Meet The BGE Cohort

Ayan Absiye is a Black Somali Muslim woman, who resides on the traditional territories of the First Nation peoples in Toronto, Canada. As a student at the University of Toronto, she passionately studies Political Science, African studies, and History. Ayan is a youth and education activist, dedicated to uplifting Black youth through education and promoting accessible and high-quality learning opportunities for all. From a young age, Ayan saw the impact of systemic oppression and how policies can disproportionately affect the most vulnerable. This realization at a young age fueled her advocacy work and provided her with a comprehensive understanding of the political process. She deeply values the power of mobilization, advocacy, storytelling, and policy work in creating meaningful change. Ayan's commitment to improving the lives of marginalized folks like herself led her to serve as a national youth consultant with CAMH, where she played a crucial role in advocating for Bill S-210: An Act to establish the Office of the Commissioner for Children and Youth in Canada. Additionally, she dedicated an entire summer to working with the One Campaign, successfully lobbying the Canadian federal government for a $1.2 billion investment in combating preventable diseases that disproportionately affect women and girls in the global south. At the heart of Ayan's work lies the belief that every individual should be equipped with the necessary resources to flourish, thrive, and live a life fully empowered.

Allyson Smith is an activist, poet, and all-around creative. She is heavily involved with politics and firmly believes in youth political participation. She says no to the status quo and is using her voice as a stepping stone to an equal society that reflects collective interests. She is making it her mission to provide a sense of representation to her younger peers through service with local and national organizations and publications; such as the Memphis Music Initiative, The Commercial Appeal, Teen Vogue, The Guardian, Buzzfeed News, etc. Through her work, she has broken down existing boundaries in her community. Her goal is a future free of limitations and societal normalities.

Endia Scales is a rising senior at Bucknell University from Prince George’s County MD, studying Education policy and social change with a minor in social justice. Endia has served as the President of the Black Student Union at Bucknell for the past academic year and will do so this upcoming year as well. During her time, she has worked with students to enhance the Black student experience, by calling administrative attention to the lived experiences of students, curating and developing community events, and helping to establish a space for Black Greek Letter organizations on campus, including her own, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Endia’s advocacy works focuses on the Black student experience at predominantly white institutions, and she hopes to continue this work on the professional level, ultimately expanding beyond her own campus.

Mahogany Couvson is a Program Innovation and Education intern at Justice for Black Girls Community Organization, where she co-creates and expands Black Girlhood-centered curricula, and serves as an ambassador for the organization at various international conferences. She is also the secretary and newsletter writer for the nonprofit organization, Black Kid Art. Mahogany is sophomore at Spelman College majoring in English and minoring in Curatorial Studies. At Spelman, she serves as a Social Justice Program Fellow and Black Girlhood Studies Fellow. She is passionate about expanding the emerging academic field of Black Girlhood Studies and centering those who experience it firsthand in the scholarship. She is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of a new online zine: “Revolutionary Dreaming: A Literary Zine for Black Girls” which elevates the genius of Black girl literary artists.

Trinity Hughes is community organizer from Charlottesville Va. she advocates for equity in education for black students, mutual aid and creating safe spaces for collective healIng . When she was in high school she noticed a lot of black students weren’t in higher level classes such as honors, AP and dual enrollment. In that realization, she took initiative to talk about the inequities within the school district with the New York Time. Trinity’s advocacy has helped to spark local change in education that has rippled across the state of Virginia. During the height of the pandemic she began to focus on mutual aid initiatives as it was essential to helping people in the Charlottesville community. Working with a collective of Black youth organizers in Charlottesville, she helped to form the Charlottesville Black Youth Action Committee - the group raised $10k for mutual aid efforts during Summer 2020. That summer, the group led a series of mutual-aid focused direct actions where they would feed the houseless community and give out free Ppe supplies. In the near future she would like to create space to care and support black girls and woman to authentically be themselves.