Azmera Hammouri-Davis

Education

B.A. University of Southern California

M.T.S., Harvard Divinity School

Biography:

Azmera Hammouri-Davis, MTS served as Africana Spirituality Advisor from September 2020 to September 2021.

In this role, Azmera offered mentorship and guidance to students of African descent, supporting socio-emotional and spiritual needs and connecting them with resources that nourish their curiosity around Black spiritual life on campus. Prior to Tufts, Hammouri-Davis worked in higher education for eight years, beginning as a residential advisor for the Center for Black Culture and Student Affairs at the University of Southern California(USC) and continuing as a Director of summer residential programs for underrepresented and low-income students through the SMASH program at UC Berkeley before arriving at Harvard. While completing her Master of Theological Studies focused on African/American religions, she served as a Diversity and Explorations Assistant with Harvard Divinity School and Race Relations proctor for the Dean of Students First-year Experience office.

Hammouri-Davis received a B.A. in Visual and Performing Arts Critical Studies and B.A. in Social Sciences Psychology from the University of Southern California. When she was seven years old her mother introduced her to the Afro-Brazilian martial art of Capoeira and ever since her life has been dedicated to Afro-Diasporic cultural education for liberation. She was awarded a Fulbright Creative and Performing Arts research fellowship in 2017-2018 where she studied the Afro-indigenous origins of Capoeira in its birthplace -- Salvador Bahia, Brazil and attended the Federal University of Bahia. Fluent in portuguese Azmera provides pastoral care among grass-roots organizations around the world through translation, embodied storytelling and non-violent communication workshops and classes.

Hammouri-Davis brings a rich cross-cultural understanding to her practice having worked across communities and age groups, including working with inner city youth in Oakland, Ca, Salvador Bahia, Brazil, Los Angeles, Ca and with K-12 students living under occupation in Ramallah, Palestine. At Harvard, Hammouri-Davis received a Religion, Conflict and Peace grant from Harvard's Religious Literacy Project and is currently on the executive board of FollowtheKEEPERS, a Black womxn-led global collective of artists, activists and scholars committed to amplifying womxns contributions to Hip Hop culture. She also collaborates with Friends of Sabeel North America, a Palestinian Christian ecumenical organization seeking justice and peace in the Holy-land through non-violence to deepen critical inquiry and interfaith dialogue among Black Christians.

Azmera was a Teaching Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Education for a general education course on Dilemmas in Equity and Excellence in K-12 American education and Director of a transnational social justice movement called Break The Boxes. In her spare time Azmera enjoys making music, painting, spending time with her partner and family.