Conference Coordinator

Malaika Hart Gilpin has been community and education focused for most of her life. She got her Masters in Multicultural Education and is also a Certified Yoga Instructor. She has taught for over 16 years most recently as Director of Arts at Sankofa Freedom Academy, of which she was a part of the founding staff. She is excited to have recently joined NESAWG as the 2018 Conference Manager. Malaika is also the co-founder and co-director of the One Art Community Center, a non-profit that focuses on healing and teaching communities through the arts. One Art has created an urban eco arts village space that many come to for creative expression, peace of mind, growth and upliftment. Malaika is a part of several community groups as well as a part of the leadership of Soil Generation and she finds great joy working, growing and blossoming with other urban farmers. She loves her jobs and the people she has the honor of serving.

Derek received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Strayer University in 2006. After working for two major nonprofits in Washington, DC, in business processes and improvement, Derek decided to follow his passion and become an elementary educator. Derek spent two years abroad in South Korea, teaching English as a Foreign Language to elementary students before returning to the States. On his return, Derek entered graduate school, obtaining two master’s degrees in education from the School for International Training and Marlboro College Graduate School, both in Brattleboro, Vermont. Since 2013, Derek has worked in both the public and private educational systems in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area as an elementary educator, actively utilizing social justice pedagogy across the curriculum to engage his students in equity and justice issues. Derek is also a visiting facilitator for SPARK Teacher Education Institute and co-founder of Collective Liberation Lab, a teaching and curriculum design consultancy firm which assists nonprofit organizations with dismantling systems of oppression and deepening engagement with social justice issues within their organizations. Derek is contributing host on Indigo Radio, a group of educators who host a weekly talk show on a local public access radio that discusses educational and social issues globally and locally. He is the co-host of the hit podcast series Eat. Puff. Love., a podcast that tackles the issues of the day and actively works to educate listeners about the black queer experience. Derek as well is a member of the Turkey Thicket Community Garden in Washington, DC. In his free time, Derek enjoys hiking outdoors, taking photographs of nature, preparing elaborate dishes, and traveling the world.

Kelsey (she/her) holds a B.S. in Environmental Studies and Sustainability & Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems from Michigan State University and has spent more than a decade doing work rooted in food and agriculture. Her work with NSAC has relocated her to D.C. but she was born and raised in Michigan where she was most recently working with the Center for Regional Food Systems on developing An Annotated Bibliography on Structural Racism Present in the US Food System. She comes to policy work by way of wanting to understand how the policy decisions that immediately impact communities of color are made. Kelsey’s work is rooted in principles of racial justice, black food sovereignty, and exploring individual relationships with food and land.

Nurcan (she/her) is an interdisciplinary social scientist and an Associate Professor at Environmental Studies and Sciences Program at Skidmore College, NY. Nurcan grew up in Turkey and worked professionally with government agencies, and in the non-profit sector, and designed, implemented and evaluated projects related to environmental conservation, environmental education, rural development and cultural preservation. She has taught courses, including Politics of Food and Social Justice, Human Rights and Development, and Political Ecology. She teaches academic civic engagement courses and has worked with community organizations for over a decade in the Capital District region of New York on projects related to affordable housing, urban pollinators, urban climate action and food cooperatives. Her research is about the resilience of food systems and social movements, with a particular focus on conservation of agricultural biodiversity, intersection of gender and access to healthy food, Islam and genetically engineered food. Her research has been published in interdisciplinary peer review journals such as Agriculture and Human Values, Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Global Environmental Politics and Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, and in edited volumes. She has been committed to social justice issues and interfaith dialogue, and worked with community organizations in Saratoga Springs, NY.