Charlene Amini (formerly known as Charlene Eckels) is an American-Bolivian artist, writer, and cultural advocate. She is the founder of the American Bolivian Collective, a platform dedicated to celebrating Bolivian identity through art, storytelling, and community engagement. Amini's work explores diaspora, Amazonian heritage, and the role of women in cultural memory.
Career
Amini founded the American Bolivian Collective (ABC) to amplify underrepresented Bolivian voices. In 2022, she launched the American Bolivian Collective Scholarship in Memory of Janett Adams, honoring her mother's legacy as a media pioneer and cultural advocate.
In 2025, she published a Bolivian-themed coloring book, highlighting Indigenous and folkloric elements of Bolivian culture.
Amini collaborated on a Nike shoe inspired by the Bolivian Amazon.
Her work has been featured in several media outlets, including ''Remezcla'',
''Bolivian Express'',
the U.S. Embassy,
and the Bolivian news outlet ''Brújula Digital''.
Personal life
Charlene Amini is married to comedian
Martin Amini
Martin Amini is an American stand-up comedian whose material has centered around his experiences growing up in America with immigrant parents from mixed cultural backgrounds. Amini is the founder of Room 808. Named one of the best comedy clubs in ...
, founder of Room 808.
Her mother was from the Bolivian Amazon, a heritage that informs much of Amini's art and advocacy work.
See also
*
Bolivian Americans
*
List of Bolivian Americans
*
Latin American diaspora
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amini, Charlene
Living people
Writers from North Carolina
Artists from North Carolina
21st-century American women writers
21st-century American women artists
Year of birth missing (living people)
American people of Bolivian descent