Marquisha Taylor
Executive Director
Marquisha Taylor is the founder of Justice Tribe and serves as the Executive Director. She is an advocate for Afro-descendant, African, and Indigenous communities around the globe. She has worked as a consultant for grassroots organizations on projects addressing human rights violations and on collective economic empowerment initiatives for communities. Marquisha has also served as a consultant and researcher for UN development partners and grassroots organizations focusing on gender rights, GBV, and genocide.
She previously served as the Director of Miami Urban Arts in Miami, FL and the Co-Director of Show Off Dance in Los Angeles, CA where she facilitated performing arts workshops, camps, and classes for underserved students from low-income communities. Marquisha is also the founder of Global Development Collective, a consulting firm providing consulting services on diversity, inclusion, and sustainability.
Marquisha has a B.A. in Sociology from Florida Atlantic University and a Master's degree in International Relations from The University of Chicago with designated emphases in International Political Economy and International Human Rights. She holds a certificate in Leadership from The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.
Asmau Leo
Advisor on Gender Rights and Conflict Resolution
Asmau Benzies Leo is the President and Founder of the Centre for Nonviolence and Gender Advocacy in Nigeria (CENGAIN), a non-profit NGO that works towards the Achievement of Peace, Gender Equality and Sustainable Development. She was appointed to serve as the Head of the Gender and Vulnerable Group Care Unit, with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) under the Presidency where she worked with Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees. She worked to advocate for women, girls, children, and other vulnerable groups affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria.
She is a Global Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Humanity, an Ambassador for Female Wave of Change, a YELI Ambassador for Peace and Humanity, and a Vital Voices Fellow. She has served as a Consultant to the World Bank and UN Agencies and Development Partners. She is the convener of Peace Hub-Nigeria.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology and a Master’s degree in Conflict Management and Peace Studies, with a speciality in Gender, Conflict and Developmen and a certificate in Global Executive Leadership
Bunkwnaringumu Augusto Chaparro
Advisor on Indigenous Communities
Bunkwnaringumu is a traditional physician, traditional lecturer, and a direct ancestral descendant of the Kogwi and Arhuaco families. He was trained in the Arhuaco territory as a child under the guidance of his paternal grandfather, Manuel Chaparro, leader of the council of the indigenous town of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. He also received guidance and teaching from his maternal grandfather and spiritual leader, the Mamo Kogwi Juan Marco Pérez. Before the sacred spirits of his grandparents left their bodies, they instructed him to venture outside of his territory to understand the thinking of other peoples other than the indigenous, to learn the Spanish language to have ease of communicating the message in defense of the sacred and the recovery of the ancestral memory, and to join forces with those who in the difference they respect for the general good.
He has served on traditional boards of directors for collectives advocating for the indigenous community. He has spread his ancestral knowledge regarding the defense of mother earth, seeds, indigenous history, traditional medicine, women's circles, environmental sustainability, ancestral fabrics, alliances between peoples respecting differences, and the worldview of the 4 tribes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Bunkwnaringumu Augusto has lectured at Universidad del Valle, Technological University of Pereira, Andean University, National University, ASOBICHO Foundation, Conscious Global Compact, Comfamiliaries, and in the Muisca communities of the Bosa sector, in Bogotá.
Herman Waingaii
Advisor on West Papua
Herman Wainggai was born in Jayapura, West Papua. He is the founder and Director of the West Papua Human Rights Center. He has devoted over 20 years of his life to promoting non-violent resistance and freedom for West Papua from Indonesia's colonial and genocidal government. Herman studied law at Cenderawasih University, but his educational pursuit ended when he became a target of the Indonesian intelligence office in Jayapura. In 2002, Herman was sent to prison for two years as a political prisoner. His only crime was organizing peaceful protests against Indonesian occupation. Following his 2004 release, he was sentenced on two additional occasions for leading peaceful demonstrations in West Papua. In 2006, he was granted political asylum in Australia.
Herman Wainggai traveled to the United States to study at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University and bring awareness to the occupation of West Papua. In 2012, the George Mason University appointed him as a ‘Visiting Scholar’. In 2016, George Mason University (GMU) nominated Mr. Wainggai for the ‘Nobel Peace Prize’ in recognition of his work and commitment to the ‘Nonviolence Struggle’ in his homeland, West Papua.
Herman Waingaii continues to represent Indigenous West Papuans at the United Nations. He is also an active member of the TASSC – Torture Abortion and Survive Support Coalition, where he and other world victims of violence speak out against treatment of peaceful protestors and political activists.
