Meet Our Team

Based in Connecticut, the National B.L.A.C.K. Cooperative is a coalition of young community organizers working with organizing advisors and local organizations. Our cooperative centers young voices. It is led by Black women and supported by Black men, non-Black people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, the special needs community and our white allies. We are always welcoming new members on our team and more organizations to partner with. Reach out to us if you're interested in joining our efforts.

Featured on this page is our leadership team, but not featured is all the amazing people providing materials, volunteering at our events, writing and editing blog posts, providing advice, and just showing up. Special thanks to: Isabella Hernandez, Sophie Wheeler, Sayaka Awao, Rachel Hart, Castella Copeland, Mike Ikechukwu, Amanda Youmans, Shivani Padhi, Lili Fishman, Grace O'Connell-Bach, Aidan Kaminer, Sarah Willen and Cindy Dubuque-Gallo.

Our community is powerful!

Adriana Sowell

President

Adriana Sowell is a Bachelor of Science student in Sociomedical Sciences at the University of Connecticut. She earned an A.S. Liberal Arts and Sciences from Manchester Community College in 2018. As a black woman of both African American and Jamaican descent she must navigate the all pervasive and ever present disease of racism daily. Her passions coalesce around the intersections of race, gender, disability, health and policy, more specifically maternal health, developmental disabilities, racial health inequities & disparities, social epidemiology, food justice and health & social policy.

Yveneed Kimberly Francois

Vice President

Yveneed “Yve with a Y” Francois is a first year Masters student at the Mailman School of Public Health. She received her Bachelors of Arts from the University of Connecticut in Race, Gender, and Ethnicity in Healthcare. Her interests include reproductive justice, maternal health, family rights and the intersectionality between faith and activism. She joined the B.L.A.C.K. Cooperative because she is passionate about creating a world centered around the interests of the community lead by minorities and youth. She believes that young people have the drive, energy, and determination to push for change.

Corona Zhang

Lead Organizer, Event Coordinator and Website Manager

Corona Zhang (they/them) recently graduated with a Masters in Public Health from UConn. Passionate about racial health disparities, they hope to become a medical anthropologist or social epidemiologist in the future. Corona joined TNBC in order to learn how to become a better ally, to channel their frustration and restlessness into tangible action, and to support her friends and community. Doing decolonial community work helps her thrive.

Nicholas Lombardo

Lead Organizer of Recruitment

Nicholas graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in East Asian Studies, and works for Elite Scholars of China, an education consultancy in Beijing. He has long sought how to balance interests in social history and policy, language acquisition and communication, and education systems with passions in social justice, especially across the many communities he calls home. With the chance to support TNBC, Nicholas is excited to continue a process of life-long self-education and service to support others: as an ally in the many fights to dismantle systems of oppression, and as an organizer of sustainable, collective impact to recreate this world we share.

Zacharie Mega

Lead Organizer of Graphics and Signage

Zach is a recent graduate of Northeastern University with a BS in Politics, Philosophy and Economics along with a minor in Graphic and Information Design. Originally from Hartford, after spending four years of college in Boston he was exposed to activism from many firsthand experiences. Political protests and organized marches in the streets increasingly became commonplace, and with the recent consistency of the #BlackLivesMatter protests, Zach felt the need to make himself useful in order to further the cause of socio-economic justice in America. After returning home and being inspired by friends getting involved in the movement, Zach decided to join the National B.L.A.C.K Cooperative in June of 2020.

Jacai Edwards

Action Items and Moderator Co-Lead

Jacai (He/Him/His) is a recent graduate from Wheaton College M.A. and has earned his Bachelor of Arts in African African American Diaspora Studies and Political Science with a minor in Sociology in May of 2020. Jacai has always been passionate about both social justice and racial injustice. He is constantly and continuously putting himself in positions where he can participate and facilitate dialogue about intersectionality and systemic oppression. Jacai hopes to bring this same tenacity to The National Black Cooperative to create actionable solutions for his community.

Miranda Marris

Lead Organizer of Permits

Miranda (she/her) was fortunate to be born and raised in Windsor, Connecticut with her large family and a diverse community of wonderful people. She graduated from the University of Connecticut with a B.A. in Psychology in December of 2019 and currently works for the UConn Health Center as a Research Coordinator. She has always had the desire to not just learn about the adversities individuals face, but actively advocate for those who experience such adversities - so when the opportunity to join The National B.L.A.C.K. Cooperative arose, she was more than excited to join. She looks forward to continuing learning and helping advocate for positive and progressive change in any way possible!

Castella Copeland

Lead Organizer

Copeland is currently a second-year doctoral student at Liberty University Online program with a concentration in Educational Leadership. She has earned three bachelors of arts degrees in political science, human rights, women's gender and sexuality with a minor in urban and community studies from the University of Connecticut class of 2017. Most recently she has earned a master of arts degree in educational psychology with a concentration in cognition instruction and learning technology also from the University of Connecticut class of 2019.