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Habiba T. Braimah began her tenure as the new senior director of the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations late last month and will oversee the 38th annual Cultural Rhythms festival that kicks off Monday.

Braimah’s appointment follows the departure of Harvard Foundation former senior director Sadé Abraham for MIT last July, following which Associate Director Matias Ramos served as the office’s interim director.

Established in 1981, the Harvard Foundation promotes interracial and intercultural connections on campus and is currently based in the lower level of Grays Hall. In addition to organizing the First Year Retreat Experience — a pre-orientation program for incoming College freshmen — the foundation honors individuals who work to uplift diversity and inclusion, and funds student events.

Braimah previously served as director of the Intercultural Center at Brandeis University, where she worked on university diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Born and raised in the Bronx by Nigerian and Ghanaian parents, Braimah was the first of her siblings to graduate from college. She later earned a masters in higher and postsecondary education from Columbia University in 2014 and is currently pursuing a doctorate in social policy at Brandeis, focusing on the underrepresentation of Black women among tenured faculty.

“I’m excited to contribute to the legacy of the foundation and really strengthening intercultural and race relations at Harvard,” Braimah said.

Braimah said her number one priority as director is to redefine and update the foundation’s goals.

After the Harvard Foundation merged with the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in 2019, Braimah said the office had “very limited opportunities to think strategically about the ways in which we might want to update our mission so that it really reflects the direction that we want to head in while still honoring our history.”

Braimah said she also hopes to “enhance the profile and visibility of the Harvard foundation” and expand its “outreach and engagement” with students and faculty on campus.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision last summer that effectively struck down affirmative action, continuing tensions on campus over Israel-Palestine conflict, and heightened scrutiny on the role of DEI, Braiham said the Harvard Foundation is considering its place in current campus discourse.

Braimah said the foundation “will likely convene as a team to think strategically” about their role, something they’re “still trying to define.”

But above all, Braimah said she sees the foundation as “a cultural hub.”

Facilitating intercultural race relations on campus is “at the crux of what we do, and we will continue to do that,” she said.

In her new role, Braimah said she is “most excited to connect with students.”

This week, the foundation is hosting Cultural Rhythms — Harvard’s largest and oldest cultural festival, which will feature a fashion show, food festival, and artist conversation.

Braimah invited everyone to join the celebrations.

“I think it’s an opportune time to bring the community together, and I’m looking forward to meeting so many new people,” she said.

Corrections: March 18, 2024

A previous version of this article misspelled Habiba T. Braimah’s name.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Braimah graduated from Columbia University with a master’s degree in 2013. In fact, she graduated from Columbia in 2014.