river chevannes

river is a queer Black Caribbean social worker in training from Brooklyn, NY. As a Coverdell Fellow & Community-Based Initiative Scholar, river is committed to serving Black, Brown, immigrant, refugee and queer communities both at the grassroots, community-based and macro policy levels. Specifically, river's interests are centered around community wealth building, collective economics, community resilience and well-being, restorative practices and reparative justice.

Before moving to Detroit, river was working in fundraising and capacity-building at Green Worker Cooperatives, a South Bronx-based worker co-op incubator engaging communities of color throughout NYC. From 2014-2016, river served as a Peace Corps Education Volunteer in Northwestern China where they taught English and developed community programming at a teacher training college.

At U-M School of Social Work, river is exploring the power of community and collectivity, taking a holistic and intersectional approach that integrates all aspects of community well-being while also addressing and working to dismantle systems of oppression. river is also working towards becoming a certified Reiki practitioner, and developing modes of practice around providing trauma-informed services.