Dismantling Oppression.
Cultivating Justice.
Nurturing Wellbeing.
OUR TEAM
Shayla Reese Griffin, Co-Founder & Facilitator
Black | she, her, hers
Shayla received her PhD and MSW from the University of Michigan’s joint program in Social Work and Cultural Anthropology and her B.A. in African American Studies with a minor in Spanish from Spelman College.
Shayla’s work focuses on issues of diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice, especially in K-12 schools. Shayla has extensive experience in dialogue facilitation, social justice education, coaching, consulting and youth programming. She has worked with thousands of P-12 teachers, high school students, college students and faculty around issues of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and adultism. She has also served as a social justice consultant and trainer with a number of organizations.
Shayla has taught courses on race, social justice, and diversity at the University of Michigan for the Program on Intergroup Relations, the School of Social Work, and the Department of Anthropology. She has been the recipient of a number of research grants and fellowships including the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the Andrew W. Woodrow Mellon Graduate Fellowship in Humanities, and a postdoctoral fellowship with the University of Michigan School of Education’s Center for the Study of Black Youth in Context.
Shayla is the author of Those Kids, Our Schools: Race and Reform in an American High School (Harvard Education Press, 2015), co-author of Race Dialogues: A Facilitator’s Guide to Tackling the Elephant in the Classroom (Teachers College Press, 2019), author of the picture book The Awesome Kids Guide to Race (Justice Leaders Press, 2023), and author of lots of medium essays & blog posts. She also developed three Justice Assessment & Transformation Tools for k-12 schools (the EJATT, now available for purchase), organizations (the OJATT), and institutions of higher education (the HEJATT).
Shayla has served on the State of Michigan’s Advisory Council on Deaf, Deafblind and Hard of Hearing, the Advisory Council of Detroit Disability Power, and the State of Michigan’s BLAC Education Committee. She resides in Detroit, MI with her spouse and three children.
Greg Myers, Co-Founder & Facilitator
Black | he, him, his
Greg is the Equity and Social Justice Specialist at Washtenaw Intermediate School District and serves as the lead facilitator for their Social Justice professional development series. He is also a Practitioner of Courageous Conversations about Race.
Greg is passionate about racial issues in education. Greg currently serves on the Parent Advisory Board of “Integrated Schools,” a national movement of white and privileged parents who have decided to enroll their children in schools that are predominantly comprised of students of color.
He was previously on the Washtenaw “My Brother’s Keeper” Steering Committee, is a former School Board member in the Willow Run Community Schools District, and was a Charter School Board member in the Ypsilanti Community Schools District.
He has been married for over 20 years and has 4 school-aged children and one child who attends the University of Michigan. He and his family live in Ypsilanti, MI.
Lois McCullen Parr, Co-Founder & Facilitator
white | she, her, hers
Lois believes that speaking the truth about systems of power, privilege, and oppression – and examining the ways in which racism damages white people – is critical to our nation’s need for race reparations, and can lead to liberation for both oppressed peoples and those who are oppressors.
Lois earned her MDiv from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary — Evanston, IL, and her BA in English/Writing from Otterbein College — Westerville, OH. She has additional training in Mediation & Conflict Resolution, Building An Inclusive Church, Pastoral Care & Counseling, Preaching, and Anti-Racism. As a professional writer and editor, Lois has worked in state government and arts organizations, and has served as adjunct faculty and as an international teacher.
Lois has facilitated training and professional development for Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Allies for Change, the Albion-Marshall Resilient Communities Project, the Racial Justice Institute of the National LGBTQ Task Force, Reconciling Ministries Network, Michigan State University Police & Community, and Chelsea Retirement Community (where she served as Chaplain). She has been an activist for social justice in Chicago, Standing Rock, and Ferguson. Ordained in 2001, she has served United Methodist congregations in the Chicago area and is an activist for justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in the church and culture.
Lois has published “Sitting Still: a Lenten Devotional” and anticipates publishing a book of poetry; she currently lives in Albion, Michigan.
Autumn Campbell, Co-Founder & Facilitator
white | she, her, hers
As a public school and outdoor educator, Autumn Joy Campbell has witnessed institutional racism through inaccurate and incomplete curriculum, school and district policies, school and classroom rules, micro- and macro-aggressions against People of Color, and social segregation. These experiences have led her to dedicate herself to interrupting and dismantling racist culture, and to using an anti-oppression consciousness to address equity, inclusion, diversity, and social justice in her classroom, at her school, and in the broader community.
An educator for over 24 years, Autumn received the "Most Influential Teacher" Award six times. In addition to her work in the classroom, she created and presented professional development workshops, collaborated with Ann Arbor, MI’s youth driven teen center, the Neutral Zone, organized students for a Social Justice Club and LGBTQIA Club, and participated in the Washtenaw Countywide Annual Youth Diversity Forum. Autumn also created and implemented curriculum for more than 300 students as a part of the Understanding Race Project in 2012. Autumn volunteers with the Washtenaw Countywide Culture and Diversity Task Force and the Washtenaw Transgender Task Force.
Autumn is dedicated to constant personal and professional development, striving to address and integrate her understanding of whiteness and unearned privileges through continuing education and meditation. She balances her personal growth with her current work as a Justice Leaders Collaborative facilitator. Through a collaborative learning process, Autumn engages participants to interrupt, address, and dismantle systems of oppression within their spheres of influence while maintaining an ongoing self-examination of power, privilege and implicit bias with humility, honesty, and self-love.
