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Ed Genesis
Ed Genesis is an artist, poet, musician, entrepreneur, and community leader. He was born and raised in Gary, Indiana and moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan permanently in his early 20’s. His love of art/music, his passion for his people and community, and his gift of creativity are evident in all areas of his work.Ed Genesis created Poetic Justice, a monthly open-mic that was hosted/led by 5 local poets and sponsored by Fire Arts and Historical collaborative and Pizza Hut. He has performed as well as hosted several events such as the Black Arts Festival and the Annual Kalamazoo Poetry Festival. Ed Genesis is also mentor with Speak It Forward where he teaches youth at Lakeside Academy, Starr-Commonwealth, and the Kalamazoo County Juvenile home healing through music and art. In 2017, he started WE ACTIVE! a community organization aimed at fighting against mass incarceration and the school to prison pipeline. The organization was recognized by the State of Michigan for its work on Criminal Justice Reform and Mass Incarceration in the Kalamazoo Community. Ed Genesis has been a panelist and featured speaker in Washington D.C., Chicago, and Milwaukee. He has and continues to collaborate with artists local to Kalamazoo, youth included, to create music to address social justice issues. In 2018 Ed Genesis joined TRHT as a part of the Law and Racial Healing Design teams. |
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Katina Mayes
Katina R. Mayes is the Deputy Director for the Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan (FHC). Her passion for philanthropy started at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation where she worked in the Human Resources department prior to coming to FHC. The Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation initiative was created by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation while Katina was employed there and she always had a desire to be more involved with the racial equity work of the foundation. Katina is elated to be directly involved in the racial equity work here in Kalamazoo.
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Mimi Abdul Bellamy
Mimi received their B.S. in Political Science and M.A. in Human Resource Development from Western Michigan University. Mimi is a long-term employee of WMU and was recently presented with a certificate of appreciation in grateful recognition of 35 years of service. As a strong proponent of fairness and equity, Mimi served twice as a facilitator for the Everyone Counts Learning Community on Race and Everyone Counts Learning Community on Women in Higher Education. Mimi collaborated with a small team of faculty and graduate students to apply for and receive a W.K. Kellogg Foundation racial healing grant for the advocacy of the reinstatement of the Africana Studies program at WMU. When the advocacy campaign concluded, they were invited to attend NCORE (National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education) in Washington, D.C. with a WMU diversity and inclusion team. Mimi enjoys volunteering in the community and served as a member of the Board of Ujima Enterprises to coordinate a successful Juneteenth Celebration for the Kalamazoo Community. They served on a Michigan United team to bring community awareness about to the Raise the Age campaign. To promote equitable and inclusive communities and institutions, they established the America Counts program which allows WMU students with federal work-study awards to work as math tutors in Kalamazoo Public Schools. Mimi loves dance fitness classes, traveling and spending quality time with their Calico cat named Best Fran.
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Yolonda Lavender
Yolonda is a native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, community influencer and champion, creative and culture producer and innovative leader. Yolonda holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Western Michigan University with concentrations in nonprofit leadership, social work and communication and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration with a nonprofit leadership focus at Western Michigan University. Yolonda is a Certified Nonprofit Professional receiving her certification through the national organization, the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. Since 2014 Lavender has served as the Executive Director of the Black Arts & Cultural Center, an arts hub in Kalamazoo, Michigan existing to uplift black arts and artists. As an avid arts advocate, since 2012 Lavender has served as the founder and CEO of Soul Artistry LLC, an arts consulting company that specializes in experience curating, artistry development, artistic provision, arts nonprofit and artist self-care consulting. Additionally, Yolonda is also a globally recognized performing artist with the independent label Truth Tone Records. Yolonda is a singer, songwriter and recording artist and has produced three studio albums to date. Lavender prioritizes utilizing her knowledge, expertise, gifts, passions and talents to engage, uplift and empower marginalized groups.
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Nicole Parker
Nicole Parker is a proud native of Kalamazoo, MI and is the co-founder and strategist for ANP Creative Consulting. She is passionate about doing work that lies at the intersection of social justice, community development, and social innovation. Throughout her life, she has served in positions of leadership creating spaces and communities for those who felt voiceless and has been an advocate for systems change for underrepresented and marginalized groups. In 2016, she completed her master's at George Mason University in Social Entrepreneurship where she conducted research focused on culture, social policy, and innovation. Her thesis project was entitled Ain’t I An Innovator: The Missing Narratives of Black Women in the Field of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. In 2009, Nicole received her BA in Political Science and Community Leadership from Aquinas College. She has an extensive background in diversity initiatives and social innovation program development working with individuals, universities, businesses and nonprofit organizations to create transformative social change. Nicole is also involved with several community initiatives, including working with her family’s youth development nonprofit Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E.
Her current work focuses on economic development through creating inclusive ecosystems with pipelines of access for people of color in the business sector. Recently, Nicole and her 3 sisters created the Sisters In Business network, a safe space to support women of color business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. Nicole is passionate about continuing to create paths to elevate, empower, and equip grassroot innovators and solutions builders to be the change.
