The Race Equity Leadership Collective is made possible due the technical and staff support provided by Full Circle Strategies, LLC.
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If you are interested in working with the RECollective, please join our mailing list. We will enthusiastically share future employment opportunities as they become available.

Nia Buckley, LMSW

Executive Director of The Race Equity Leadership and Research Collective 

Nia Buckley (she/her) is the Executive Director of the RE Collective. It is her passion and purpose to dismantle anti-black and racist practices, policies, and systems. Nia is deeply committed to anti-racist change work, and utilizes her experiences to drive work that centers BIPOC communities and challenges the norms of white supremacy. Nia is a disabled veteran of the United States Air Force and has worked for Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), Arizona's Medicaid agency. There, she advocated for culturally diverse behavioral healthcare policies within AHCCCS, addressing and eliminating barriers to mental health access for members of the Black community. As a mental health advocate and someone who navigates the behavioral health system personally and professionally, she also is certified in Mental Health First Aid. While at the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Arizona, she helped end the stigma of mental illness, creating a safe, supportive space for Black folx experiencing mental illness. Race though a social construct, has always been a topic of conversation at a young age having a Black mother and white father. Growing up biracial in a predominately Black community, she was immersed in Black history and the beauty of being Black. Through this upbringing and then entering the military, it was a culture shock for her to enter an environment of majority-white men and anti-Black practices. While navigating the military institution, she found herself in predominantly white spaces with people who were overtly and covertly racist. With these experiences, Nia is determined to advocate and lead change in racial equity within the rooms and organizations she occupies.

​Nia holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Arizona State University and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Houston’s Graduate College of Social Work.

Manuel Soares, BA

Director of The Ukombozi Fellowship 

Manuel Soares (he/him), is the Director of the Ukombozi Fellowship for the RE Collective. He is excited to be continuing his work with the RE Collective and managing the ways the Ukombozi Fellowship will continue to grow and building upon the curriculum and connections with each new cohort. He is honored to be working closely with the fellows each year and being a part of their journey into becoming the anti-racist leaders they need in their communities. He has been with the RE Collective since late 2020 starting as an intern and growing into the Movements & Capacity Building Facilitator and Digital Media Manager this past year. Working with the RE Collective has allowed him to continue to grow and hone in his facilitation skills surrounding anti-racism and being able to build on the curriculum to include more experiences surrounding the ways white supremacy takes hold in all of our communities. A journey he began in undergrad after he was trained to become a sustained dialogue facilitator. This training laid the foundation for his experience working with groups committed to unlearning white supremacy and actively practicing anti-racist methodologies. 

Manuel received his High school diploma and Associate Degree in May of 2018, from Timken Early College High School and Stark State College. He then went on to work on his BA in Community & Justice Studies and Theater at Allegheny College in May 2021.  While at Allegheny he was heavily involved on campus, being involved in many protests/ standouts through his time there and serving as the President of the Association For the Advancement of Black Culture his senior year. While he was not working on equity initiatives he was still involved and dedicated to the arts in theater as an actor and new playwright. Manuel is excited to work with this team and be the change he wants to see within his own communities. ​

Jordan Pierce, BA

Digital Media Manager

​Jordan is a recent graduate of Allegheny College. While majoring in Communications and minoring in Political Science, Jordan has a deep passion for filmmaking and serving his community. Centering Black narratives is of the upmost importance for us in these unprecedented times, and Jordan's want's to be someone to help capture just that.

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