Dr. Shemariah J. Arki identifies as an educator, an activist and an organizer. Currently serving as a professor in the department of Pan-African Studies and as the interim director of the Center for Pan African Culture, both at Kent State University, she is an intersectional feminist scholar with expert knowledge and skills to develop, implement, facilitate and evaluate curricula that promote institutional equity, communication, and access for traditionally marginalized students and families.

Dr. Shemariah Arki will be giving a brief overview of the statewide consultant work she and her organization have been developing over the past 2 years. She will discuss the state of the Statewide Prevention Action Plan, which is focusing on bridging work done across the state from the health department, OAESV, and the state domestic violence coalition. This highlight will be followed up with a more interactive workshop later the same afternoon.

Maliyah is an artist, activist, and yogi based in Brooklyn, NY. Before she began her yoga journey, she served as an arts ambassador in Germany, Poland, Japan, Canada, and the US. She is delighted to be at this year’s OAESV conference and honored to share her practice.

Kasie is the founder of Radical & Restorative Therapy and is a Registered Mental Health Counseling Intern in the state of Florida. Kasie’s educational background plays a significant role in her overall therapeutic and ideological approach. Specifically, Kasie has a Master’s of Art in Women’s and Gender Studies with a specialization in Public Health and a Master’s of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Considering this, Kasie integrates into their therapeutic approach how systems of oppression and privilege shape our lived experiences, our ways of knowing, our ways of living, our access to quality care, and our experiences with trauma. As a mental health counselor, Kasie adopts an integrative method that includes trauma-informed therapies, person-centered therapies, cognitive behavioral therapies, humanistic theories, mindfulness, feminist and queer theories, and transpersonal therapies. Kasie is an adamant supporter and active participant in anti-oppressive work. Radical & Restorative Therapy and Kasie welcome people from all intersecting identities. As a queer person with serious mental illness, Kasie created this space with the thought of “for us, by us” in mind.

Tuesday, Kasie will deliver a call to action that centers around the themes of the conference, community healing, and praxis.

Aparna Shah has worked to build community power grounded in shared purpose, love, and liberation for over 25 years. She is Principal at Samaja Sadya Consulting, which cultivates cultural strategy and embodied practice with teams, institutions, and networks catalyzing transformative governance. Previously Aparna was Co-Executive Director of Power California (formerly Mobilize the Immigrant Vote). During her decade long tenure, PowerCA/MIV organized statewide campaigns reaching 500,000+ young, immigrant, and refugee voters of color and Indigenous voters, built the long-term infrastructure and capacity of grassroots multiracial and intergenerational organizations across the state to run electoral and issue campaigns, and established a sister organization, PowerCA Action (formerly MIV Action Fund). She has also worked to advance the self-determination and reproductive justice of women, people of color, and queer communities and spent several years working to transform a public middle school into a vibrant youth and community center in San Francisco’s Mission District. Aparna currently sits on the Board of 18 Million Rising and holds a Master of Health Sciences degree from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She was born in Manila, grew up in Mumbai, and lives with her family on unceded Ohlone land also known as Oakland, California. 

Nan has worked in the anti-violence movement as an advocate, trainer, and organizer for more than 40 years. She is a Strategic Advisor of the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WSCADV), where she served as the Executive Director for 17 years. WSCADV is a non-profit organization that works on behalf of nearly 70 community-based domestic violence advocacy agencies to create a world where all people can live and love freely without fear. 

Before coming to WSCADV in 1998, Nan was the Associate Director of the Faith Trust Institute, a national organization that mobilizes religious leaders and communities to address sexual and domestic violence. She was also a founding member of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, is a past board chair of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and has served on numerous boards and advisory groups.