Meet the BIPOC Changemakers of Community Equity Program

Aaliyah Kilgore currently lives in Saint Paul, MN with her two dogs, Cooper and Arkansas, and her bonus doggy-son Finn and his HANDSOME dog dad. When she’s not in school or working her day job, she is working on building her photography business and finding things to do to take care of herself.

Aaliyah is passionate about all things mental health, self-care, and change. She enjoys going for walks, longboarding, hiking, taking photos, reading, and hanging out in the park journaling.

There are a lot of things she’s done in her life, and some of the ones she’s most proud of are having the ability to get out of homelessness and work towards not being in poverty any longer, leaving an incredibly abusive relationship, going to therapy, losing 90 pounds, and learning how to take care of herself independently.

Anishaa Kamesh is a certified advocate with over 150 hours of crisis advocacy training. She has a BS in Public Health, Global Studies, & Life Sciences from the University of Minnesota. She is currently the Program Manager of the Enough. Program within Youth and Family Services at the YMCA of the North.

She is passionate about anti-trafficking efforts and ending sexual violence from a restorative justice, harm-reduction, low-barrier, and healing centered engagement perspective. She believes we need to focus more on community healing and radical self-care. She is also passionate about creating/reforming equitable policies on all levels (whether they be organizational or on a systems level), which protect and serve those who have historically been underserved and have experienced any type of trauma. She is very interested in the intersection of human rights and public health and believes it’s important to look at things on all scales, including globally when making decisions.

Anishaa calls both North Carolina and Minnesota home, but her heart is definitely in the Twin Cities. She is a proud Indian immigrant and Indian food will always be her comfort food. She is an animal lover and is mom to a one-year-old pit mix named Mila and more plants than she is willing to admit. She loves spending time outdoors and will try almost anything at least once!

B. Rosas is a renter in the Uptown neighborhood after living in Saint Paul for two years. They moved back to Minneapolis to be closer to family, who live on the Southside, where they grew up! Growing up in an immigrant, renter household in South Minneapolis gave them the experiences of knowing what renters go through with the city and the housing systems. B’s experiences as a renter led them into doing housing justice work for the last four years. Most recently, B. was a leader in the “Keep Saint Paul Home” campaign to pass and implement a rent control policy that would protect renters from displacement and rent gouging.

The campaign took a lot of work and fighting against big money, but they were still successful in passing it this last election. The “Keep Saint Paul Home” campaign taught them so much about organizing and building community, these relationships have helped nurture B’s. community building skills and their creativity. B. hopes to take these experiences into their next steps, both personally and professionally.

Domonique Jones is the  Executive Director of Partnership in Property Commercial Land Trust (PIPCLT). Prior to coming to PIPCLT, Domonique was a Program Director at City of Lakes Community Land Trust overseeing the Commercial Land Trust Initiative before it spun off to become PIPCLT. Prior to her work in commercial land trusts, Domonique was the Program Manager at Meda, where she launched the Meda Mini MBA Program, an accelerator for business owners of color. She also oversaw a pilot program called the Junior Achievement/Meda Fellows. This program provided entrepreneurship training to middle school and high school students in at risk communities.

Prior to her nonprofit experience, Domonique owned a business in the Mall of America called Drop N' Shop: Child Entertainment Center, and currently owns a talent management company call EPE (Entertainment Promotion Enterprise), a business that she founded in 2009, a trucking company called Next Level Logistics, and a real estate investment/development company called DND-realty that she co-owns with her husband. Domonique spent nearly eight years in the corporate sector, working at Cargill and United Health Group.

She holds a BA in International Management, Social Justice with a concentration in Law, Legal Studies and received a Paralegal and Spanish Proficiency Certification from Hamline University. She also holds an MBA in Project Management, Management Information Systems & Finance. Domonique grew up in North Minneapolis, and now resides in Elk River.

