Hazel Roberts is the Manager of Executive and Program Initiatives at Texas Folklife and a member of the organization’s grants team. She oversees all Dallas–Fort Worth–based programming and leads the organization’s education initiatives, including Handed Down, Texas Folklife’s youth folk arts education program, which she created to connect young people with tradition bearers through community-centered, culturally responsive learning.
Hazel graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Sociology from Midwestern State University (2023), where she served as Vice President and Diversity & Inclusion Chair of the Student Government Association. Her background in sociology, arts administration, and research shapes her approach to program design—grounded in equity, access, and lived cultural practice.
Before joining Texas Folklife, Hazel worked as a Programming Assistant at the Arts Council of Wichita Falls and as a teaching artist and researcher with the Wichita Falls Alliance for Arts & Culture, where she authored the Creatives of Color report examining representation and equity in the local arts ecosystem.
Outside the office, Hazel is a Dallas-based Alt/Soul-Folk singer-songwriter and performing artist with over a decade of live performance experience. Her genre-blending music leans into storytelling and reflection,
Hazel loves a well crafted playlist for any occasion, meaningful collaboration, and creative conversations that turn into something bigger. If you catch her mid-coffee, she’ll probably be talking about program ideas, her latest fiction read or the song she’s currently writing. She is committed to building inclusive artistic spaces through strategic planning, community engagement, and research-informed programming.