our leadership team
Aishia Brown
Aishia Brown, PhD, she/her. Associate professor in the University of Louisville School of Public Health, Aishia is a community-engaged researcher with a strong commitment to political education. She is the Director of the Center for Social Justice Youth Development Research (CSJYDR) where she explores the role of community-based recreational spaces in cultivating critical consciousness and sociopolitical development for youth and communities who hold identities that have been historically excluded. Her work adopts the social justice youth development framework, a critical paradigm focused on transforming the oppressive ways systems, institutions, and organizations engage with youth.
kHALILAH COLLINS
Khalilah V. Collins, MSW, she/her. Khalilah was one of the initiators in 2020 of Louisville Political Education for Liberation, and has been running in righteous circles for decades: in community organizing, program development, and education around economic and racial justice, mental health and violence prevention. A former US Marine, she came to know poverty up close and personal after getting out of the military, and has fought the economic injustices faced by so many in this country. Currently, she is organizer for the DOVE Delegates project that is co-creating with community a program that seeks to reduce the footprint of law enforcement and judicial involvement of our most vulnerable community members. She is the mother of two, a social worker, educator, organizer and activist, and calls herself a Social Justice Practitioner. Khalilah has decades of experience and has been part of UrbanSpirt since 2005. She makes her home in New Orleans.
Deb Conrad
Deborah DeMars Conrad, EdD, she/her. Deb founded UrbanSpirit in 2001 to help Church think in new ways about American empire and our responsibility to one another. She has served as pastor and teacher in many settings, including 8 years in Flint, Michigan, consuming and agitating against lead-poisoned water. Deb was recipient of the 2017 Esther Davis Award for Social Justice, given by the American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago, and the 2018 Associated Church Press “Best of the Church Press” Award of Excellence for Biblical Interpretation. A native of SC and a sojourner in a lot of places, she’s at home these days in Louisville.
You can read Deb's blog and listen to her sermons at www.mendtheworld.me or find her on substack @debdconrad.
Sam Fowler
Sam Fowler, they/them. Sam is Program Coordinator Senior in the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences, Office of Culture and Liberation. They have coordinated logistics, operations, and finance for several organizations with equity missions across the country, both behind the scenes and in the streets, for nearly 2 decades.
Deonte Hollowell
Deonte, Hollowell, PhD, he/him. A native of Kentucky and graduate of the University of Louisville and Temple University, Deonte is Program Director of African American Studies and Associate Professor of African American Studies and History at Spalding University. His special area of study is the relationship between African Americans and police. He serves on various non-profit boards, supporting kids and education, healthy, peaceful families. He is the lead facilitator for an organization that introduces young boys to conflict resolution tactics and traditional African method of being.
Tamara Russell
Tamara Russell, MSSW, she/her. Tamara is Assistant VP in the Office of Belonging and Community Engagement with Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville. She is a former Senior Lecturer in Urban and Public Affairs at the UL Speed School of Engineering as well as professor in the Honors Department at UL. She is a Certified Restorative Practices Facilitator and is engaged with variety of community organizations, including Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange (RUX) and DOVE Initiative (Diversion Options: Voice & Empowerment) seeking alternatives to policing.
whitney waller-Garcia
Whitney Waller-Garcia, MDiv, she/her. Whitney is a professional extrovert, part-time theologian, and unapologetic Enneagram 8 who spends much of her time explaining to people: "I'm not angry, just passionate." Whitney channels her passion into her roles as pastor, mother, and partner. Whitney holds a Masters of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, where her coursework focused on interfaith partnership, community education and engagement, and social ethics. For over ten years, Whitney has served as a pastor in various roles, encouraging and challenging congregations to move beyond their pews and comfort zones to embody the Gospel of Jesus Christ (instead of, you know, just talking about it). Lately, she’s at home in Tulsa.