Ashia Ajani

Environmental Justice Educator, Mycelium Youth Network

Ashia is a storyteller and environmental educator born and raised in Denver, CO, unceded territory of the Arapahoe, Cheyenne and Ute peoples. Writing as a queer Black femme, Ms. Ashia works to preserve, interrogate and imagine how the Black diaspora has shaped and continues to shape land stewardship in the Western hemisphere.

Ms. Ashia has been published in Sierra Magazine, Atlas&Alice Magazine, The Journal, Sage Magazine, Them.us, and The Hopper Literary Magazine, among others. Ashia released their first chapbook, We Bleed Like Mango, in October of 2017. Their debut full length poetry collection, Heirloom, will be published in Spring 2023 with Write Bloody Publishing.

As an environmental justice educator with Mycelium Youth Network, Ms. Ashia believes in the power of participatory action research and cultural organizing in order to adapt to and mitigate the ongoing climate crisis. Ms. Ashia believes in the transformative power & imaginations of Black & Brown youth to shape our ecological futures.