Founding Executive Director

Alexander “Cost One” Acosta is a Community Leader, Arts Advocate, and the Founding Executive Director of Soul Food Cypher. In 2011, he had a vision of creating the cypher while mentoring at-risk teenagers at the Whitefoord Intel computer clubhouse in in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally, he aimed to teach students media production at the clubhouse, but quickly found he could reach them directly through their shared passion of hip-hop. Experiencing their brilliance and spontaneous ingenuity, he became a believer in their ability improve themselves and their communities through their words. From this Soul Food Cypher was born in 2012. Since then, he has lead Soul Food Cypher from the basement of Wonderroot community arts center to stages at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, A3C Music Festival, and Coca-Cola Headquarters and to classrooms on Emory University and Georgia State University's campuses.

Email [email protected]

Phone 404-406-7911

Instagram: @Costxone

Media Appearances: Atlanta Magazine, USA Today, WABE 90.1, Georgia Public Broadcast, ArtsATL, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Creative Loafing, Saporta Report, Rollingout Magazine, Atlanta Legacy Makers Podcast, 11 Alive News, Fox 5 News

Artistic Practices: Photography, Conga, Djing, & Creative Writing.