Chaunesti is an interdisciplinary theater artist based in Durham, NC, where she recently premiered her first play, I Love My Hair When It's Good: & Then Again When It Looks Defiant and Impressive. This native Bull-City-Teaching Artist-Writer-Director-Actor-Mover-Lover of Music and Language, holds an MFA in Theater and Contemporary Performance from Naropa University, and a BA in Communication Studies from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

She was a 2008 participant in the Urban Bush Women Summer Institute, a 2010 National Performance Network Creation Fund recipient and a 2010 Durham Arts Council Emerging Artist recipient. Chaunesti's work also includes media advocacy and arts administration for the Health Arts Network at Duke University Medical Center.