also as a personal outlet for my values, creativity, skills and talents. I could do everything that I wanted, exactly the way I wanted to do it. Singer, Erykah Badu, best explained the delicate nature of personal expression in her song Tyrone, when she said, “Now, keep in mind I’m an artist, and I’m sensitive about my ‘..ish’.” [edit mine]. Me, too, Erykah!!! Me, too!!! As it turned out, my experiences were incredibly fun and rewarding to produce, and the families loved them so much that I just kept going, however, after years of deliberate anonymity on this site and at my events, I will disclose to my dear readers, that my name is Remi.

Developing novel, exciting, useful, edu-tainment that delights families has always been a focus of mine; and I enjoy creating cool, unexpected touch-points for the Madame X families who participate in the program. I’ve communicated with parents and kids with coded messages, produced personalized educational ‘video drops’ and ciphers, and also developed at-home activity sheets and projects for Madame X’ers to do outside of the events - free of charge.  I care deeply about every, single detail of my experiences and program. I’m also very proud of it and the kids, which is why we post a lot of photos! I believe that African-American history and culture, explored through immersive experiences, transforms people of all ages. races and backgrounds.

We began with girls ages 8–13, but I realized that you can't build a ‘giving’ community and then hold some of it back. The knowledge, the culture, the joy of this work, belongs to everyone.

What is Your Role Within Madame X? What Do you Do?

Madame X is my baby from initial concept and research, to hands-on execution of every single experience and detail.

What’s Your Background?

I’m an educator who believes that we should adopt more engaging, socially relevant content and methods in which to teach others; but I’m also a career marketing professional with three decades of experience that spans communications, marketing, event planning, brand strategy and design. I’ve been managing director, vice president, director of communications and senior strategist numerous times, at several well-known agencies and start-ups. I’ve launched a lot of products and companies over the course of my career, and have counseled a lot of CEOs and executive teams over several decades. At the end of the day, I'm a futurist, creator, founder, educator, and community organizer, and I move through all of those identities at once. My focus is on creating innovative educational experiences - so I’m applying my former experiences, to my current mission.

I'm enthusiastic to connect with others who share the same values, and who think more expansively about education, the future, and the importance of preserving legacy. Reach out if you’re with me.

Stay Curious. Seek Truth. Embrace Humanity.