Dawn Espy, Facilitator
Black Multiracial | they, them, theirs
Originally from Detroit, Dawn now lives in Ypsilanti with their partner, two children and pets. Dawn comes from a family of educators and attended Vanderbilt University where they received a degree in psychology. Post graduation, Dawn worked in research, examining the experiences of adolescents and people of color as they navigated interactions with others, and the world.
Dawn earned a Master’s in Psychology from the University of Michigan as she continued to explore racial identity development for black and multiracial individuals. Dawn has spent most of their adult life supporting youth and engaging in social justice and equity work.
Previously the manager of the Education Project for Homeless Youth, Dawn worked directly with young people through Ozone House in partnership with the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. In this work they advocated for, supported, and facilitated supportive spaces for LGBTQ youth, and amplified the voices of youth interested in community engagement and activism opportunities. Dawn’s passion for Social Justice is not only their work but a life-long practice.
Rev. Vernice L. Thorn, Facilitator
Black | she, her, hers
Vernice is a retired pastor whose justice ministry continues to be one of welcome and inclusivity. Vernice has a passion for activism and has worked with Equality Illinois, Center on Halsted, Church Within A Church Movement (CWACM) and worked as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) for the state of Illinois.
Vernice is an ordained clergywoman of CWACM; a national, justice oriented faith group whose focus is the intersections of oppression. Initially ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), Vernice holds an Advanced Certification in Self-Psychology from the Center for Religion and Psychotherapy of Chicago and Masters Degrees in Christian Education and Pastoral Care and Counseling from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston IL. Vernice pastored at Broadway United Methodist Church (UMC) Chicago for fifteen years. In retirement Vernice continues to use her gifts to dismantle systemic oppression and help build places of trust and equity where people can embrace and celebrate their whole identity without fear or apology. Vernice believes that “All Oppression is Connected” and until all are free no one is free.
Vernice is a writer and was the editor of Celebrating Life: Liturgy that Transforms,(2009) and has numerous online publications on the Human Rights Campaign Website, and the Religion & Faith Program, Out In Scripture, Devotional Resource.
Vernice recently moved back to her hometown of Flint MI and is a proud mother and grandmother.
Meenakshi Mukherjee, Facilitator
South Asian | she, her, hers
Meenakshi Mukherjee grew up in Southern California, but is now a proud Michigander after organizing and teaching elementary and middle school in both Detroit Public Schools and charter schools across Detroit. During her time as a classroom teacher, Meenakshi worked as an organizing fellow for the Detroit Federation of Teachers, Local 231 and helped form a chapter of Michigan ACTS, Local 6482, at Southwest Detroit Community School, serving as Chapter Chair and Lead Negotiator. Her organizing work and teaching practice were closely linked by the belief that the perspectives, lived experiences, and voices of students, communities, and educators mattered and were integral in transforming education.
Meenakshi is currently the Leadership Development and Internal Organizing Coordinator for AFT Michigan where she works closely with union leaders across the state on issues and projects to build strong unions. She received her B.S. in Anthropology at the University of California, Riverside and her M.A. in Educational Studies from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her work is driven by a deep belief in equity, justice, and humanizing schools for students, staff, and the communities they are part of.
Aaron Wilson-Ahlstrom, Facilitator
white | he, him, his
Aaron is the son of an architect and a public school teacher. Drawing on those roots, he has worked for 25 years at the intersections of design, learning, and equity in a variety of roles, including learning program design and leadership, teaching, curriculum development, and project management.
Aaron believes that racism (white supremacy) is a sickness at the heart of this country, and that only active work to dismantle systems of oppression can liberate us from dynamics which do violence to the humanity of everyone.
In addition to facilitating with Justice Leaders Collaborative, he has had the privilege of joining amazing teaching teams in justice work with Allies for Change, MSU Extension, and McCormick Theological Seminary.
He has a BA in Social Sciences and an MA in Education, both from the University of Michigan, and lives with his wife and three kids on the unceded lands of the Potawatomi and Peoria.
EJ McGaughy, Facilitator
white | they, she
EJ is a parent, spouse, facilitator, pastor, writer and activist raised on the west coast, currently living with their family on NHB Potawatomi territory, the resting place of Sojourner Truth, also known as Cereal City. They are a fourth and fifth generation settler in the U.S. of Germanic/European descent, white, queer, non-binary, disabled, middle class and radically inclusive Christian.
EJ has degrees in religion and philosophy from Catawba College and The Pacific School of Religion. EJ was ordained in The United Church of Christ in 2010. They have served several churches as a minister of word and sacrament. They are trained and certified, as a creative writing facilitator, in the Amherst Writers & Artists way.
For the last 20+ years EJ has centered their vocation in intersectional movements for liberation and justice in various work, spiritual, activist, and family contexts. EJ has facilitated for Allies for Change, The Center for Diversity and Innovation, The Accountability Academy of Mothering Justice, and Catalyst. EJ’s pride and joy is their intergenerational, multi-racial, queer family: Kate, Abbey, Maddie, Aurora, Isaiah, Caster and Amos.