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Sarah Brown

Welcome & Panel Moderator. Women's Center Program Manager

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Sarah Brown is the Program Manager for Áñ—†ÊÓƵ’s Women Centers on both campuses. In this role she organizes events and services that range from intimate peer support groups to an Annual Women’s History Month Symposium. The Women’s Center supports all those affected by gender oppression within Áñ—†ÊÓƵ’s staff, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students. Sarah also lectures in the Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, offering courses such as Depression and Its Discontents and a forthcoming participatory course on feminist activism in Chicago. She joined Áñ—†ÊÓƵ in July of 2019 upon completion of her doctorate in American Studies from Brown University where she Áñ—†ÊÓƵed the conflicting narratives of emotional life and mental health in pop culture, literature, film, and the behavioral sciences between 1968 and 1995 and worked at the Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender. 

Njoki Kamau

Introduction to Opening Remarks. Associate Director, Women's Center.

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Njoki Kamau joined the Women’s Center at Áñ—†ÊÓƵ University in September 1991 as the Associate Director. She previously served as the Director of the Evanston/North Shore YWCA’s Domestic Violence Services Áñ—†ÊÓƵ.

Njoki earned her MBA from Southern Methodist University, and she holds a Master’s in international management from the American Graduate School of International Management (AGSIM). She attended Nairobi University, where she earned her undergraduate degree in business administration. In 2007, Njoki was honored by Mayor Richard Daley as the recipient of the Chicago Distinguished Immigrant Award. Also in 2007, Njoki received the Greg Kindle Ally Award by the Áñ—†ÊÓƵ University LGBT Resource Center. She has also been honored by the Organization of Women Faculty for her contributions to women at Áñ—†ÊÓƵ.

Her article, “From Kenya to North America: One Woman’s Journey,” was published in Issue: A Journal of Opinion in 1996 and has been reprinted in No Easy Victories: African Liberation and American Activists over a Half Century, 1950-2000. A life-long community activist, Njoki works regularly with United to End Racism and other social justice organizations.

Sekile Nzinga

Opening Remarks. Director of Áñ—†ÊÓƵ Women's Center

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Sekile Nzinga, PhD, MSW received her PhD from the University of Maryland in Human Development (2001), her Masters of Social Work from Ohio State University (1994), and her Bachelor's of Science in Social Work from Morgan State University (1993). 

Nzinga previously was a tenured Associate Professor of Social Work and is the founding director of Nazareth College’s Women and Gender Studies Bachelor of Arts Áñ—†ÊÓƵ. Her scholarship and prior teaching Áñ—†ÊÓƵ centered on the intersections of race, class, and gender in reproduction and parenting; critical feminist university studies; and child welfare & family policy. She is the editor of Laboring Positions: Black Women, Mothering and the Academy (Demeter, 2013) and author of Lean Semesters: How Higher Education Reproduces Inequity (Johns Hopkins, 2020).

In addition to her academic career, Nzinga's social work practice and community engaged work Áñ—†ÊÓƵ focused on Black women’s and girls’ health and mental health, reproductive justice, healing from sexual trauma, Áñ—†ÊÓƵ development & evaluation, and intersectional feminist leadership. She also serves as a board member for the Chicago Abortion Fund and is a member of the Illinois’ statewide Women’s Justice Taskforce.

melisa stephen

Introduction to Plenary. Program Coordinator, Women's Center

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melisa is a Weinberg alum who majored in Gender and Sexuality Studies. They were a member of SHAPE as well as an organizer of NU Divest and Sex Week during their time as an undergraduate student. melisa has returned to Áñ—†ÊÓƵ as a staff member after working as a community organizer with a focus on gender and racial justice.

melisa is passionate about transformative justice and the abolition of police and prisons. They Áñ—†ÊÓƵ worked to build social justice movement spaces that are more trans-centered and that uplift the leadership of Black and brown youth in Chicago. melisa is a founding member of For the People Artists Collective and is a core organizer of the Chicago Dyke March. Their work in community has received recognition such as the Grassroots Collaborative's Bold Campaign award (#NoCopAcademy), the Crossroads Fund's Ron Sable Award for Activism, and Chicago Freedom School's Champion of Justice award.