Mayda del Valle has been described by the Chicago Sun Times as having “a way with words. Sometimes they seem to flutter and roll off her lips. Other times they burst forth like a comet streaking across a nighttime sky.”
A proud native of the South Side of Chicago, she was a contributing writer and original cast member of the Tony Award winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway and has appeared on Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on HBO.
She also toured with Norman Lear’s Declare Yourself Spoken Word Tour, a non-profit, non-partisan project created to encourage young voter registration for the 2004 presidential elections.
Smithsonian Magazine chose her as one of “America’s Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences” and Oprah’s O Magazine named her as one of 20 women for the first ever “O Power List.” In May of 2009 she was invited to perform at The White House for the President and First Lady.