BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Allen Kwabena Frimpong
Board Chair, Development Owl
Independent, Voting Member (2020-Present)
Allen is the co-founder of and Managing Partner of AdAstra Management collective. Formerly a principal consultant and resource mobilizer with Movement NetLab a think-make-do tank based in Brooklyn, NY, he has over 12 years of experience in his field. He is highly talented in working with funders and donors in cultivating grant-making strategies throughout social change initiatives to achieve a just transition to economic democracy. His capacity-building work in philanthropy and government has focused on supporting the development of social programs, service delivery models, community organizing campaigns and cross collaboration system change initiatives. He is a recognized thought leader with a unique perspective on his interdisciplinary work with social movements harnessing his skills from community organizing, resource mobilization, fundraising, as well as participatory planning and design thinking within complex networked systems.
Luana Morales
Board Member, Circle of Elders Owl
Independent, Voting Member (2021-Present)
Luana Morales is a Birth and Bereavement Doula, Midwife, Circle keeper, Spiritual Coach, Officiant, Reiki Master Teacher, and Herbal Apprentice devoted to reclaiming our birth, death, and Afro-Indigenous healing practices. She creates containers that support reflection, experimentation, healing, learning, collaboration, and joy for our individual and collective liberation, be it through individual sessions, group facilitation, workshops, or retreats. Prior to her current work as a full-time healing arts practitioner and facilitator, she dedicated 18 years to working in human services with individuals in a variety of settings, including residential long-term treatment, outpatient, and supportive housing with individuals and families struggling with mental health issues, trauma, addiction, chronic health conditions, and homelessness. She also dedicated 11 years to community-based parenting education, supporting families affected by substance abuse, mental illness, and trauma. In 2017, she founded Seeds of Our Ancestors, a mobile interdisciplinary, intergenerational, and multi-lineage healing squad. Luana‘s website is https://www.handsofgaiareiki.
Lydia Yousief
Board Member, Grantee Representative Owl
Independent, Voting Member (2018-Present)
Lydia Yousief is the founder and director of Elmahaba Center since June 2019. After graduating with her master’s from the Center of Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago, Lydia returned to her hometown, Nashville, to support Arabic-speaking families in their pursuits of economic stability and cultural revival. By training, she’s an ethnographer and storyteller.
To book Lydia for a speaking event any of the topics featured on Elmahaba’s instagram, please email her.
Nicki Kattoura
Board Clerk, Resist Staff Member
Co-director Grantee Relationships and Amplification , Voting Member (2023-Present)
Joby Gelbspan
Board Treasurer, Sustainability Owl
Independent, Voting Member (2023-Present)
Joby has organized for decades against many forms of oppression and abuse, especially those perpetrated with the power and shield of big corporations. She especially loves to share financial tools and analysis to help people build strategic and sustainable movements, individually and organizationally. She has served a range of groups in roles from adviser to director to CFO, and currently coordinates corporate research and financial analysis for Corporate Accountability International’s grassroots campaigns. She also teaches on politically-informed investing, and shows up in her local Providence community in as many other ways as her limited human form will allow.
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