Dr. Nekya Young

Dr. Nekya Jenise Young grew up as 1 of 4 children in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She credits her parents for encouraging their children to incorporate cultural competence with learning. That said, Nekya chose to attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities, America’s beloved cultural institutions, after high school. She has Sociology B.S., and Strategic Leadership, M.S. degrees from Tennessee State University and a Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Environmental Policy (minor in Urban Higher Education) from Texas Southern University. Her work has been published in Forbes; peer-reviewed Journal of STEM Education; ProQuest and featured in the Emmy-award winning James Cameron series, The Years of Living Dangerous. She is the author of “Identifying the Geography of Opportunities for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.”

By day, Nekya works as a Civil Rights and Environmental Justice Manager and by night she is founder of Communitelling, a community story telling consulting agency. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her “son”shine and other family. She also enjoys reading, thrifting, traveling, and cooking.