Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.
I am because we are. We are, therefore I am.
For us, Ubuntu is not a term, it is an practice of the deeper philosophy of what it means to be human. As we engage members across the diaspora in various fields of sustainability to exchange wisdom, it is important that our members drive engagement and foster conversations with each other.
We asked all of our members and the following committed brothers and sisters answered the call!! There is still a need for more leaders to answer the call so if you are interested, email members@blacksustainability.org with Subject: IH Leadership
Meet Your 2024 Industry House Leaders
CONNECT WITH THEM ON MIGHTY NETWORKS
READ THEIR DYNAMIC BIOS AND CONSIDER SUPPORTING THEIR WORK TOO!
Meet Sister Aleta Toure
ALTERNATIVE ECONOMICS
Head of House
Aleta Toure' is a home-birthing, homeschooling mother based in California, USA. She is a liberation strategist and a worker-owner cooperative member with Parable of the Sower Intentional Community Cooperative. She brings Feminist/ Solidarity Economy, asusuma culture, and community organizing products and services to sustain their worker-owned intentional community (housing) cooperative. Sister Aleta also has a film documentary on “The Black Cooperative Movement.”
Meet Brother Teddy Kambayi
ALTERNATIVE ECONOMICS
House Coordinator
Teddy Kambayi is Kinois (habitant of Kinshasa DRC) by birth, Lagosian (of Lagos Nigeria) by culture and Pan African by conviction. He currently resides in Oslo, Norway, where he took a BA in International Business Communication with focus on Scandics and Saxons. Having spent time in Minneapolis for a semester in 2007, we have a well rounded House Coordinator to represent our Alternative Economics IH.
Teddy has worked in both the private and public sectors in Norway. He is autodidacte,with 14 years of self-cultivation in African history and philosophy. He currently coordinates the African Business Association in Oslo, Norway and Ankhotep in Kinshasa. Grosso modo!
Meet Brother Brian Westpoint
ALTERNATIVE ECONOMICS
House Keeper - North America & Caribbean
Brian Westpoint is a passionate advocate for climate justice, health equity, and community resilience based out of California, USA. He is dedicated to leveraging his expertise in sustainability, wellness, and strategic partnerships to contribute to the mission of rebuilding sustainable communities. Inspired by the principles of Ubuntu, Brian is looking forward to connecting, learning, and co-creating solutions that honor Afrikan ancestral wisdom and ensure the well-being of our planet and future generations. With an ear to the ground and taking action in his local community to resolve unaddressed needs following natural disasters, his leadership as a House Keeper is critical.
Meet Brother Al'Hakim Avery
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
House Coordinator
"My name is Al'Hakim Avery, but you can just call me Hakim."
Brother Hakim is passionate about sustainability and music. He is an old soul driven by the desire to learn and innovate. As a solar design lead in Texas, his occupation requires he quality check residential solar and battery blueprints while maintaining various vendor relationships and projects in progress. Beyond harnessing the power of the sun, he is also a beatmaker, blending samples and drum breaks to create beats that he can vibe to.
Meet Sister Esther Akua George
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE & LAND MANAGEMENT
House Coordinator
Esther Akua George, is a natural lifestyle enthusiast from Ghana. Madam George has a deep connection with nature and an unwavering commitment to advocating for well-being through nourishing dietary habits, as a certified diet coach. Her academic journey culminated in attaining a BEng in Agricultural Engineering, a foundation that has underpinned her diverse experiences.
Presently, Sister Akua contributes her skills to two Sustainability Institutes, where her roles encompass adept administrative skills and effective project management. In her dynamic career, Akua embodies a harmonious blend of ecological consciousness, nutritional advocacy, and proficient administrative capabilities.
Meet Brother Steven McDonnough
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE & LAND MANAGEMENT
Head of House
Brother Steven is a sustainability enthusiast developing eco-communities throughout the Ashanti region of Ghana. Previous careers in financial & business management and international trade & development with an emphasis on off-grid infrastructure provided the perspective required to lead rural socio-economic development, rooted in regenerative agriculture, and to create a scalable model for Sub-Saharan Africa. We are honored to learn from his work and have him serve in this capacity.
Meet Brother Adrian Watson
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE & LAND MANAGEMENT
House Keeper
Adrian Watson is a Jamaican nature lover by default, a beekeeper, geographer, zoologist and conservator by profession, a climate advocate by concern and the brain behind Honai Beez Apiary – sustainable tropical beekeeping social enterprise combat climate change using CNC-Router to make eco-friendly bamboo beehives and beekeeping training of youths from low-income families, wards of the state. He has had the privilege to work on climate and biodiversity conservation issues which has allowed him to visit over 17 countries.
Adrian holds a Bachelor of Science in Geography and Zoology from the University of the West Indies at Mona and a Master of Science in Conservation and Land Management at Bangor University in North Wales as a 2021 Chevening Scholar.
As an advocate, he has championed the cause of integrating the voice of youths and grassroots voices in the environmental protection and conservation sector. He has been working in disaster risk reduction, natural resources management focusing on biodiversity and climate change for the last 10 years.
Adrian, a licensed UK and EU drone pilot is continuing the pursuit his environmental career aspiration as the Executive Director for a small think tank social enterprise consortium called Jamaica Environment Entrepreneurs' Advocacy Network (JEEAN) that seeks to aid social enterprises whose aims are to advance climate smart and nature-based solutions for the goals of biodiversity protection and ecosystems management. This has led him to become a 2021 UNLEASH Global SDG Fellow, 2021 UNLEASH Plus Fellow, a 2020 REAP Agri-Tech Fellow, 2021 YLAI Fellow and a Two-time nominee of the Prime Minister's Youth Awards.-
Deepest gratitude for being a valued member of the Black Sustainability Network – a space dedicated to mobilizing sustainability practitioners of Afrikan descent to (re)build sustainable communities and economies that will restore balance to our planet.
Meet Sister Denise Smith-Archer
EDUCATION AND CULTURAL PRESERVATION
House Coordinator
Denise Smith-Archer is the Founder & CEO of Miracle by DAS, LLC and the Founder & President of STEMkofa Educational Solutions, Inc. Across Atlanta, Maryland, California, USA and Jamaica, she combines her expertise in engineering with her passion for education and art to use Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) education as a tool for community building.