Hannah Ihekoronye is a first-generation Nigerian American. Hannah was born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota and calls this city her village. Her family, her home, a house with five siblings and immigrant parents determined in their mission to obtain the American dream. Hannah’s parents taught her the importance of education, hard work, and resiliency. During childhood, she escaped through poetry and dreamed big. Hannah aspired to be a doctor or writer and never imagined she would go on to study journalism.

In May 2021, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Journalism from the University of Minnesota. Her time at university was challenging. She overworked herself but experienced her proudest moments. For two years, Hannah mentored students and then created and ran a pilot mentorship program at the Minnesota Daily. Additionally, she had the honor of coaching speakers for TEDxUMN annual events. Her university experiences and upbringing helped define her passions and drive her purpose. Hannah is passionate about giving people the information and resources needed to tell their stories, share information, and build partnerships to better their lives and communities.

Keisha Mitchell is currently employed at the Wilder Foundation located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where she is the Program Manager for the African American Babies Coalition and Projects. She is proud to be a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. Currently, she is the immediate past president of the Minneapolis chapter. Keisha enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

Liz Miyoung Kaufman is a mother, facilitator, strategist, and advocate living on Dakota land in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul, MN. She grew up in North Minneapolis and has lived in New York City, London, and San Diego. She identifies as a Korean adoptee, a multiethnic Asian American, and a woman of color impacted by global systems of displacement and rooted in transnational solidarity movements.

She holds a BA in Sociology, with minors in History and Political Science from Barnard College, Columbia University, and an MA in English (Language Education) from Hamline University. In her Master's thesis, she designed a language-modified, trauma-informed Know Your Rights training for recent refugees and other vulnerable populations. She has worked at national legal and environmental organizations, nonprofits, grassroots community and wrap-around social service organizations, and broadly in education.

Liz has organized around a variety of issues including Ethnic Studies, wrongful conviction, police violence, immigrant rights, youth leadership, and political prisoner campaigns. In her free time, she is developing an organization for transracial adoptees and serves as a member of Los Angeles-based Nikkei Progressives' Black reparations committee; Minneapolis-based Deep Listening for Social Change cohort; Chicago-based Korean Women's International Network professional mentoring circle; and Oakland-based Asian Prisoner Support Committee. She is interested in creative and intersectional expressions of racial, economic, environmental, and gender justice, and explorations of how we can be grounded in transformative and visionary personal and collective work, and practice freedom in our daily lives.

Razia Hashemi is an Afghan asylum seeker who studied Islamic studies for five years, but isn’t Muslim. Being an atheist, she left her country and made it to the United States in September 2021. Entering the U.S. she stayed in Fort McCoy, a base that hosted 13,000 Afghans. Finding lack of communication as a void, Razia started to work as an interpreter on the base. She later found an opportunity as a case manager with CAPI USA for an emergency resettlement program, State Afghan Placement Assistance program, which would let her advocate for refugees.

Working with CAPI she had the chance to advocate for refugees, something she’s really passionate about. Razia has a passion to be a lawyer and advocate for people. Razia earned her B.A. degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at Asian University for Women (AUW), an American-style liberal arts university in Bangladesh where English is the primary language for classes and communication, where she developed critical thinking skills. One of her strengths, which sometimes is a weakness, is that she’s stubborn. It was a strength for her when she decided to leave Fort Mccoy for Minnesota. She’s stubborn when she knows her point is correct and it will solve issues.

Sarahi Morales Silva currently works as a Community Health Navigator. In addition to being a board member with The Camden Collective, they are also on the board of directors for MIRAC-Minnesota Immigration, Rights Action Committee. Sarahi has spoken in front of politicians at the local and state level, although shaking and extremely nervous. They have interviewed with the Star Tribune and MPR, as well as local radio stations. Once Sarahi found their voice it is now their duty to speak up and no longer hide or wait for change, they have to be the change they want to see in this lifetime. Sarahi is sick and tired of being exploited, it is time to hold those who represent us accountable, it is our responsibility to elect as many of our own, that are dedicated, and willing to speak the hard truth many don't want to hear.

