Born in Chicago, Illinois, Aaliyah Bailey has always been drawn to New Orleans for its unique culture and its strong sense of community. Her interest in the power of community, prioritizing mental health, and civic activism began in middle school, and she is currently studying Psychology at Xavier University. Following the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the ensuing conversations on gun reform, Aaliyah organized a student walkout at her middle school to address gun violence. Her organizing efforts continued as she co-founded her high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, where she increased safe spaces for LGBT+ youth. Aaliyah is grateful to IWES for offering her a position in which she can refine her ideas and make changes that will aid generations of Black youth to come.

💡 To learn more about Aaliyah and their work at IWES, check out their blog post here.

Keondra Carter is a senior at Southern University A&M College where she is studying both Psychology and Political Science on a Pre-Law track. As a native of Gonzalez, Louisiana, she grew up exposed to both the cultural richness and social issues that impact rural and urban parts of Southeast Louisiana. Witnessing the disparities prevalent in her surrounding community inspired her to become a leader and changemaker when she began college in Baton Rouge, and she continues to be involved in community work today. Keondra is a co-founder of the nonprofit BRforthePeople, formed in tandem with the nationwide protests against police brutality that surfaced in 2020. Keondra and her co-founders formed BRforthePeople envisioning the increase of youth voice and participation in the city’s advocacy, politics, community work, and service initiatives. She continues to advocate for change in marginalized communities at the local, state, and national level. In addition to joining the IWES team as a Policy Advisory Fellow, Keondra utilizes care and wisdom as a mentor to high school students in Baton Rouge. She interns with the nationally recognized non-profit Black Women in Charge. In this role, she advocates for addressing disparities that disproportionately impact Black women across multiple states. She looks forward to influencing policies in the New Orleans area that will improve the quality of life for youth locally and beyond.

Xavier University sophomore Youma Diabira is an activist, community organizer, and educator. She is currently studying Education and is on a path to becoming an English teacher. Her advocacy work and commitment to advancing equity began while she was in high school in her hometown of Philadelphia, and she continues her activism locally in New Orleans. In Philadelphia, she aided in the formation of her school’s equity and inclusion office. She is also the co-founder of the Philadelphia Black Student Alliance, which builds and unites Black student unions in the greater Philadelphia area. She was recognized for her work in Philadelphia by being awarded the Princeton Prize in Race Relations. Currently, Youma is a community organizer with UrbEd, where she works to amplify students' voices in the Philadelphia School District. She is also a fellow for the Next Generation Leadership Institute. In this role, she has held voting events, distributed reproductive health products, and advocated for the first ever condom distribution program on Xavier’s campus. In addition to her recent work in reproductive justice, she is an emerging educator. She has served as a STEM NOLA educator and completed a Summer 2022 teaching fellowship with Breakthrough Birmingham, where she worked as a 9th grade reading teacher. She looks forward to continuing her work as a classroom teacher after completing her undergraduate studies!

University of New Orleans anthropology student Ka’Sha Fenceroy set her sights on service, inspired in part by community leaders in her hometown Oakland, CA and by reading the works of her favorite author Zora Neale Hurston. Ka’Sha, a Hollygrove resident, previously sat on the IWES Youth Leadership Council and was a participant of the Aspen Challenge. She is a member of TransQueerYouth NOLA and has been an important voice in the ongoing planning of drug education and prevention workshops for youth to be hosted by IWES social workers.

💡 To learn more about Ka’Sha and their work at IWES, check out their blog post here.

Khayin Maheia is a Chicago native of Afro-Belizean descent who is currently studying accounting at Xavier University. While Khayin has found her niche in accounting, she has merged her interests in finance, advocacy, and social justice through numerous endeavors. Khayin’s interest in social justice work was catalyzed in part through her experience volunteering at non-profits in New York City on a school trip, where she gained exposure to issues surrounding gender inequality, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the school-to-prison pipeline, youth outreach services, racial injustice, and more. This trip catalyzed her commitment to working within her community to create social change. Khayin has used her accounting education to volunteer with Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) to support people in New Orleans file their taxes. After discovering her passion for accounting and community work, Khayin joined Xavier University’s Office of Violence Prevention and Advocacy to work as a sexual assault prevention health educator. She provided education on awareness around safe sex, victim resources, and healthy relationships. She has interned at ACORN International, where she combined her interests in finance and advancing equity by conducting financial statistical and racial demographic research on United States co-ops, contributing to a community-centered research report. She also interned at FreeGulliver, where she continued to develop her accounting skills and supported the firm’s bookkeeping and HR administrative support. She has held multiple leadership roles within Xavier’s chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants, where she currently serves as the chapter’s President. She worked as an Embark Scholar Intern through KPMG, a global financial firm. In this role, she networked with global financial professionals and worked on a proposal for solutions to lower CO2 emissions in the grocery industry. Khayin plans to pursue her Masters in Accounting Science after graduating from Xavier.

