Green For All Fellows - Class 1
Ibrahim is a passionate voice for transforming our pollution-based way of life to one that prioritizes our planet and its people, and elevating voices of understanding by connecting people; of all faiths, be they patriots, cynics, music heads, activists, and non-readers alike. Through his work he challenges people to bridge the innovation gap and move from entitlement to empowerment. He most recently acted as National Event Coordinator for the "Green Jobs Now" day of action.
A jock-turned-activist, Nwamaka grew up as a jazz-loving trumpet player who could run really fast. She did not actively begin pursuing her interest in civil rights and social justice issues until college. A first generation Nigerian, Nwamaka double majored in Sociology and African American Studies. While at university, she realized that her passion is working for social justice issues, and that her future career would be as a civil rights lawyer. After moving to the Bay Area, Nwamaka began volunteering at the Ella Baker Center because she believed in the organization's commitment to peace, justice and opportunity. Nwamaka is currently the Statewide Organizer for the Ella Baker Center's Green Collar Jobs Campaign.
Rob 'Biko' Baker is the Executive Director of The League of Young Voters Education Fund (LYVEF), an organization created to empower young people to be players and winners in the democratic process nationwide. Biko has been with the LYVEF since its inception, first as an innovative organizer with Milwaukee's "Campaign Against Violence", and later as national Organizing and Training Director. Biko is a nationally recognized hip-hop organizer, journalist and scholar. Biko also served as the Deputy Publicity Coordinator and Young Voter Organizer for the Brown and Black Presidential Forum (a nationally televised presidential debate which aired on MSNBC). Biko is a Ph.D. candidate at UCLA, a frequent contributor to The Source, and serves on Wiretap's editorial board.
Jumaani Bates - Chicago, IL
Jumaani Bates is role model for many people in his community. He started his work around green issues as a participant in the Chicago GreenCorps, a re-entry jobs training program, where he quickly became a crew leader. He currently works in Program Support Services at Wilbur Wright College where he has helped with green roof installations and with the energy services training program. His real passion is in communicating the benefits of the green economy to low-income people in his community. He speaks regularly to audiences in transitional housing, substance abuse facilities, or workforce development companies, emphasizing that they have much to gain from economic growth in the environmental field, which can be achieved through good sound training and strategic action.
Camille Cyprian is currently the Training Organizer for Campus Camp Wellstone. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with an individually designed major of Social Justice and Community Organizing. Camille is currently active in several campaigns and organizations including, Urban Embassy, a newly formed non-profit focused on youth civic engagement & leadership in the African American community; a statewide ex-felon re-enfranchisement campaign; and the rebirth of the Twin Cities League of Young Voters.
Naomi Davis is an attorney, entrepreneur, activist, and granddaughter of Mississippi sharecroppers who founded Blacks in Green(TM) to remind generations of our great cultural legacy - which is our stewardship of the land - and to reinvent that legacy in the age of climate change. Naomi serves on the boards of the Illinois League of Conservation Voters and Climate Justice Chicago; the Steering Committees of the Chicagoland Green Collar Jobs Initiative, Chicago Green Jobs For All, and Good Greens in Illinois; the Environmental Justice Advisory Group of the Illinois EPA and Economic Justice Committee of BALLE; and the editorial board of Environmental Justice.
David Dix - Philadelphia, PA
David H. Dix has been deeply involved in local, state and national politics since he was a teenager. He has helped lead congressional, gubernatorial, and senatorial campaigns. He has also worked for the Republican National Convention, for the Pennsylvania League of Young Voters and President-elect Barack Obama's campaign. David also has a long history serving leadership capacities for a number of advocacy groups, including the NAACP's youth and college division, the Governor's Advisory Commission on African American Affairs in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Hip Hop Political Convention and the National Hip Hop Political Convention.
Ashel Eldridge, a native of Chicago, is currently in Oakland, California working as an artist, spiritual activist, and community organizer around issues of sustainability and equity. He performs spoken word, raps and sings nationally with multiple music acts. He is currently a music and meditation facilitator with Art in Action Youth Leadership Program, where he works to empower low income youth from urban communities. He has worked with Green For All to help organize the "Dream Reborn" Conference as well as the "Green Jobs Now" national day of action. Most recently he has joined WOPAC (West Oakland Project Area Committee) to create green initiatives throughout West Oakland with redevelopment funds.
Vanessa German is a multi disciplinary artist based in Pittsburgh, Pa. as a performance poet and sculptor, she creates found object assemblages that speak to the power of transformation of the ordinary material to the extraordinary. Her performance work speaks to the innate power of the human spirit to transform, transcend and influence change. Most recently she has worked to organize residents of Pittsburgh around the issue of green economic development.
Rob Harman - New Orleans, LA
Rob Harman is a college student currently at Loyola University. Originally from upstate New York, he now calls New Orleans home, and probably will for the better part of his life. Growing up poor, he developed a passion for finding ways for struggling communities to fight the problems that affect them. He is currently works with and for: Loyola University Community Action Program-Special Affairs Chair The Katrina Relief Office
Zakiya Harris is a California native, who has been working as an artist, educator and activist for the past 10 years. She is Co-Founder of Grind for the Green the largest youth led green events production program in San Francisco and the first African-American Regional Director of the San Francisco Green Festival. She is also an accomplished vocalist who performs nationally with her husband in the dub-rock-hop-soul sensation FIYAWATA and the proud mother of a beautiful 3-year old daughter.