As native Spanish speaker, Sarahi’s passions involve working with diverse communities and problem-solving to bridge cultural gaps between immigrant communities and local resources. They advocated for human rights, climate justice, legalization for all, free healthcare for all and workers' rights.

They own a small dog named Toby who is a rescue and enjoys going on bike rides in his backpack (at least they think he does, occasionally he tries to ditch them, but they’re not convinced he means to, so they don't take it personally). In addition, Sarahi enjoys paddle boarding, gardening, traveling, hiking, horseback riding, volunteering, and exploring new places and restaurants.

Ta'Mara (Tuh-Mair-ruh) Hill is a Policy Officer at the Center for Victims of Torture, and was hired in 2021 to build CVT's portfolio on U.S.-based human rights abuses, targeting police brutality, criminal justice reform, and other related issues.

Ta'Mara has a demonstrated history of working in human rights in numerous states and three different countries. In addition, she has worked in the nonprofit, for-profit, government, and education sectors focusing on policy issues concerning education, public health, social insurance, waiver programs, legislation, race and gender based violence, and human security issues. She is passionate about coalition building and utilizing policy advocacy in conjunction with direct services to create lasting improvements within communities.

Ta'Mara has a Master of Human Rights (Policy) degree from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Wiley College. While at Wiley she served as a Scholar for the White House Initiative on HBCUs. Between 2018-2019, she was a Fulbright Scholar in Athens, Greece.

Thuba Nguyễn (she/her) is an Early Childhood Education Specialist and children’s book author. Her credentials include an; Associates Applied Science in Early Childhood Education: Specialization in Special Needs and a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education Leadership. In her early education experience over the past 12 years, she acquired different leadership positions such as; School Education Coordinator, Center Director, Teacher Supervisor, and Community Relations Liaison. Currently, she serves as a board of directors for AMAZEworks organization, works at Child Care Aware of Minnesota as the Workforce Curriculum Coordinator, and is a teacher at the University of Minnesota Child Development Laboratory School. She is an active member of the University of Minnesota BIPOC Mental Health Collective planning team.

Thuba is the owner of Children of the Collective Arts Academy, LLC, a small business offering services ranging from DEI training, consultations, workshops, speaking engagements, restorative circles for community healing, and author visits to early childhood settings and service centers/programs. Thuba is passionate about promoting early literacy as a catalytic tool for generational and social change.

Thuba is most proud about publishing her very first children's book and becoming an entrepreneur as a local writer using art as a form of social justice. Her book project started in December of 2019 and was released on March 21, 2022.

Autumn McDowell (She/Her) was born in Minneapolis, grew up in the metro, has lived in the UK and Japan, and currently resides in Minneapolis. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota in Urban Studies. She is currently working at Pillsbury United Communities at Waite House as the College and Career Counselor. Autumn manages Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), a federal grant which connects Minneapolis youth to workforce opportunities and resources. She is a passionate servant leader. She enjoys helping and connecting people to resources within the community and beyond. She loves to learn about people and the built environment around us, especially issues regarding transportation. Autumn applied for the Community Equity Program to help grow her understanding of the Minnesota legislative process. She wants to know how to be a part of the process to create better solutions with policy, which typically leaves out the voices it is trying to help. She wants to be able to effectively advocate for the changes that better the community.

Dieu Do (she/her) is a recent graduate of Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and studied Political Science, Criminology/Criminal Justice, and Social Justice. Dieu is fiercely passionate about civic engagement, grassroots organizing, and creating pathways for historically excluded communities to be represented and serve in local, state, and federal government systems. She currently serves as a temporary council associate aide for Councilmember Ellison in the City of Minneapolis and as a Fellows Coordinator for the Asian American Organizing Project. Her future plans include attending law school, becoming a civil rights attorney and policy advocate, and focusing her efforts on anti-racism and prison abolition work.

