Andru Defeye is the Sacramento Poet Laureate Emeritus and a 2022 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. He is a TEDx speaker and a PBS columnist for The Great Joy Hunt, a series exploring the neuroscience and cultural architecture of joy. In 2023, he received the Key to the City for his contributions to civic culture, including the creation of citywide arts activations, youth education initiatives, and a locally sourced poetry curriculum reaching over 250,000 students across the Sacramento region.

He is the founder of Zero Forbidden Goals and the creator of Sacramento Poetry Week, a multilingual civic arts initiative integrating education, public infrastructure, and intergenerational recognition. From 2009 to 2020, he served as Communications Director for Sol Collective, shaping community rooted arts programming regionally and nationally. His 2025 collection, UNLOCKED: The Laureate Years, documents five years of artistic and civic work during a period of social, cultural, and personal transformation. He has been named one of Sacramento Magazine’s Top 100 business leaders. He is devoted to the space where cultural ritual, neuroscience, and communication meet, helping people feel more deeply and connect more honestly.