Chaka Mkali

A Bush Foundation fellowship recipient and Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice fellow, Chaka Mkali is an emcee, father, husband, community organizer, curator, strategist, racial justice trainer, graffiti artist, producer, and muralist. Mkali is also the Director of Organizing and Community Building and Interim Co-Executive Director at Hope Community, a nationally recognized community development organization. Mkali’s work at Hope Community involves supporting visionary integration of neighborhood revitalization, extensive community engagement, and leadership development, working to build thriving communities where racial, social, and economic equity is a reality for everyone involved. He leads the Parks and Power equity campaign which has been active in the park equity space for nearly two decades training leaders and mounting strategic policy change focused initiatives. Some Parks and Power campaign successes under Mkali’s leadership include *holding park board candidate forums emphasizing candidate positions, commitments, and track records relative to advancing racial and health equity in the park system; *achieving and helping operationalize use of a Racial Equity Impact Analysis and race-and-class-equity-conscious metrics to guide investments in neighborhood and regional parks/trails, and for implementing the Urban Agriculture Activity Plan; and *securing a budget increase for youth programming within the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.