Helen Bassett is the mother of one adult daughter. She has been a working woman the majority of her life. Helen loves being active and learning new things. She likes to write poetry, and enjoys fashion a great deal. Helen is looking forward to the generational range of participants in this cohort and considers it a privilege to be included.

Lauren Feiersinger is a visionary and rising thought leader who considers herself a global citizen, life scholar and builder. She was born and raised in Botswana; educated in Botswana, South Africa, Malaysia and the USA most recently. Lauren often says that her purpose birthed her after she packed one suitcase, a laptop and a carry-on bag and moved to the US in search for new experiences. Confronted by new systemic barriers that seemed so foreign yet so familiar, Lauren found her passion through advocacy in DEI focused spaces in higher education. She went on to work alongside and lead student teams as student government president, campus wide and statewide committee member of various committees and lobby lawmakers both at the Minnesota state capitol and in Washington DC. In addition to being a non-traditional international student, Lauren would go on to have a “new and different” kind of immigrant experience like never before, navigating spaces as a black, educated immigrant woman that led her to delve deeper into DEI work and explore the various ways and spaces international students experience higher education. Inspired by the incredible work of LeadMN and her former manager, Lauren then purposed it in herself to use whatever position of access to improve the experiences and outcomes of international students and American students in higher education. She’s currently in the process of launching a consulting company that aims to challenge the notion that international students are a monolith of experiences, stories, and abilities but instead shine light upon the diverse faces and stories of international students; engage campus administrations as well as lawmakers to join in creating more diverse, equitable and sustainable outcomes for international students as they navigate higher education in the US.

Maria Camila Merino Franco is a young Latina woman, who was born in Colombia and moved to Minnesota in 2010. She currently lives in Minneapolis. She recently graduated from the University of Minnesota with her bachelors of Environmental Engineering and is hoping to continue her career in the intersection of science and policy. She is extremely passionate about environmental issues, especially as they pertain to water, due to her experiences growing up in Colombia where water was sometimes a concern for her family. Maria Camila began learning about policy and environmental justice through university courses and books, and she was recently a member of the Emerging Environmental Leaders program in Minnesota. She is hoping that through CEP she will make important connections to other BIPOC leaders, learn more about the legislative process and about how to become an instrument of change.

Nichol Ellis-McGregor comes for a long line of survivors that had to overcome barriers and trauma. Nichol was raised by her maternal Grandparents in the Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota, until her pre-teens. She then was reunified with her mother in North Minneapolis where she spent the remaining of her youth and early adulthood. Nichol was greatly impacted by her life experiences in those neighborhoods such as the challenges, beauty of community, family strengths, resource allocation, and the power of culture. Nichol also had growing pains as a teen parent and navigating many systems that were oppressive. This experience led Nichol to a career in Human Services supporting families to stabilization, because Nichol wanted to give back to community and be a seed planter, like others that planted in to her life on her journey. Nichol attained a Master Degree in Human Services with a concentration of family studies. Nichol is a fellow of BCLI-Nexus Community Partners, serves on the EAC with the Met Council and is a community engagement manager with Hennepin with a focus on reducing the disproportionality of Black Children in Child Protection. She joined the CEP because she realizes how policies, statutes and the legislative process influences people’s lives and the more she understands the process, the more she can influence system change that supports empowered, stable, thriving families and communities.

Tor Chavarria (they/them), is a non-binary, Latinx artist, activist, and community organizer. They are originally from El Paso, TX and have been living in Minneapolis, MN for the past ten years. They hold a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from St. Cloud State University. Last September they started their graduate school journey at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs (UMN) majoring in public policy. Tor is very passionate about creating change for underinvested communities and making sure that every person has a platform to share their voice, and every person has the opportunity to succeed. They are extremely excited to join the Community Equity Program. In everything Tor does, they want to spread the message, “In order to love ourselves, we must be free to be ourselves.”