In addition, this year brought the opportunity to think collaboratively and explore ways to give back to the community. At this year’s Alumni Weekend town hall, we launched the SBAN Equity Initiative, a Chester-based project to combat inequity and increase well-being within the surrounding community. We also held a Sock Drive for the Homeless, and many of you brought socks to donate to insecurely housed communities in the Philadelphia area. During Garnet Weekend, we discussed the Equity Initiative goals and hosted a successful Alumni-Student Meet and Greet. We also welcomed new alumni to the Network at the annual BCC Senior Awards Banquet in the spring.  

In the year ahead, we hope to create more opportunities to reconnect, re-engage, and support one another and our community. We look to your continued feedback to help ensure our community is as connected and strong as possible. By sharing experiences, collaborating, and supporting our community, we will make important strides and great memories together in 2025. May the new year bring you joy, peace, and many blessings.  

Warmest Wishes,

The SBAN Executive Committee

‘Leading the Way as Champions of Change’: SBAN Launches New Equity Initiative

A new equity-focused initiative led by SBAN that aims to dismantle barriers to opportunity centers its first project on lead exposure in Chester.

by Lindsey Norward ’18

 At this year’s Alumni Weekend, Swarthmore Black Alumni Network (SBAN) members gathered during their annual town hall centered around a crucial topic: advancing equity. As the conversation unfolded, a common theme emerged among townhall participants: while there is growing awareness of the challenges that disproportionately impact marginalized communities, there is an urgent need for sustained collective action and collaboration at the local level. 

The thought-provoking and engaging discussion, led by SBAN co-chair Nicole O’Dell Odim ’88, co-chair Tim Harrison ’87, and member H.G. Chissell ’96, led to the formation of the SBAN Equity Initiative. The initiatives’ first project, which officially kicked off in October at Garnet Weekend, is based in Chester and aims to increase equity through meaningful, measurable, and collaborative action among members of SBAN and the larger Swarthmore community. 

A Vision for Change in Our Communities 

The vision for the project is rooted in the belief that increasing equity is central to bettering and empowering communities. “I see inequity as asymmetric human suffering — like the high prevalence of harmful lead in the air, water, and soil of Chester. Equity is the action of addressing asymmetric health, wealth, and education vulnerabilities with measurable, community-validated and community-supported interventions,” said H.G. Chissell ’96, a key architect of the SBAN Equity Initiative and Founder and CEO of Advanced Energy Group. 

Chissell, who spearheads equitable energy initiatives across cities in his professional work, spoke to the unique opportunity SBAN has to leverage its collective resources and expertise to support communities in need

“I believe the Swarthmore Black Alumni Network has the unique capacity and resources to deliver a positive impact in communities we care about. The challenge is developing the right engagement infrastructure that supports our involvement, compassion, leadership, and contributions,” said Chissell. “Given my work with cities across the country on stakeholder mobilization for an equitable clean energy future, I wanted to leverage best practices learned to support the successful development of this engagement infrastructure for SBAN so that we Swarthmore Black Alumni can convene, align, and act as multidisciplinary teams in support of communities, like Chester, to deliver extraordinarily needed impact in 12-month sprints.”

Natalia Lashley ’27,  a current sophomore who joined the initiative as a Fellow, noted the tangible impact that community-driven advocacy has on the local level.

“I wanted to join the SBAN Equity Initiative to promote equity on campus and in neighboring communities like Chester,” said Lashley. “I’m passionate about grassroots advocacy and using my voice to uplift Black voices and drive meaningful change that strengthens and empowers communities.”

Nicole O’Dell Odim ’88 also emphasized the importance of community-centered action as a part of SBAN’s collective mission and vision.

“The Equity Initiative is another opportunity for us to utilize lessons learned at Swarthmore about our responsibility of changing lives and changing the world using our intellect and privilege to improve the lives of others — one person and one community at a time,” said Odim. “We will work on making a measurable impact with a goal that is quantifiable in the area of health while developing a system with a structure that can subsequently be applicable to new areas, like economics, poverty, and education.”

A Community-Driven Partnership in Chester

Over Garnet Weekend, SBAN held the ‘SBAN Equity Challenge,’ a workshop aiming to inspire understanding, alignment, and accountability to plan the forthcoming project over a 12-month timeline. Local Chester leaders and residents presented topics on various issues impacting the community, fostering discussions with workshop participants about strategy-based solutions to these challenges.

Kristin Motley, PharmaD, MBA, a community leader who works for the Bureau of Health in the City of Chester, spoke to the effects of lead exposure in Chester. As Kristin noted, lead exposure can cause significant harm to communities, especially pregnant people and young children whose bodies and brains are still developing. Exposure to lead can be prevalent — whether via chipped, peeling paint in older homes, contaminated soil, lead pipes, or polluting companies that emit lead into the air. 