Nydria Humphries - Washington, DC
Nydria is the District of Columbia's Wards 7 and 8 Green Jobs Coordinator for a joint project of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and the Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light Organization. A native of southeast DC, Nydria brings passion and street sense to her work. One of her main professional and personal goals is to help educate, empower and encourage individuals to support the Green-economy. She is pursuing a Master's degree in Non-profit Management at Trinity University.
Richard Merritt - Atlanta, GA
Richard D. Merritt is a senior at Morehouse College majoring in International Studies. He is a strong leader on environmental issues at Morehouse, and devotes much of his time to the recently developed urban ecological project Let's Raise a Million. This student-led, policy-driven and community-centered initiative connects underrepresented communities with leading environmental and climate justice organizations. Outside of his campus-based work, Richard also serves on the Southern Energy Networks steering committee and interns for the 1Sky Campaign in their field and outreach department.
Karen completed the Wellstone Fellows Program and began working with Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota (EJAM) in the summer of 2006. She is currently the EJAM community organizer. EJAM advocates for fair treatment and meaningful involvement of communities of color and low-income communities in the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulation, and policies. Karen was asked to be the co-coordinator of 2008 Wellstone Fellows Program. Karen received a B.A. in Social Science/Urban Teacher Program from Metropolitan State University. She has 13 years experience working on campaigns and community involvement, including education, peace, environmental and race issues.
After a stint as the Campaigns Director for Pittsburgh UNITED, Khari Mosley has returned to his longtime position as the Pennsylvania State Director of the League of Young Voters. He also is the Democratic chairman of Pittsburgh's 22nd Ward. He attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he studied political science. In 2005, Khari received Pittsburgh Acorn's Award for youth voter turnout and Pittsburgh's Magazine's 40 under 40 award. In 2006, he received the League of Women Voters Good Government Award. In 2007, he received the "Empowering Others by Creating a Voice for Change Award" from Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. This year he received the "Rising Star Award", from the Pittsburgh Chapter of the A. Phillip Randolph Institute.
Khepra Ptah - Seattle, WA
Keprah Ptah has been an activist for more than 16 years starting out as an organizer for social justice. He co-founded an organization called 360 which worked on the cause social justice and at a time when police brutality was at an all time high in his hometown of Seattle Washington. Kepra now works as an organizer for "Got Green." Got Green is a grassroots organization dedicated to lifting People of Color out of poverty while striving for social and environmental justice.
LaDonna Redmond was a resident of the West Garfield Community. Born and raised on the south side of Chicago. Ms. Redmond grew up volunteering at Operation PUSH and has worked for her community ever since. Currently, Ms. Redmond and her husband Tracey are involved in developing an urban farm in partnership with the University of Illinois. As a national speaker, Ms. Redmond has presented to food industry leaders, the policy makers and heads of state concerning issues of community safety and food access. Ms. Redmond has also spoken at a number of colleges and universities which include University of Chicago, University of Illinois, DePaul, Stanford, University of California, Occidental College.
Juan Reynosa is a field organizer with New Mexico Youth Organized and an organizer with the 1sky campaign. He enjoys spending his time working on local environmental initiatives and engaging youth in his community. Juan also regularly attends local hip hop, art, and dance performances. He has a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science and is currently residing in Albuquerque, NM.
Khadijah Robinson is a junior at Spelman College. She has been an environmental advocate her entire life, but has become much more serious about it since starting at Spelman. Attending the Dream Reborn in Memphis piqued her interest in Green For All and led her to attend the first Green For All Academy. Khadijah writes a column for the Morehouse student newspaper dedicated to the Green Movement. She is also a member of her college's Environmental Task Force.
Sheila Somashekhar is currently the Greenway and Green building Coordinator at Sustainable South Bronx. She recently completed a Master's Degree in Urban Planning and Public Health from the University of Michigan where she collaborated on the development of a sustainability resource center in Detroit with Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, and the Southeast Michigan Sustainable Business Forum. Her graduate work has involved environmental justice, brownfield redevelopment, the built environment and obesity, and youth recreation needs.
As a student at Harvard College, Aaron earned a B.A. in Social Studies with a focus on the US Prison Industrial Complex. As an undergraduate, he was the Co-Founder and Director of the Harvard Progressive Advocacy Group, an organization that lends student resources and support to community led campaigns for justice in areas of prison reform, affordable housing and equal education. Aaron also interned at the American Friends Service Committee's Criminal Justice Program, working on prison reform issues in Massachusetts. He has also worked in Washington D.C. at an environmental lobby firm focusing on anti-nuclear campaigns. In addition Aaron is a documentary videographer, and is a Masters candidate in Community Economic Development at S. New Hampshire University.
Pandora Thomas is Director of the Green Career Program at Global Exchange. This program creates pathways for communities of color, youth and lower income people to access jobs and healing opportunities within environmental fields. Pandora is completing an M.A. in Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University. She received her B.A. in Religious Studies from Youngstown State University and a Teaching Credential from the New College of California. Pandora researched and did the initial writing and editing for a collaborative project called Shades of Green, a Green Construction manual for a YouthBuild program that aims to train youth ages 18-24 in Green Construction skills. She received human rights advocacy training as a visiting scholar at the Center for Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, and has created and delivered curriculum to diverse audiences around the themes of human rights, environmental justice, and environmental education. She would one day love to build a home made out of natural materials that do not harm the earth or its creatures, have a garden, and live simply and share this way of being with others.
