Khandeya Sheppard is a member of the LAUNCHPad team and serves as the Manager of Community Partnerships at Peabody. Sheppard is a steelpan musician, educator, and arts administrator with a wide range of solo and ensemble performance experiences in the United States and Trinidad and Tobago.
Sheppard is a solo performer, Pan Masters Steel Orchestra member, music director, and leader of NEXUS Band and Dynamic Steel Project, creator and co-founder of the Black Berklee Network, and founding member of the HBCU Jazz Education Initiative. Sheppard has also been a featured speaker and panelist at several events about music, creative youth development, and community engagement through the arts.
Sheppard is the first female steelpan principal to graduate from Berklee College of Music, earning a B.M. in Music Business/Management with a minor in Africana Studies: Music & Society. She also holds a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Music Entrepreneurship from UMBC. Sheppard has previously served as a Berklee City Music Mentor, Preparatory Academy and Faculty Outreach Teacher as well as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Education Outreach Assistant and OrchKids Senior Program Manager.