Hip-Hop Artist, music industry veteran, emerging scholar, and entrepreneur, 
Abran "ARonic" Maldonado is the Director of Positive Entertainment And Creative Education also known as PEACE, an enrichment program that specializes in addressing the needs of underserved youth using a hybrid approach fusing both entertainment and education through professional development, student enrichment and educational research.   He is also the Co-Founder of Nuskool, an online education startup that combines popular culture with academics.

    After nearly a decade in the entertainment industry, Abran decided to enter the academy to further explore Hip-Hop, digital media and other aspects of youth culture and their implications on the advancement of 21^st century education. Abran was honored by Bill Gates as a Gates Millennium Scholar, an award given to future leaders in the community.  He has made the most of the opportunity afforded him through this award and has since received a BS in Communication Arts from St. John’s University, an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies in Education from Teachers College of Columbia University, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Urban Education at New York University where he is working with renowned education reformer Pedro Noguera, Ph.D. on developing new research in the field.

    Born and raised in the Lower East Side, NYC and northern New Jersey, Abran has witnessed the evolution of Hip-Hop first hand and the affect it has had on mainstream pop culture and the urban paradigm.  Known to many in the music and entertainment industry for his roles in music publishing, artist management as well as an artist, he has always maintained a balance between his work in entertainment and the community. 

    Abran is a spoken word poet and emcee and is most known for his role as a member of the recording group Nine Leaves, an alternative hip-hop project executive produced by acclaimed film composer/producer Zack Hemsey (Robin Hood, Inception, The Town). He was also formerly the Product Manager for one of the leading management firms in urban music, Czar Entertainment, facilitating the careers of such clients as The Game, Gucci Mane, Too Short, Mario Winans, Pleasure P. and others including actor Michael K. Williams from the Emmy Award winning hit HBO series, The Wire. He has provided guidance and mentorship to hundreds of unsigned artists and extends his knowledge and support through panel discussions, music seminars and workshops.

    In his younger years, Abran was a
b-boy/break-dancer who honed his craft under the tutelage of such legends as Crazy Legs of Rock Steady Crew as well as Quikstep and Rokafella of Full Circle.  Abran is the son of activist/nonprofit consultant Luz Rodriguez, the founder of SisterSong, a Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective comprised of 80 local, regional and national grassroots organizations in the United States representing five primary ethnic populations/indigenous nations in the United States. Abran is also the stepson of the late Norberto Cruz, the legendary Boogaloo and Latin Jazz pianist, composer and arranger.