This week Everything Co-op launches its Women’s History Month series with Nia K. Evans, Executive Director of Boston Ujima Project. Vernon’s conversation with Nia will explore how Evans’ leadership of the Boston Ujima Project exemplifies sustainability beyond environmentalism — advancing financial sustainability, democratic participation, and community resilience. By organizing neighbors, workers, small business owners, and investors to collectively control capital and decision-making, Evans is helping to design systems that center those most impacted by economic exclusion.
Nia K. Evans is the director of the Boston Ujima Project, which is focused on organizing Greater Boston area neighbors, workers, business owners, and investors to create a community-controlled economy. Evans has an educational background in labor relations, education leadership, and policy. Her advocacy work focuses on eliminating barriers between analysts and people with lived experiences while also acknowledging the value of diverse types of expertise in policy. She is a co-creator of Frames Debate Project, a multimedia policy debate program that explores the intersection between drug policy, mental health services, and incarceration in Massachusetts. Evans has a bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University and a master’s degree in education leadership, with a course of study in leadership, policy, and politics from Teachers College at Columbia University. She also studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, where she focused on international labor relations.