I Can – How Aikan Acts, and Nakia Dillard Are Rewriting What’s Possible for Emerging Actors
- Brainz Magazine
- 16 hours ago
- 7 min read
Lawrence E. Dumas Jr. is an Executive Brand & Communications Strategist, Army veteran, and travel experience specialist who uses storytelling, digital marketing, and AI to help people design meaningful, memory-building experiences in life.
With a powerful belief rooted in two simple words, “I can,” Aikan Acts is redefining what’s possible for emerging actors. Founded by actor and creative leader Nakia Dillard, this online-first performing arts school blends craft, mentorship, and real-world career guidance to help talent from all backgrounds step confidently into the industry.
In the heart of Philadelphia and now accessible from anywhere in the world with just a laptop, phone, or tablet, an online-first performing arts school with a simple but powerful message is changing the trajectory of lives:
“Aikan” is pronounced “I can.”
For more than a decade, Aikan Acts and its founder, actor, writer, director, and entrepreneur Nakia Dillard, have been quietly building what many young performers dream of but rarely find: a training ground that is equal parts craft, community, and career strategy.
At a time when the entertainment industry can feel impenetrable and social media often rewards visibility over depth, Aikan Acts stands as a counter-narrative, one that insists talent from everyday neighborhoods deserves world-class preparation and real pathways into professional work.
This is not just a story about an acting school. It’s a blueprint for how creative leaders can use their gifts to build ecosystems of opportunity.
From sketchbook to soundstage: The journey of Nakia Dillard
Before he ever stepped onto a set, Nakia Dillard was a kid in Philadelphia who loved to draw. That early passion for art opened a world of color, animation, and imagination until another calling appeared: acting.
His training began at the historic Freedom Theatre, where he studied under respected instructors and joined the Rainbow Company, sharpening his skills on stages such as Hedgerow Theatre and The Wilma Theater.
Then came the roles many audiences recognize:
Officer Lambert on HBO’s The Wire
Appearances in hit series such as Black Lightning and House of Cards
Film work alongside artists like Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Anthony Mackie, Wendell Pierce, and Kerry Washington
For many actors, that résumé would be the destination. For Nakia, it became the foundation for something larger: a commitment to bring his training, insight, and industry access back to the same kind of community that formed him.
Art, for Dillard, isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. It is how people discover their voice, process their reality, and imagine a future beyond the limitations placed on them.
Building “I can”: The birth of Aikan Acts
In 2009, Dillard formalized that commitment by founding Aikan Performing Arts (Aikan Acts), a Philadelphia-based acting school designed to equip youth and adults for real careers in the performing arts. What began in physical classrooms has evolved into a premier online performing arts school that meets students where they are on their laptops, phones, and tablets.
Since its inception, Aikan Acts has reached hundreds of students and workshop participants across the region, offering high-quality acting and performing arts training in a safe, fun, and friendly environment.
At the core of Aikan Acts is a simple belief: when you give people world-class tools and tell them “you can,” everything changes.
A world-class coaching team for youth and adults
One of the quiet superpowers of Aikan Acts is its faculty.
Dillard has built a world-class team of acting coaches who bring deep professional experience, diverse perspectives, and a shared commitment to student growth. The faculty is intentionally structured to serve:
Youth classes: Instructors who understand how to guide children and teens through performance, confidence-building, emotional expression, and on-camera presence in age-appropriate ways.
Adult classes: Coaches who train working professionals, aspiring actors, and career-changers in the demands of auditions, set etiquette, character development, and the realities of film, TV, and theater work.
These coaches are not just talented performers, they are mentors. Many are veteran industry professionals with long-standing careers on stage and screen, bringing authentic insight that can’t be found in a textbook.
The result is a training environment where a teenager discovering their first monologue and an adult preparing for a network audition can both feel seen, stretched, and supported.
MasterClasses with veteran industry pros
Beyond its regular classes, Aikan Acts is known for hosting MasterClasses that feel less like a workshop and more like a front-row seat into the real industry.
Throughout the year, Dillard brings in veteran industry professionals, including award-winning actors, directors, casting professionals, and producers, to work directly with his students. These aren’t distant celebrity appearances, they are hands-on sessions where students:
Receive live feedback on monologues, scenes, and self-tape work
Hear unfiltered stories about the journey into film and television
Learn how to navigate agents, auditions, contracts, and set life with professionalism
Ask questions about the realities of sustaining a career in entertainment
For many students, these MasterClasses become turning points. It’s one thing to dream about working in the industry, it’s another to be coached by people who have already walked that road and earned recognition for their work.
