Volunteer Spotlight: On Earth Peace's Anti-Racism Transformation Team

The Anti-Racism Transformation Team (ARTT) was originally founded in 2016 to support On Earth Peace in dismantling structural racism and advancing its commitment to becoming a transformed, multiracial, multicultural, and anti-racist organization. Although the original team was disbanded in 2023, it has since been revived to build on the progress of its earliest work. The current ARTT is composed of volunteers dedicated to advancing racial justice and anti-oppression while holding On Earth Peace accountable to its institutional transformation goals.

The team consists of five individuals that were called to this work in different ways to dedicate their time and efforts to this essential work. Their bios are given below: 

Eric is a retired ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren having served 5 congregations over 35 years in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. He currently serves as the President of the Franklin County, Virginia NAACP Unit 7134-B and recently celebrated the unveiling of a monument in Rocky Mount, VA to honor 70 Franklin County born Black men who served as United States Colored Troops in the Civil War. The unveiling was an exclamation point to a two-year process of the Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia project “Raising the Shade, Franklin County: 1850-1910,” managed by the FC NAACP, under the supervision of Virginia Tech and funded by the Mellon Foundation.

In addition to his role with the NAACP, Eric is a member of the Central Church of the Brethren Race Education Team and is co-chair of the Virlina District Church of the Brethren Racial Advocates Team.

Eric is pleased to be part of the On Earth Peace Anti-Racism Transition Team and is eager to work with this team on issues of Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression.

Stephen is the youngest son of Mrs. Maggie P. Jones and Mr. Herbert C. Jones, Sr. He has three older brothers including a twin. Stephen is also a father to Stephanie, who is in the midst of pursuing a doctorate in sociology. Stephen is the National Field Organizer for Pax Christi USA. He is also the President and Hub Coordinator of Meta Peace Team. Stephen founded Friends of Evans Spring, a nonviolence, grassroots organizing group based in Roanoke, Virginia. Stephen is a level two certified trainer in Kingian Nonviolence. Stephen shares:

“My pilgrimage to nonviolence began before I was born. It started with my Ancestors, who were brutally enslaved for more than 4 centuries. It continued with the lynching of my grandfather. As my pilgrimage continues...I have devoted my life to the principles of peace, justice, and nonviolence in honor of my Ancestors, especially my maternal grandfather, Mr. Wiley Perrin, who was lynched on August 30, 1938, in Ware Shoals, South Carolina. He was 37 years old...My mother was so traumatized that she could not talk about his death...Today and every day, my life is his life. Today and every day, my voice is her voice.”

Alicia (ella/elle/she/they/we) is the descendant of enslaved Africans, a Diasporic Black (gender) queer somatic abolitionist, storyteller, doula, disrupter, and justice strategist rooted in the revolutionary legacies of her ancestors. She is the Founder of Liberated Roots/Routes and Co-ED of Medicine Bowl Giving Circle – both Black-led, land-based maroon/quilombo/palenque projects – and is the Ministry on Racism Program Coordinator at Friends General Conference.

With nearly 35 years of antiracist, grassroots organizing, and 25+ years as a radical educator, alicia is a commitment to alignment between what she espouses and how she shows up, and to be a call to the sacred in everyone, a support to return to our best selves, un-numbing ourselves so we can feel enough of our collective, shared humanity to stay present to the implications for processes, systems, and structures. Embracing Grace Lee Boggs's inch-wide, mile-deep work and Kazu Haga's call that spiritual practice cultivates the courage to face reality as it is, she desires to be transformed in service of the work. Her work centers on pro-liberation, healing-centered pedagogy; intergenerational community voice; co-conspiring; and eradicating anti-Blackness.

Sarah-Derval is a Cameroonian peacebuilder, mediator, and social justice advocate with over a decade of experience working in conflict-affected and marginalized communities. She is the Founder/CEO of Hope of Africa (HOFA) and General Coordinator Emeritus of the Southwest Northwest Women Taskforce (SNWOT), where she supports women-led peacebuilding, civic engagement, and community resilience initiatives.

She comes to the ARTT from lived experience of structural inequality, conflict, and exclusion, and from years of accompanying communities navigating violence, discrimination, and silenced voices. Her motivation for anti-racism work is rooted in the belief that peace is impossible without justice, dignity, and equity. Through ARTT, she seeks to deepen collective learning, challenge harmful systems and narratives, and contribute to building inclusive spaces where difference is respected and transformed into strength.

Nubwa is a Nigerian Organizing Fellow with OEP, where she supports faith-based and community efforts to advance racial justice and respond to urgent social issues, including gun violence prevention, HOPE-PV and movement-building for systemic change. She is also a member of the Anti-Racial Transformation Team working on strategic actions within the organization to ensure transformational approaches in everything they do. Through education, coordination, and grassroots action, Nubwa works alongside other OEP team members to equip communities and build collective power for a more just and compassionate society. Aside from her work, she enjoys spending time with her family while she juggles graduate school and work. She is a Christian and upholds Christian values in her life and family.

Head to the Anti-Racism Transformation Team page on the OEP website to learn more and keep up with the team's work.