Los Angeles native Tiwani Oseni holds a Masters in Public Health in Health Education and Communication, and a B.S. in Health Care Administration. Through her public health education, she developed her passion for producing culturally relevant public health content and working to increase birth equity among Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities. During her Master’s program, she was a Tulane University Center for Excellence in Maternal Child Health Scholar. As a scholar, she produced podcasts, toolkits, and social media material for local organizations implementing maternal child health initiatives. In addition to joining the IWES team as a Policy Fellow, Tiwani currently works as the Community Engagement Coordinator with HealthConnect One, where she collaborates with organizations and program beneficiaries to plan community events aimed at promoting community-based, peer-to-peer assistance for early parenting, breastfeeding, and pregnancy. Tiwani is eager to explore the interconnectivity of initiatives addressing Black Maternal Mental Health.

Aspiring psychologist Ama Sumbry has pursued her dream of studying and addressing mental health outcomes among minoritized populations in the United States at Xavier University, and will be graduating with a B.S. in Psychological Science in May 2023. She has been dedicated to working in the mental health field since she was a high school student in her hometown of Washington, D.C., and hopes her work at IWES as a Policy Advisory Fellow will contribute to her development as a mental health professional. She plans to further her professional interest in Psychology at the Masters level after graduating from Xavier, and combine her interests in mental health and working with youth by becoming a professional counselor.

💡 To learn more about Ama and their work at IWES, check out their blog post here.

Tulane University student Eilah Wahlin is a sophomore studying Psychology. Eilah was born in Sweden and has lived in New York since 2015, and she speaks Swedish, English, and Spanish. Eilah has worked as a line cook in restaurants, and is excited to be entering the field of mental health and address policies that impact youth mental health outcomes. Eilah’s interests lie in criminal justice and criminology, specifically supporting Black youth who are disproportionately impacted by the United State’s criminal justice system. Eilah holds a Psychological First Aid Certificate from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. During her free time, she enjoys music, singing, being with friends, painting, and cooking. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with IWES and make meaningful changes in New Orleans.

💡 To learn more about Eilah and their work at IWES, check out their blog post here.

Kailynn Williams is a Louisiana native and a double major in Environmental Science and Nutrition & Health Informatics at Southern University A&M College. Through her education, she has worked to increase access to health insurance, and has also had the opportunity to engage in legal work with the District Attorney. Kailynn plans to pursue a joint Masters Degree in Public Health and her Juris Doctor after graduating college. She aspires to be an attorney and work in the field of public health. At IWES, Kailynn promotes the importance of Black Youth Mental Health in Louisiana by addressing how social, political, and economic systems shape behaviors and access to resources for Black youth. She looks forward to gaining experience in working to advance health equity, community sustainability, and leveraging justice for those whose voices have been silenced.

💡 To learn more about Kailynn and their work at IWES, check out their blog post here.

Tulane dual Public Health and Cell and Molecular Biology student Stacey Li has worked at the intersection of health and mental illness from a young age. Her passion for this work began when she worked with a suicide crisis line, and it has since grown as she has continued to pursue her interest in population level mental health outcomes. Prior to joining IWES, she volunteered as a medical advocate with the New Orleans Family Justice Center, where she supported survivors of assault as they navigated medical forensic exams. Her interest in medicine peaked during her time at NOFJC, leading her to work as a psychiatric technician in the ER, where she gained an understanding of the connection between clinical psychiatry and public health. She is interested in researching mental illness from a population health lens. Her current research interests include evaluating policy tools to address health inequities and the influence of sociocultural factors on mental health disorders. Her other passion projects include suicide prevention, improving resources for attempt survivors, and reducing barriers to access and care for those with mental illness. In her free time, she enjoys going on walks, lifting weights, and reading.

💡 To learn more about Stacey and their work at IWES, check out their blog post here.