For his work to ensure social justice, food equity, and food security to the people of urban Detroit.

Malik Yakini is a founder and executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, which operates a seven-acre farm in Detroit. Along with DBCFSN he spearheaded efforts to establish the Detroit Food Policy Council, which he also chaired. Yakini was a member of the Michigan Food Policy Council, and serves on the steering committee of Undoing Racism in the Detroit Food System. From 1990 to 2011 he was executive director of Nsoroma Institute Public School Academy, one of Detroit’s leading African-centered schools. Yakini was honored as Administrator of the Year by the Michigan Association of Public School Academies in 2006, and served on the board of directors of Timbuktu Academy of Science and Technology from 2004 to 2011. He is also CEO of Black Star Educational Management. Yakini is dedicated to working towards identifying and alleviating the impact of racism and white privilege on the food system, and contributing to the development of an international food sovereignty movement. He has presented at numerous national conferences on food justice and implementing community food security practices. Yakini is also featured in the book Blacks Living Green and the movie Urban Roots, and is currently a Food and Community Fellow for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.