Fellows

Lauderhill, Florida

Sasha Forbes is a Senior Program Advocate on the Resilient Communities team in the Healthy People & Thriving Communities program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Continue reading

She provides capacity-building and technical assistance to communities focused on people-centered community development with equity, justice and the environment at heart. She collaborates with community partners on issues such as affordable housing, especially in the face of displacement and gentrification, equitable transit and park-oriented development, and collaborative cross-sector engagement. Sasha currently works on the Strong, Prosperous and Resilient Communities Challenge (SPARCC), a national initiative focused on influencing policies, practices and investments that center racial equity, build a culture of health, address current environmental challenges and prepare for climate change. Prior to joining NRDC, Sasha worked for Reconnecting America in Washington, DC where she focused on federal, state, and local policies to integrate land use, transportation, and housing. Sasha holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Florida. She is based in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Salinas, California

Rosa González is a senior fellow at the Movement Strategy Center and the founder of Facilitating Power, a consultancy designed to cultivate the practice & pedagogy of a living democracy. Continue reading

She works with organizations, foundations, and collaborative initiatives to build the capacity for culturally rooted, collaborative leadership to advance whole systems solutions. She is dedicated to fundamental shifts towards health & balance at all levels from the personal to the structural. She wrote the Framework on Community-Driven Climate Resilience Planning, in collaboration with climate justice leaders from around the country, and is working to deepen collaboration between the public and private sectors at the local level through multiple city-based initiatives. She is currently working on her first book, in collaboration with NationBuilder titled: SEED, HARVEST, WEAVE Facilitative Leadership for a Living Democracy.

Freeville, New York

Rafael Aponte was born and raised in the South Bronx, NY, and holds over fifteen years of experience working as a community activist, advocate, and educator. Continue reading

After graduating from Farm School NYC’s certificate program in urban agriculture in 2011, he relocated to Tompkins County and established Rocky Acres Community Farm in Freeville, NY in 2013. Rocky Acres is a 10-acre farm that focuses on education and the sustainable production of local vegetables, eggs, and meat for low-resourced communities. It combines the knowledge and spirit of social justice with the transformative healing aspects of nature and agriculture to promote equity in both urban and rural food systems. In 2014, Rafael began working with the Youth Farm Project, bringing his experience in day-to-day farm operations and after-school education. He served as director of the Youth Farm Project from 2016-2018, where he worked alongside youth, staff, and farmers to bring his experience to programing dedicated to equity, food justice, and livestock production. He also spearheaded the Harvest Box program, an affordable farmshare to serve the needs of underserved residents of Tompkins County. Rafael works in various leadership roles in the Ithaca community; he currently serves on the Tompkins County Food Policy Council and is a working group member for Black Lives Matter Ithaca (BLMI).

Tuskegee, Alabama

Dr. Muhjah Shakir is the founding president and CEO of Nature’s Garden for Victory and Peace, Inc., (NGVP), a non-profit and aspiring 25 acre Community Land Trust located in a lush forest like environment in Tuskegee, Alabama USA. Continue reading

The manifestation of the property was the result of a vision and was spirit led. The development of NGVP represents the culmination of many years of study, social justice activism, and a lifelong pursuit of spiritual growth.  Using the land and the philosophy of Nature Culture the aim of NGVP is to create a holistic, intentional, and transformative learning community for the health and healing of the people and the land. This is achieved through the Arts defined as any human activity or occupation performed with mindful imagination, beauty, and social responsibility.

In pursuit of fulfilling this vision, in May 2016 Dr. Shakir retired after 16 years of teaching as a full time professor of Occupational Therapy at Tuskegee University. Muhjah Shakir has a B.S. degree in Occupational Therapy from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan; a M.A. degree in Cultural Anthropology; and a PhD degree In Transformative Studies both from the California Institute of Integral Studies located in San Francisco, California.  Dr. Shakir is a certified massage therapist and Reiki master, and plans to develop an “occupationally-based” academy for the healing arts.

Dr. Shakir is a devoted mother, grandmother, and supportive friend.  In 2012 she was ‘enstooled’ as a Queen Mother under the auspices of the Institute for Whole Life Healing. She is well traveled having visited four continents and is deeply appreciative of world cultures and the beauty in its diversity. She lives a spirited and reflective life dedicated to the restoration of the land and her people.

Berkeley, California

Minna Toloui (she/they) Minna is an East Bay Area, CA (Muwekma Oholone land) born-and-raised environmental justice educator and advocate. Continue reading

Her focus on the health and resiliency of our most marginalized communities stems from growing up near Chevron’s Richmond refinery and her family’s political refugee background. She is fiercely loyal to the East Bay and is working on ways to fight gentrification – especially stemming from ‘greening’ and ‘climate-smart’ development and policy. Minna has worked with organizations including Green for All, Center for Climate Change & Health, and Ecology Center. She is fluent in Persian and working on getting fluent in Spanish. Minna’s favorite things, outside of talking to people about justice, is being in the sun, laughing and making people laugh, eating good food, being in QTPOC community, performing terrible karaoke, learning about her family history, reading anything by adrienne marie brown, and spending time by the ocean.”