REPARATIONS | A PATH TO RESTORING THE SOUL OF COLONIZER NATIONS
Daryle E. Brown | Moderator
Director of Social Justice, Trinity UCC
Daryle spent over 30 years in various product development, product management, and marketing roles, in technology companies. Concurrent with his corporate work he has a long history of volunteer/community leadership with organizations like Optimist International, Junior Achievement, and Africare-Detroit, and is a Restorative Justice practitioner. He has been an active member of Trinity United Church of Christ's Prison Ministry for the past 22 years and during that time formed The Next Movement, an interfaith committee to "evangelize, organize and strategize" around the issue of ending mass incarceration in America.
From 2014 to 2021, he served as festival director of the (In)Justice for All Film Festival. In 2011, Daryle joined the Trinity UCC team as the Exec. Director, Multimedia, and beginning in 2022, he transitioned to the position of Director of Social Justice at Trinity UCC. In May 2022, he graduated from McCormick Theological Seminary with his Master of Divinity and has plans to research and write about the intersections between restorative justice, indigenous concepts of justice, and biblical justice constructs.
Jon Osaki | Reparations Director
Jon Osaki is an award-winning filmmaker who has directed and produced promotional, educational, narrative, and documentary films. His initial interest in film grew from his desire to share the stories of the Japanese Community Youth Council, where he has served as Executive Director since 1996. Over the past few years, he has had films screened at film festivals and community events across the country. As a filmmaker, Jon views this genre as the next step in his lifelong pursuit of social justice and equity.
Cheryl Scales
Strategist and Marketing, Johnson C. Smith
Theological Seminary
As JCSTS' Strategist and Marketing Specialist, Cheryl serves the seminary's mission in the areas of brand activation, social media outreach, grant funding, and trustee cultivation. Her award-winning portfolio of services involve multiple industries and include such companies as Proctor & Gamble and Delta Airlines. Her faith-based leadership extends widely across denominational lines. Her portfolio also includes social justice and equity solutions for education leaders, municipalities, and community organizers. Ms. Scales is a connector and innovator, who, through her firm, Cheryl Scales Innovation Group, consults with executives, entrepreneurs and businesses, small and large, providing coaching on strategy, design thinking, and business development.
Dr. Vickie Casanova-Willis
Co-Lead, Intl Civil Society Working Group for the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (ICSWG PFPAD) and TUCC Justice Watch Team, Human Rights
Dr. Vickie Casanova-Willis, MBA, MAT, PhD is Executive Director of the US Human Rights Network (USHRN), a national network of over 300 organizations and hundreds of individuals working since 2003 to build a people-centered human rights culture in the United States. She is a past President of the National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL), founding member of the US Human Rights Cities Alliance, and a co-founder of the new US Human Rights Network Foundation.
Dr. Vickie has spent decades engaging with underserved youth and families across ethnicities and nationalities through interdisciplinary education and cultural work to dismantle structural racism. She co-organized the 2016 Midwest US visits of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; co-authored several stakeholders’ reports and articles; and has provided + facilitated testimony to the Organization of American States-InterAmerican Commission (OAS-IACHR), Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Committee Against Torture (CAT), International Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), and the Human Rights Council (HRC) regarding human rights violations and solutions devised by directly impacted peoples.
Kristian Harris, 2nd Ward Council Person, Evanston Illinois
Chairperson, Evanston Reparations Committee
Krissie Harris is a 49-year resident of Evanston and has lived in the City's 2nd Ward for 23 years. On the council, she serves as the chairperson for Evanston’s Reparations Committee. Harris works at Oakton Community College, and serves as the college’s manager of student life and campus inclusion. Harris's strong track record of community service includes serving as a trustee of 2nd Baptist Church, volunteering at C&W's weekly food giveaway program, and being an active member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
Rev. Antonia R. Coleman
Program Director for the Center of Reparatory Justice, Transformation and Remediation
(a joint venture between McCormick Theological Seminary and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference.)
Rev Antonia brings with her the experience of community organizing via Organizing for America and as a founding board member of the South Shore Community Development Center a Community Reinvestment Project. She is a 2021 Master of Divinity graduate of McCormick Theological Seminary with a focus on the womanist care of widows, stewardship of the earth and her resources, and sexology. She holds a certificate in Environmental Ministry and Leadership and is a 2016 fellow of the Black Theology and Leadership Institute of Princeton Theological Seminary - Social Justice. In addition, Rev Antonia holds certifications with the Johnson C Smith Seminary for Worship and Liturgical Leadership, RISE Network, and is a cohort member of the Jarena Lee Preaching Academy. Rev Antonia is a member of the First Church of Deliverance, where she was ordained and serves on the Ministers’ Board.