Meet Camara

Camara Gaither is the City of Orlando’s 3rd Poet Laureate, a keynote speaker, and a mental health therapist. Camara has won poetry competitions throughout Florida, including being the 2023 and 2024 Spoken Word Champion at Fusion Fest. She has represented the City of Orlando in national team competitions as well as in multidisciplinary art fellowships. She is the recipient of the United Arts 2024 Community Impact Grant and the 2025 Individual Artist Award.

Her mission as a creative is to elevate the untold stories of organizations and individuals whose work shapes culture, leadership, and community impact. Through commissioned poetry and keynote presentations for organizations and special events, Camara honors the power of storytelling to inspire visionary leadership and meaningful impact.

Camara has partnered with leading arts institutions, including United Arts of Central Florida and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, to design and lead programming that expands access to the literary arts for vulnerable and underserved communities. She has worked with survivors of human trafficking, adults in residential treatment, at-risk youth programs, and veterans recovering from PTSD.

With a Master’s in Social Work, Camara is currently an RCSWI in the state of Florida. At Hearts Bonds Counseling, Camara provides therapy for clients navigating trauma, grief, anxiety, life transitions, and identity. Camara is trained by the International Federation of Biblio Poetry Therapy, using expressive arts as part of her trauma-informed therapeutic practice. She integrates ACT, DBT, Exposure Therapy, SE, and Narrative work.

Outside of work rhythms, Camara loves roller skating and playing pickleball. She is blessed with a vivacious daughter and a loving husband.