Tasliym Morales, a community leader and member who is Chief People Officer at a housing equity-focused nonprofit and serves on Chester Upland School District’s Board of Directors, emphasized how lead exposure creates widespread inequities affecting nearly every aspect of residents' lives.

“Minimizing or eliminating lead exposure is crucial for supporting the Chester community. Lead exposure has severe and long-lasting effects on health, particularly for children,” said Morales, “Lead poisoning can cause developmental delays, learning difficulties, and various other health issues that can significantly impact the well-being and future of our youth and their families. By addressing this issue, we can ensure that the children of Chester have a healthier start in life, which is essential for their overall growth and development.”

At the end of the workshop, participants chose a focus on lead exposure in Chester for the SBAN Equity Initiative’s initial project, which will help to launch the Chester Lead Task Force. With this focus, the community-based partnership will work to increase public education about lead exposure for parents and lead screening for children in the Chester community. Motley and Morales will co-lead the initiative along with Prof. Keith Reeves ’88, current student Natalie Lashley, and others. 

“The collaboration between SBAN and the City of Chester is uniquely important because it tackles the pervasive impacts of lead exposure, which disproportionately affect communities of color. Lead poisoning has devastating health, educational, and economic consequences, contributing to cycles of poverty that hinder individuals throughout their entire lifetime. Youth are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure,” said Motley. “By launching the Chester Lead Task Force, this partnership addresses these systemic issues, bringing together diverse expertise and resources to create a healthier community, improve educational outcomes, and disrupt the link between poverty and environmental hazards in Chester.”

“It is important for people to get involved because community engagement and support are vital for the success of any initiative. When individuals come together to address common challenges, they can create a stronger, healthier, and more resilient community,” added Morales. “By raising awareness and encouraging participation, we can make significant strides towards reducing lead exposure and improving the health and wellness of the Chester community.”

The community co-leaders spoke to the importance of envisioning a “new” normal for Chester — in which health outcomes are improved, educational attainment is increased, and economic empowerment is gained — and communities have more trust in local health initiatives, leading to stronger community engagement in other vital programs. 

How to Get Involved

As the SBAN Equity Initiative continues in its early stages, the group looks forward to the initiative’s progress with anticipation and notes the significant impact that our collective efforts can have on inciting lasting change within our communities.

“This project furthers SBAN’s mission by affording us the chance to pursue our commitment to positively impacting our global Black community, including supporting alumni and current students  and leaving our world better than we found it,” said Odim.

“As SBAN, we have such a rich and diverse ecosystem of brilliant, compassionate leaders to engage,” Chissell added. “I am invested in supporting SBAN as it leads the way as champions of change regarding inequity.”

As the initiative moves forward, SBAN plans to hold regular in-person and virtual (hybrid) meetings to discuss the ongoing progress of the initiative.  For more information on how to get involved with the SBAN Equity Initiative, contact Nicole O’Dell Odim ’88 at nikodellodim@gmail.com. 

Community Highlights

Black Studies Becomes a Department at Swarthmore

In November, the Swarthmore faculty voted to approve Black Studies as an official department at Swarthmore! Professor Joseph Nelson, current chair of the program, said the following about the historic moment: "Institutional change is extraordinarily difficult. But today at Swarthmore, we made history. After 55 years of Black Studies’ existence at Swarthmore, the faculty finally voted in favor of us becoming a department and offering our own major …. A grueling 3-year process, but it was all worth it for the future generations of Black Studies colleagues and students that come to Swarthmore. Today, I am happy and hopeful."

Dawn Porter ’88 Receives National Humanities Medal 

Dawn Porter ’88 is one of the nineteen brilliant and change-making recipients recently awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities. The recipients were presented their medals in a private ceremony at the White House last month. Porter, a filmmaker and creative, directed the 2024 film LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH. The documentary about the life and legacy of Luther Vandross is critically acclaimed and is playing in select theaters across the country. Read more about the honor.

Julian Randall ’15 Publishes Debut Memoir

Julian Randall ’15, author and poet, published his debut memoir, “The Dead Don’t Need Reminding,” described as “a brilliant, adult nonfiction debut from the acclaimed MG author and poet that weaves two personal narratives of recovery and reclamation, spliced with a dazzle of pop-culture.” Randall is a contributor to the  New York Times bestseller “Black Boy Joy,” and his middle-grade novel, “Pilar Ramirez and the Escape From Zafa,” was published by Holt in 2022. His first book, “Refuse,” won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. His memoir is available to purchase. 

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