Panelists and Workshop Leaders

Karla Armour is a fifth generation baker of African American and Guyanese descent. As the owner of La Matriz Bakery, she combines the traditional flavors and recipes from both cultures to create breads, pastries, preserves and infused waters/teas/lemonades. located in the Rosemoor community where Karla grew up and still resides. In addition to her entrepreneurship, Karla is passionate about the food apartheid that plagues her community as well as wrongful convictions, mass incarcerations and sentencing integrity. She has created a farm-to-table initiative where Epa-Akoma Urban Farms and La Matriz Bakery are the endpoints. The initiative will employ exonerees and other formerly incarcerated individuals to help them rebuild their lives and the Rosemoor community.

Natalie Battles is a visual and performance artist. Her gifts of photography, cinematography, acting, directing, hosting, art, and event curation, helps to educate, amplify and inspire shining a light on the truth, the beauty, and the greatness of melanated people and culture. Her purpose is to restore melanated people to their former greatness and to encourage them to walk in their power. Natalie does this by taking control of the melanated narrative.Natalie is the founder of Melanated in America production and events company where the mission is to highlight, promote, and showcase everything melanated in America. She is also the co-founder of The Healing Academy arts, an education-based non-profit organization with a mission to transform urban communities by offering education for the entire family.

Dr. Aisha El-Amin works directly with the Vice Chancellor and Vice Provost for Student Affairs and serves as a member of the Provost leadership team to provide academic leadership to the university in areas related to student success. Overseeing 11 campus-wide student success units, the Associate Vice Provost fosters strategic relationships and projects at every level, both internal and external to the University, to ensure successful outcomes for UIC’s undergraduate student body.

Joshua Hughes was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated from Arizona State University with his B.S. in Sociology in 2018. His community engagement experience stems from organizing creative and performance spaces for artists of color. As the manager of UGC’s Fresh Moves Mobile Market, Joshua works to further assist the development of food security in Chicago as a continued action in social justice. Joshua has worked in food access with UGC since late 2019 through the height of the pandemic and emergency food distribution. He has helped lead the Fresh Moves Mobile Market to create new sustainable systems to better serve Chicago’s south and west side communities. 

Elvis Kouassi is currently a 4th year majoring in Urban Studies at the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs. He is a first generation Ivorian-American and a proud New Jersey native. Throughout his time at UIC, he has been working with a variety of organizations to enhance the student experience at UIC, particularly within the Black student body. He is currently the President of Pathways to Black Male Achievement, Vice President of Collegiate 100, Historian of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.’s Theta Chapter, Fellow of UIC’s UPPF program, and a Peer Mentor for UIC Campus Housing.

As Senior Director of Community Collaboration Keith Lewis is responsible for developing and managing a comprehensive program that includes the creation of two neighborhood centers on the south and westsides of Chicago, facilitating connections that strengthen and build community partnerships as well as create and implement specialized pathway and accessibility initiatives for underrepresented and marginalized groups.

Adonnis Platt serves as Land and Community Steward for Grow Greater Englewood. He works with community members to advance food sovereignty by creating access to healthy, nourishing food through backyard and community garden installations. He is currently working with a cohort of young interns to develop skills around growing organic food, carpentry, and community organizing practices Adonnis served on the 18th Annual Chicago Food Justice Summit in which he spoke on. He spoke on ;earning a holistic approach to problem solving using human-centered design, specifically through the lens of a simplified engineering design process for a non-technical individual or team. 

Allyson Scrutchens is a trailblazer for economic development, and empowering others by providing access to information, resources and opportunities. Growing up on the south side of Chicago, the need and dedication to making a difference in society became extremely pertinent. Allyson received a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Illinois at Chicago and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work (BSW) from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Skye Vera is currently a 4th year student studying Black Studies and Communication with minors in Law & Society and International Studies. She is the president of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Omicron Beta Chapter. She is also a Black History Month Committee Member, an LARES leader, and the president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council at UIC.

Deshawn WIllingham grew up in Bronzeville, on the south side of Chicago.  He always wanted to do some kind of meaningful work, from a social services aspect. In 2018 he stumbled across the Windy City Harvest Corps program, and as they say, the rest is history. Deshawn immediately recognized the program as the opportunity he needed to fulfill his burning desire to get involved and give back to the community. In 2021 he started my farm business, Chicago Urban Farm Solutions. A small urban farm, on a 1⁄8 acre incubator plot at Legends farm, dedicated to addressing the issues of healthy food inequities in under-served communities. In 2022, he applied for farmland through the Land Conservation Fund. He was approved, and the fund acquired a 20 acre farm on behalf of Chicago Urban Farm Solutions. Deshawn is currently building the farm to capacity, and will be in full operation for the 2023 farming season. They have a mission to put healthy, sustainably grown produce, on the tables of everyone who desires it. They also support local organizations, dedicated to addressing the myriad of social ills that plague our communities. They look forward to the 2023 season, and the opportunity to collaborate and work with individuals, businesses and organizations who value the production and distribution of locally grown food.