Profiles Headline
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Shanequa Smith
Grassroots Fellow 2020
Dr. Shanequa Smith is a restorative practitioner originally from Harlem, NY, who has resided and worked in West Virginia for the past two decades. She embarked on her journey as a restorative justice practitioner after recognizing her innate gift for healing. As a parent herself, caring for her own two children and numerous other children in her family and community, it took her many years and a Master's Degree in Counseling to discern the distinction between providing and parenting. Subsequently, during her community research to attain a Doctorate in Human and Community Development at West Virginia University, she gained a deep understanding of the pivotal role of internal healing in breaking the cycle of generational poverty. She also became acutely aware of the disproportionate lack of nurturing spaces and institutions in impoverished and Black communities. Through her personal efforts to unlearn and disengage from contextual and generational oppression, as well as her pursuit of healing and liberation for herself, she realized her calling to create these spaces for communities as well.
Jen Osha
Grassroots Fellow 2021
Dr. Osha is an award-winning educator, musician, and advocate for environmental justice in the Mountain State. Dr. Osha is the Director of the Mountain Stewardship and Outdoor Leadership School in Morgantown, which she co-founded in June 2014 in partnership with the Morgantown Learning Academy. She was also a co-founder of Aurora Lights (Mountain SOL’s parent non-profit) and served as its President from 1998 to 2012. Dr. Osha holds a B.A. in English with Honors from the University of Virginia, a Masters degree in Forestry from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and a Ph.D. in Geography from WVU. Her research focused on the impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining on the communities surrounding Coal River Mountain in Raleigh County, West Virginia. Dr. Osha was a producer and contributor to the album Still Moving Mountains: The Journey Home, released in June of 2009, and was the project director for the multimedia website Journey Up Coal River. We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Osha as part of our team.