By curating these experiences, Dillard turns Aikan Acts into more than a school, it becomes a bridge between emerging talent and seasoned professionals.
More than acting: Financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and life skills
One of the most striking aspects of Aikan Acts is its refusal to romanticize the “starving artist” narrative.
In his teaching and interviews, Dillard pushes back against the idea that artists must struggle in poverty to be taken seriously. At Aikan Acts, students are encouraged to build sustainable lives, not just impressive reels.
That’s why the program integrates:
Financial literacy: Conversations about budgeting, multiple streams of income, understanding contracts, and planning for the long game.
Entrepreneurship: Encouraging students to see themselves as brands and businesses, not just performers hoping to be chosen.
Creative versatility: Offering opportunities in areas like screenwriting, producing, and directing through initiatives like Aikan Acts Films.
In a landscape where many training programs focus solely on craft, Aikan Acts stands out for its holistic approach: art, business, and personal development are all part of the same conversation.
Pivoting through the pandemic: From local classroom to global reach
Like many arts organizations, Aikan Acts faced a defining test when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person instruction. Rather than pause operations, Dillard moved the program online, transforming a crisis into an opportunity and revealing just how many aspiring performers needed an option that didn’t require a car, long commutes, or a big-budget training plan.
Today, Aikan Acts leverages virtual platforms to reach students far beyond Philadelphia, while still maintaining its intimate, high-touch approach to training. Students can log in from home, a campus dorm, or even a break room at work, starting their journey into acting with nothing more than a device and a stable internet connection.
This shift did more than keep classes going:
It expanded access for students who might never step into a Philadelphia studio.
It prepared actors for a world where self-tapes, remote auditions, and digital collaboration are standard.
It demonstrated how a community-rooted organization can scale impact without losing its soul.
For creative leaders and educators globally, Aikan’s pivot is a case study in resilient, mission-driven adaptation.
Impact you can measure in careers and confidence
The most powerful proof of concept for Aikan Acts is not found in its marketing, but in its outcomes.
Over the years, Aikan students starting as young as seven and continuing into adulthood have gone on to:
Book roles in film, television, and theater
Gain representation from agents and managers
Step into creative leadership roles as writers, directors, and producers
Parents and participants consistently report:
Greater confidence in communication and emotional expression
Improved focus, motivation, and discipline
Increased academic engagement and social-emotional growth
In other words, the value of Aikan Acts is not limited to those who will one day see their names in credits. The training equips students to be more prepared, engaged, and expressive human beings, whether they’re on a stage, in a boardroom, or leading in their own communities.
Lessons from Aikan Acts for leaders, educators, and changemakers
While Aikan Acts is an acting school, the underlying principles are relevant far beyond the arts. Three key lessons stand out:
1. Talent thrives where expectations and support coexist
Aikan’s environment is both nurturing and demanding. Students are encouraged and affirmed, but also expected to show up prepared, professional, and persistent. That balance of high expectations with high support is replicable in any industry that wants to develop people, not just fill positions.
2. Access is a leadership decision
By creating a safe, welcoming space in Philadelphia and then expanding online, Aikan Acts sends a clear message: geography and background should not be barriers to world-class training. That principle can inspire leaders to remove invisible walls in their own organizations, whether those are financial, cultural, or structural.
3. Art and enterprise can coexist ethically
Through financial literacy workshops, career guidance, MasterClasses, and an honest look at money in the industry, Dillard shows that it’s possible to honor the integrity of the craft while teaching artists to build sustainable lives. Arts organizations, schools, and even corporations can learn from this integration of purpose and profit.
Aikan Acts as a living answer to “what if?”
Imagine if every city had an Aikan Acts, a place where young people and adults alike could walk in with a dream, and walk out with tools, language, and a community that tells them, “Yes, you can.”
In Philadelphia, that “what if” is already real.
A kid who once discovered his gifts through drawing now uses his experience on shows like The Wire, Black Lightning, and The Wonder Years to open doors for the next generation. The school he founded continues to shape not just performers, but thinkers, entrepreneurs, and leaders who carry their artistry into every space they enter.
And it all starts with two simple words, I can.
Read more from Lawrence E. Dumas Jr.
Lawrence E. Dumas Jr., Executive Brand Communications Strategist
Lawrence E. Dumas Jr. is an Executive Brand & Communications Strategist, travel experience specialist, and an Army combat veteran, who centers his work on one core question, "How can we help people make informed decisions that lead to better, memory-building experiences?"
