Zella Palmer

About Zella

You are safe here,

Hey Y'all! I am Zella Palmer — and at the heart of everything I do is a simple belief: technology should never erase culture, memory, or human meaning.

I work as a Global Cultural AI Strategist, advising institutions, destinations, and legacy brands on how to integrate artificial intelligence in ways that honor identity, protect heritage, and design futures that radiate the human experience. My work lives at the intersection of cultural intelligence and institutional power, using AI as a resource to help leaders navigate transformation across complex global and cross-cultural landscapes.

But long before AI entered my vocabulary, I learned the art of building relationships.

Over the years, I’ve raised more than $6 million in grants and individual donorship by practicing what I call The Palmer Method — a relationship-centered strategy passed down from my late father, who was a master at bringing people together around shared purpose. His words are still etched in my psyche, “I collect world leaders and make them part of my game.” What he meant was this: real change happens through trust, ideas, connection, and community. That lesson continues to shape how I move through the world and how I build partnerships today.

My advisory work focuses on Cultural AI governance, guest and learner experience, narrative and legacy systems, and long-term institutional positioning. I work closely with executives and boards, helping organizations design future-ready systems that are ethical, resonant, and grounded in who they are — ensuring innovation strengthens rather than flattens the human experience.

Alongside this work, I bring over a decade of leadership in higher education and cultural institutions, where I’ve directed nationally and internationally recognized programs exploring Afro-Diasporic, Indigenous, and global foodways as living archives of memory, migration, and resilience. My background in film, scholarship, and cultural storytelling informs everything I do, allowing me to bridge technology with history, ethics, and place.

Today, I operate globally across North America, Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Middle East. I partner with leaders who understand that the future of AI will not be defined by capability alone — but by values.

If you’re here, you’re likely building something that matters.

I’d be honored to help you shape what comes next.

Who do I work with?

Universities · Museums · Tourism Boards · Hospitality · Cultural Institutions · Global Brands

FILMS

Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking (Short)

The Senegalese Influence on New Orleans Culture and Cuisine

Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking (Short)

The Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking: The Black Hand in the Pot is a full-length documentary that unveils the untold stories of New Orleans black chefs, cooks, street food vendors, grocers and butchers from 1718 to the present. Highlighting the trials and triumphs of being black, working, cooking and eating in the culinary capital of the United States throughout the centuries. From Nellie Murray, the most sought after Créole de couleur caterer in New Orleans for many premier society balls and parties in the 1890s to the legendary Leah Chase, chef and co-owner of Dooky Chase Restaurant.

The Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking

The Senegalese Influence on New Orleans Culture and Cuisine

Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking (Short)

The Senegalese Influence on New Orleans Culture and Cuisine

At the Whitney Plantation on River Road, Louisiana, the Dillard University Ray Charles Program sat down with Whitney Plantation Academic Director, Dr. Ibrahima Seck and James Beard Award winning Chef Pierre Thiam to discuss the West African influence on New Orleans culture but particularly, Senegalese culture. Over 6,000 enslaved Africans came to Louisiana during the Senegambian Period in the 18th century. This full-length interview is a preview to our full length documentary to be released soon.

Semien Stables TrailRide Film (2019)

Chef Gason | The Nola Chef Channel "A New Orleans Christmas" w/ Chef Linda Green

The Senegalese Influence on New Orleans Culture and Cuisine

From April 26-28, 2019, The Dillard University Ray Charles Program was invited to film, photograph and document the Annual Semien Trail Ride in Sulphur, Louisiana at West Cal Arena. An accompanying article was published in the Fall 2019 "The Food Issue" for 64 Parishes Magazine (Creole Trail Rides).

The Caterer Of 19th Century New Orleans Society

Chef Gason | The Nola Chef Channel "A New Orleans Christmas" w/ Chef Linda Green

The legacy of 19th Nellie Murray, the most sought after Creole of Color in New Orleans caterer at La Cocina, San Francisco.

Chef Gason | The Nola Chef Channel "A New Orleans Christmas" w/ Chef Linda Green

Filmed on location at the New Orleans Cooking Experience in partnership with the Dillard University Ray Charles Program www.dillard.edu. Music provided by the New Orleans Hot 8 Brass Band.

Grenada to the World

Grenada to the World celebrates the legacy and contributions of a national treasure, Dr. Guido Marcelle—chemist, botanist, pharmacognosist, and farmer. Dr. Marcelle welcomes us to his beloved Isle of Spice, inviting viewers to taste, smell, and experience its rich natural and cultural heritage.

ZELLA PALMER

ZELLA PALMER

Design The future without losing the past