NORA RAHIMIAN: A CommUNITY Catchup on Art as Activism

Nora Rahimian

is a a Los Angeles, California-based Creative Consultant doing innovative work signature to her own process, path and experiences to date.

I was connected to Nora over LinkedIn, a space where Nora uses her voice to share a plethora of insight – by my friend Alborz, who local Toronto creatives may know for his work with The Hustle, The Academy Presents and beyond -  I was immediately drawn to, and felt aligned with Nora’s career experiences, as well as her drive and mission to create change and amplify the art and voices of the people she works with. I highly suggest you check out her published writing on the platform; as of late she shared a piece on 8 Simple Truths on protests, looting and privilege and another about talking politics at work that really stuck with me.

I was blessed to be featured on Nora’s #CultureFix series three weeks ago – a live Instagram series as part of her consultation platform of the same name, providing tailored, one-on-one consulting to artists, brands, & entrepreneurs. Nora has lived and worked globally and one of her many missions is to shake, reshape and transform the systems we live in. She does this by using the arts and music as a tool for peace building and social justice.

Born in Tehran during a war, Nora lived on 3 continents before she was 3 and immigrated to the US as a refugee. While earning a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s in International Affairs, Nora worked as a community organizer, designing violence intervention and social justice programs for youth.  

During her time running peacebuilding programs in Liberia , she began managing popular Liberian hip hop artist, Takun J, making her the first artist manager in Liberia. During her time with Takun J, Nora secured partnerships with the EU and UNICEF, placements in outlets like BET and Forbes, and started Liberia’s first music festival, successfully bringing together 20,000 people over 2 days.  VICE’s coverage of the event was their first piece about Liberia that wasn’t racist.  She also made Takun J the first Liberian artist to be offered an endorsement deal with a major transnational telecommunications company, negotiating a three-year deal that set a precedent for future artists. 

Today, Nora works as a creative consultant and co-founder of #CultureFix, a global collaborative network of creatives & cultural producers who use arts & culture for social impact. She has helped artists tour internationally, sell out merch, earn placements in national and international outlets, and secure dream collaborations. 

With a unique perspective on conscious business-building for creatives, Nora has been invited to speak at events worldwide, including SXSW, A3C, and several universities; she has partnered with organizations like ONE, BBC, #HipHopEd, and Al Jazeera Stream; and consults for several popular hip hop and afrobeats artists around the world. Most recently, she has been working with MI Abaga to establish TASCK, a creative agency based in Lagos.  She is a United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Fellow, was recognized as a Trailblazer by VoyageLA, and was named one of iStandard's Women Who Run The Music Industry.

We get into Nora’s current work, how she has pivoted her services over the last few months, methods for artists to use their platform to continue conversations and shift cultural/ political paradigms and why it’s more than cool to create your own lane, and cultivate a values-based CommUNITY.

Connect with Nora Rahimian:
Web | LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter

Connect with #CultureFix
Instagram | Events

LISTEN via:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts