Shahida Mausi is a nationally recognized force in culture, arts, entertainment, and venue management, a career that defies easy categorization, spanning the public, nonprofit, and private sectors with equal authority. Her global perspective was forged early: by age four, she was already seeing the world alongside her mother, Joyce Garnett, the first African American woman to become a U.S. Foreign Service officer. Mausi is the Founder, CEO, and President of The Right Productions, Inc. (TRP), an entertainment production and venue management company she established in 1996. Since 2004, TRP has operated Detroit’s iconic 6,000-seat The Aretha Amphitheatre, one of the top-ranked amphitheaters in the world. She has since expanded TRP’s portfolio to include The Arena at Southlake, an 8,000- seat multi-purpose venue in Metro Atlanta. With oversight of both properties, Mausi is now managing two mid-size venues, making her the only and first African American woman in the United States to do so. A Founding Partner of the Black Promoters Collective (BPC) — now ranked among the top live music promoters in the world — Mausi has been quietly reshaping the entertainment industry for decades. Her entrepreneurial path was sparked by a single, pointed challenge: while serving as Executive Director of the YMCA, Janet Hill, mother of Grant Hill, confronted the glaring absence of Black women leaders in Detroit’s for-profit sector. That moment changed everything. She also credits visionary mentors, including Esther Gordy Edwards and the legendary broadcaster Martha Jean “The Queen” Steinberg. When Nelson and Winnie Mandela visited Detroit, it was Mausi who transformed Tiger Stadium into a concert venue — in four weeks — drawing over 50,000 people and raising more than $1 million for anti-apartheid efforts. She has led Detroit’s arts council, the Metropolitan Detroit YWCA, and served on boards including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, and the Kellogg Foundation Youth Initiatives Committee. Today, she leads TRP alongside her four sons — building institutions where cultural excellence, economic power, and community run deep.