The BOOM team is composed of volunteers and advisors who believe in the power of art to unite, inspire and transform the Queen City. We are constantly seeking input from artists, art lovers, nonprofits, local businesses and professional organizations of all types to keep BOOM fresh and on the cutting edge of Charlotte’s cultural community.
Manoj P. Kesavan is a designer/educator/community organizer based in Charlotte, NC, USA. He is the Founder and Executive Director of BOOM Charlotte, a multidisciplinary artist collective and non-profit that addresses issues of equity, access and opportunity in the community through innovative and collaborative cultural programming.
Trained as an architect and urban designer, Kesavan has been adjunct design faculty as well as a visiting lecturer/panelist/juror at several universities in the US, UK and India. He also consults on urban design/planning, and community engagement projects. His articles/interviews have appeared in professional and popular publications internationally.
Kesavan has been a consultant/advisor for public art master planning and selection initiatives for both governmental and private entities. He served as a Public Art Commissioner for Charlotte-Mecklenburg for 6 years, and currently serves on the Inclusive Public Art Advisory Council for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
Camerin Watson is a dancer, choreographer, producer, director and teaching artist. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in dance performance and choreography from University of North Carolina at Greensboro in May of 2007. Camerin has created and shared dance/theater work as a founder and director of TAPROOT Ensemble at the Asheville, Greensboro and Atlanta Fringe Festivals, as part of the North Carolina Dance Festival and the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
Watson is passionate about creating space for art across disciplines and is a founding artist of Charlotte’s annual BOOM Festival. She is the director of Expand Movement, a program for dancers with and without disabilities in the Charlotte region. She also teaches modern dance at Open Door Studios. She is on the board of Dance Artist Alliance CLT. Since 2016, Camerin has been the Artistic Director of Que-OS, the nonprofit behind BOOM.
Nikki Clemens joined the Que-OS team as the Operations Director in 2024. With a career in communications and marketing spanning decades, Nikki uses her background and experience to manage procedures, operations and support creative goals. With a B.A. in journalism from Indiana University, Nikki has written for the Indianapolis Star, the Denver Post and is published in many magazines, blogs and websites. She is a 200-RYT yoga instructor, a singer, creative writer and mother of two. Her career has focused her talents in non-profits, churches, schools, healthcare systems and community outreach. When she is not cheering for her IndianapolisColts or Georgia Bulldogs, you can find Nikki spending time with her kids and her mini-goldendoodle.
Kia O. Moore holds a B.A. in Communication Studies with a certificate in International Public Relations and a minor in Journalism from UNC Charlotte. Since 2008, Kia has had her writing published in local news outlets like QC Nerve, Creative Loafing Charlotte, QCity Metro, Charlotte Five, and more. Upon graduating in 2012, Kia worked in the print magazine industry at the Morris Media Network in the advertising department for two years.
She then transitioned into creating the brand voice of a Charlotte area neighborhood under the direction of Charlotte Center City Partners. She also dove into the non-profit sector of Charlotte. She lent her marketing talents to hip hop education non-profits Hip Hop University and Hack & Hustle Social Entrepreneurship Academy.
Kia also launched Hip Hop Orchestrated in 2016 to blend hip hop and orchestral music to unite people of various backgrounds through music. She has worked with BOOM since 2016 and is currently the festival’s Communications Director.
Kathy (Kat) Khalifa is a web developer and graphic designer with a background in software development at IBM (24 years). She owns and operates Web Woman Designs, LLC, a web and graphic design company specializing in small business and non-profits.
BOOM is a product of Que-OS, a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to transform the way art is created and shared, and how people connect to causes and community.