Virginia Cumberbatch

As a creative, scholar and organizer, Virginia Cumberbatch’s work sits at the intersection of community advocacy and storytelling. In 2018 she co-founded Rosa Rebellion, "a platform for creative activism by and for women of color. SXSW 2019 will serve as the host to Rosa Rebellion's first project, REBEL+REST, a curated effort to give Black activists space to truly rest, rejuvenate and restore. Virginia has also served as the Director of Community Engagement and Social Equity, as a part of The University of Texas' Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, since 2016.

Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Virginia was appointed to and is currently serving on the Mayor of Austin's Task Force on Institutional Racism and Systemic Bias and is a Global Shaper for the World Economic Form. She has spoken at SXSWEDU, TEDx, Q Commons, the University of Western Australia's Impact Festival and several conferences on topics related to diversity, inclusion, equity, racial reconciliation and the power of storytelling.

She is the recipient of the 2016 Anti-Defamation League Social Justice Award and the 2018 Austin 40 Under 40 Award for Civics, Government and Public Affairs. Her book, As We Saw It: The Story of Integration at UT Austin was published in the spring of 2018.

Virginia received her B.A. from Williams College in history and sociology and her M.A. in public policy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin.