Hadiya Sewer, Ph.D.
Co-FOUNDER & President
Dr. Hadiya Sewer is a Research Affiliate in the African and African American Studies Program at Stanford University and a Visiting Scholar in the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University. Dr. Sewer's work uses a non-sovereign territory in the Caribbean, the United States Virgin Islands, as a case study for tracing the conceptions of freedom and the human that exist under contemporary colonialism. Sewer earned their Bachelors in Sociology from Spelman College and their M.A. and Ph.D. in Africana Studies at Brown University. Their scholarship focuses on environmental justice and Africana decolonial, feminist, queer, and political theories. They are currently working on two monographs titled, “(De)Colonial Desires: Blackness, Aporia, and the Afterlives of the Dead,” and "Black as Nature: Climate Disaster, Covid-19, and the Coloniality of Power." Dr. Sewer's research, teaching, and advocacy provide phenomenological, ethnographic, and historical examinations of anti-blackness, colonialism, imperialism, and the climate crisis. As a community-engaged scholar, Sewer is also the President and Co-Founder of St.JanCo: the St. John Heritage Collective, a land rights and cultural heritage preservation nonprofit in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, and a founding member of the Virgin Islands Studies Collective.
Kurt Marsh Jr.
Co-FOUNDER & Vice President
Kurt G. Marsh Jr. is a professional woodworker, architectural designer, and community activist who obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Professional Master’s in Architecture from the Savannah College of Art & Design. Kurt is the owner & Principal of design studio MAJJ, LLC, and seeks to use the firm as a vehicle to critique socio-cultural constructs regarding identity & culture in a ‘post-colonial’ St. John, USVI, using his influence to amplify/stimulate dialogue regarding cultural resistance and adaptation through built form and place-making, creating catalysts for creative cultural reproduction. As a result, his design pursuits are paralleled with ideas of political activism and outreach, using architectural expression through our built and conceptual environments to challenge the ancestral native’s ideas about positionality and notions regarding ownership of space as an American possession. And, through his artistry & woodwork, he seeks to promote the evolution of cultural arts as economic mechanisms – as a rising culture-bearer – speaking on these realities often on platforms locally and abroad. Kurt maintains membership with the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), Commissioner on the VI Historic Preservation Commission-St. John & the VI Coastal Zone Management Commission-St. John.
Kayden Richards
Photographer / media relations
Kayden Richards is an ancestral native Virgin Islander from St. John. Fascinated with animals and nature, he grew up watching hours of Animal planet, nature documentaries, and looking up to his grandfather Alva Richards who was pretty much an animal whisperer. Kayden graduated high school in 2016 in Georgia with little to no idea what he wanted to do or be aside from that it would have to be nature and animal related. On moving back home to St. John, he worked at the Animal Care Center and saved up to buy his first camera, a Canon Rebel T6. As soon as he picked up that camera he knew what his main subject matter would be. His mother, Lisa Boynes saw the vision before he could and encouraged him to attend a technical school for photography in Georgia. There he learned a lot but was not really passionate about the commercial side of photography that they focused on at Gwinnett tech. After to years of attending he dropped out allowing him more time to work at Grateful Pastures. The first Certified Organic Poultry Farm in Georgia. It was a very spiritual experience for him. Learning the ins and outs of sustainable farming but after returning home for Christmas in 2018. He knew he had to move back home to better his community.
Carishma Marsh
Treasurer
Carishma Marsh is a Corporate Accountant from Coral Bay and is pursuing her Master’s of Science in Accounting at the University of Central Florida. After acquiring her Bachelor’s of Arts in Business Management at the University for the Virgin Islands, Carishma began dabbling in various services, such as bookkeeping and tax returns. With these experiences, she desires to assist with providing reliable and affordable accounting services within the territory while increasing financial knowledge to encourage long-term wealth.
