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NKECHI TAIFA’S BIO
Preferred pronunciation:
(Neh-KEE-Chee Tah-EE-Fah)
Nkechi Taifa is a civil and human rights attorney, scholar-activist, talk show host, and author. She is president of The Taifa Group LLC and serves as Senior Fellow for the Center of Justice at Columbia University and as a Power, Innovation and Leadership graduate of Harvard Kennedy School. A visionary thought leader and nationally recognized expert and commentator on race and justice issues, Taifa is Convener Emeritus of the Justice Roundtable Coalition, and served as Commissioner and Chair of the D.C. Commission on Human Rights. She has worked for the Open Society Foundations, Howard University School of Law, the ACLU, Women’s Legal Defense Fund, National Prison Project, and as an attorney in private practice. She has testified before the United States Congress, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the U.S. Helsinki Commission, the DC City Council, the Maryland Legislature, and the California Reparations Task Force.
Nkechi is Founder and Executive Director of the Reparation Education Project, Inc., is an inaugural Commissioner on the National African American Reparations Commission, and a founder of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America. She delivered a powerful TEDx talk, “Reparations, An Issue Whose Time Has Come.” A native Washingtonian, Nkechi is the author of the best-seller memoir, Black Power, Black Lawyer: My Audacious Quest for Justice, and the author of several books for children. Her most recent book, Reparations on Fire: How and Why it’s Spreading Across America, has been described as “part historical analysis, part revolutionary manifesto, and part political red-alert.”
In addition to her five published books, Nkechi Taifa is the author of scores of scholarly works, including law review articles, book chapters and white papers. She has been featured in major print and electronic media and has received numerous honors and awards for her work, including Essence Magazine’s WOKE 100 Black Women Advocating for Change.
For the complete Nkechi Taifa Experience, visit www.NkechiTaifa.com.
DR. CHERYL TAWEDE GRILLS’ BIO
Dr. Cheryl Tawede Grills is a Clinical Psychologist with a current emphasis in Community Psychology. On the faculty of Loyola Marymount University (LMU) for the past 36 years, she is a Professor of Psychology, Director of their Psychology Applied Research Center, and President’s Professor in the College of Liberal Arts. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of a non-profit organization, Imoyase Community Support Services, dedicated to program evaluation, action research, and technical assistance with community-based organizations focused on social justice, community organizing, and community-defined interventions.
Dr. Grills is a national Past President of The Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) and serves as one of the lead trainers in the Community Healing Network/ABPsi Emotional Emancipation Circles Initiative partnership designed to address racial trauma and stress experienced by people of African ancestry. She currently serves on the CA Reparations Taskforce, appointed by the Governor and on the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC). In addition, Dr. Grills is a Commissioner on Los Angeles County’s Sybil Brand Commission for Institutional Inspections, which focuses on conditions and practices within county jails and correctional facilities. She also served as Co-Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection whose work led to significant reforms in LA County’s approach to child welfare, including establishment of an Office of Child Protection.
Dr. Grills is a research principal investigator on several national, state, and county multi-site projects addressing mental health disparities, social determinants of health, positive youth development, and COVID’s impact on communities of color nationally. An important part of her work is in the area of racial stress focusing on research and training associated with racism, racial stress, implicit bias, and the development of community-based self-help models to address the negative effects of racism on people of African ancestry in the US and globally.
Dr. Grills’ research interests, publications, and projects include African Psychology, African Centered models of treatment engagement with African Americans; community psychology; community mental health; mental health disparities; community organizing as a public health strategy; community defined mental health intervention strategies; positive youth development; and program evaluation. She has published over 58 peer reviewed articles and book chapters in addition to a number of special reports and white papers.