Ashleigh performs with Kuumba Lynx

Kuumba Lynx began as an after school program at Stockton School in 1996.  Three young women active in the community, Jacinda Hall, Jacquanda Villegas and Leida Garcia decided to use their professional experience in the arts to engage young people in Uptown through performance art.

Soon the after-school program became a full-blown performance group travelling the city and the country, putting on various plays, musicals and performances.

Alderman Shiller has been on the board of Kuumba Lynx since its inception.

In 1999, Shiller joined with Kuumba Lynx to create the Uptown Youth Foundation that gives supplemental scholarships to college freshman.