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Stacey Randolph Ledbetter
Captain Stacey Randolph Ledbetter (ret) served over 25 years at the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety where she was committed to protecting, serving, educating, networking, collaborating, innovating, and trailblazing. Her expertise is in Community Policing and Cultural Awareness Training, through which she built strong and trusting relationships with many in the Kalamazoo community. She rose through the ranks from line officer to Captain; and was the creator of many successful initiatives, including, but not limited to: The KDPS Diversity and Community Engagement Speed Networking Dialogue events (which focused on bridging the gap between law enforcement and African American males, sharing American history, and working with numerous community partners), conceived/managed incorporation of community service and ride-alongs into the new officer hiring and interview processes, conceived/implemented collaboration between the department and probation/parole officers at the state and federal levels, disseminated cultural awareness info department-wide, and streamlined policies and processes in her division (Service), which led to better efficiency for both the community and employees.
Capt. Randolph Ledbetter is committed to doing volunteer work, presentations, speaking engagements, trainings, and special projects through her company, Black & Blue Networking & Consulting, LLC and she is excited about her role with the TRHT initiative. She is a native of Detroit, MI and earned both her Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Western Michigan University.
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Andrew Chaponda
Andrew works at the Community AIDS Resources and Education Services of South West Michigan (CARES) as its Housing Specialist, serving clients is the eleven counties of South West Michigan obtain and maintain housing. Andrew brings to the Truth, Healing and Racial Transformation (THRT) over twenty years of experience working towards social justice here in Kalamazoo and his native country of Zimbabwe. He serves on the Interfaith Strategy for Advocacy and Action in Community (ISAAC) Board, the premier Interfaith social justice organization in Kalamazoo that has partnered THRT in mobilizing the community to mobilize and advocate for access to safe and affordable housing in Kalamazoo. He was honored the ISAAC 2018 Community Organizer of the year.
An avid golfer and news junky, Andrew is father to two young men, Tendai and Tinashe. He graduated with a bachelor’s in Political Science and Administration Honors from the University of Zimbabwe and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University.
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Tandy Moore
Tandy Moore is a parent of five KPS students, community organizer, and racial justice advocate looking forward to improving our community by changing the way we experience public education. Tandy has worked with People’s Action, Michigan United, S.E.E. Change, and other local organizations. Tandy is certified to facilitate Restorative Conferences and Mediation, and is a member of the THRT Racial Healing Practitioner Cohort through the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and W.K. Kellogg.
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Karis Clark
Karis recently graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School and is a part of the University of Michigan Freshman Class of 2023. He is majoring in Theatre Arts and is interested in applying to the School of Education at the end of his freshman year. He hopes to work as an arts education, specifically in urban populations where performing arts programs are routinely underfunded. He is also interested in play-writing and as a theatre arts majors wants to use his degree to create more stories and narratives that provide accurate and realistic depictions of black and brown children.
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Destiné Price
Destiné is a Kalamazoo College student majoring in Anthropology & Sociology, born and raised in Kalamazoo. She works passionately for a non-profit organization, Read and Write Kalamazoo. She writes A LOT (poetry & stories), draws here and there and reads short fiction frequently, and absolutely loves shaking things up (in the best way possible). She have a deep love for words and language and believes that knowledge is power when it is put to action. She is an advocate for speaking up when things are wrong, questioning things and usually people, expression no matter what, humanity, and the wellness of her community. She very passionate and excited about continuing on this path that she's been digging and thankful for those who have been right there with her!
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Trevon Reason
Trevon graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School in June 2018 and is currently attending Western Michigan University to pursue a bachelor's degree in Business.
Trevon comes from a background of many struggles within this system of oppression but has been able to persevere. He is an outstanding student and a mentor/leader to his peers. He plans to continue to fight systemic injustices for marginalized communities.
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Alisa Parker
Attorney Alisa L. Parker is 2006 graduate of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and was admitted into the State Bar of Michigan in 2007. In 2008, Alisa joined Legal Service of South Central Michigan (Battle Creek Office) where she currently holds the position of Managing Attorney, continuing her career path in public interest work. After earning her MBA, Alisa found that it was important to give back to the local community that had helped her to become a success. She currently serves as a volunteer or member of several organization including: The Judge Charles A. Pratt Bar Association (Immediate Past-President); Black Arts and Cultural Center (Board President); and the Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan (Board Member)to name a few Alisa is passionate about finding collaborative ways to do the work of dismantling systemic racism. She is driven to help others access resources, navigate systems and overall see meaningful change and improvement in their daily lives. |
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Fernando Ospina
Fernando is Co-Executive Director of Eliminating Racism & Creating/Celebrating Equity (ERACCE) and an apprentice with Crossroads Antiracism Organizing and Training. He is an Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership Advisory Board member, adjunct faculty at Western Michigan University School of Medicine, and on the Kalamazoo Public Library Antiracism Transformation Team. He has a Master's degree in Conflict Resolution from the University of Denver Korbel School of International Studies and a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Denver Morgridge College of Education. He is currently a PhD Student at WMU’s Department of sociology. He has experience working with youth and adults charged with violent and nonviolent crimes. He has facilitated anger management classes and treatment classes for domestic violence offenders. He is driven by the desire to create a world in which people live harmonious, authentic lives.
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