Our Work

Born and raised in St. Louis, MO, Nick developed a passion for taking care of the planet, food justice, and working with youth. In 2014, he began a 3-year stint as an AmeriCorps VISTA and State member. He taught professional development skills and engaged over 200 high school and college students in service learning projects, managed over 100 volunteers, led educational field trips for youth in the Ferguson-Florissant school district, facilitated workshops on organic farming principles, permaculture, and inclusive urban agriculture spaces. 

From 2017-2020, Nick was a Youth Educator for Seed St. Louis (formerly Gateway Greening). He taught over 300 students in the St. Louis Public School District about science, nature, and urban agriculture. Currently he is working as the Founder of Ujima and George Washington Carver Farms. Nick is inspired daily by the greater St. Louis area, his family, close friends, and colleagues.

Tyrell Manning is a native of St. Louis, MO. He currently works for Williams & Associates, Inc. as an Early Intervention Outreach Specialist. His work is deeply rooted in community-centered advocacy for those who exist along the margins of society. This influences every aspect of his work, whether it’s connecting a community member to resources to better their health outcomes or creating space for the Black LGBTQ community to simply exist. He is deeply devoted to the holistic wellness of Black Gay and Bisexual men. He continues to work selflessly to help his community overcome systematic injustices from all fronts.

In Katie’s previous capacity as a social worker with the State of Missouri and Illinois, she worked directly with families that struggled with food insecurity, poverty, and gaining access to other critical lifeline resources. Moreover, with the Department of Veterans Affairs, she has worked with homeless Veterans in gaining access to basic needs such as housing and food. She has a Master of Science in Administration of Justice and Security, and over the years has taken a special interest in social justice programs, particularly in the St. Louis area. Traveling abroad as a military brat and spouse has given her a worldly view on people, places, and food. Katie has lived and worked in the St. Louis Metro area for more than 10 years and considers it to be her home. She has 5 children ages 24, 21, 18, 11, and 9. Her 18-year old daughter is born on Earth Day and has always been the one in the household to support and draw attention to the human impact on the environment and planet. Her interest in serving on the Ujima Board of Directors has come about multi-fold, through professional experience, education, childhood experience, travel, love for food, and most importantly her children.

Charles Purnell is an experienced Digital Marketer and Arts Enthusiast with years of experience working in multiple sectors as as a consultant and strategist. A self-professed "Marketing Technologist", Charles has worked with a variety of businesses to help improve their business’ marketing ROI over several years. When Charles is not on the internet, he loves to serve the St. Louis region and organizations that seek the uplift others. In addition to serving on Ujima's board he has also served as a board member in organizations such as ArtScope STL and Social Media Club St. Louis within the last few years.

Korey Stewart-Glaze, a St. Louis city native, is passionate about giving back to the community that he was raised in. In addition to serving on the Ujima board, he sits on the Junior Board of Directors of La Salle Middle School; a charter school where he is a member of the first graduating class. In 2017, him and his childhood best friend founded DEFINE Socks, a missioned based small business aiming to serve local citizens in need. He currently works at Energizer Holdings where he acts as Manager of Product Development in global marketing. He was drawn to the Ujima board because of the mission to provide food security to all and the empowerment of youth. Korey lives in the Shaw neighborhood with his wife Caroline!