Making Her Mark | 2026 Ascend Series Grant Recipient

Baltimore, MD | Washington, DC

We are proud to celebrate filmmaker Shellée M. Haynesworth, a recipient of Making Her Mark’s 2026 Ascend Series Project Grant.

Shellée has received $1,500 toward the production of her feature documentary film: Mother of the Harlem Renaissance: The Legacy of Georgia Douglas Johnson.

An award-winning documentary filmmaker, director, producer, writer, and founder of Indigo Creative Works, Shellée describes herself as an artist and cultural memory worker whose practice is rooted in the act of remembering. Her film centers not only Georgia Douglas Johnson’s work as a poet, playwright, and composer, but the remarkable creative ecosystem she built around her.

“I approach this film not simply as a work of history, but as an act of stewardship.”

The Making Her Mark grant will contribute directly to the narrative backbone of the documentary, helping fund interviews with scholars, historians, and contemporary Black theater artists who will bring Johnson’s story into dialogue with the present.

We created the Ascend Series Project Grant to put tangible resources directly into the hands of women making ambitious creative work. We are honored to help Shellée bring this important story to new audiences.

Congratulations, Shellée.

—Ruut DeMeo, Founder, Making Her Mark

MAKING HER MARK FOUNDATION