Weaver Awards
Baltimore 2024
in partnership with 
Congratulations to the 2024 Baltimore Weaver Awardees
Some people weave our communities together. They are the ones we all trust, the people we count on to get things done and to see the best in everyone. They weave a strong social fabric that makes us proud of where we live. Here’s our chance to recognize and celebrate the weavers of Baltimore.
Why have Weaver Awards?
We all know neighbors who show up, again and again, to make our community better. They seem to know everyone. They inspire us to support each other. They see a need and fill it. They often don’t have big titles or receive grants for their work. We count on them and yet we rarely celebrate how important they are to us.
The Baltimore Weaver Awards celebrate and publicly recognize them so we all can learn and be inspired by their work. Each receives $5000 to advance their projects that weave a tighter community. A group of Baltimore neighbors reviews applications and recommendations and selects 20 Awardees to receive this recognition.
The Aspen Institute in Washington, DC and M&T Bank created the Weaver Awards to honor neighbors who are serving their communities and creating emotional connection, lasting relationships, and a strong, inclusive social fabric. These weavers are showing us the way to heal the divides in our country and help us build trust in each other from the ground up.
Meet the Awardees
Jeannie Anderson
Northeast Baltimore
Jeannie felt lonely and disconnected as a child and didn’t want other kids to grow up that way. She started leading workshops to share relational skills and the healing power of listening. She will expand her trauma-informed, social-emotional learning at City Neighbors Charter School, the local library, and the farmers market.
Nabeehah Azeez
Central West Baltimore
Nabeehah noticed that while many Muslim youth want to pursue spirituality, they often feel alienated from traditional places of worship and crave community. She created The Salaam Lounge in West Baltimore as a non-religious place for young people to gather around art and social events, as well as congregational prayer.
Nicole Bryant
Baltimore City
After losing her father and nephew to fentanyl, Nicole wanted to bring life-saving skills to parts of the city with high-crime. She started We Responders and her team has trained over 3,000 people in CPR, Stop the Bleed, overdose awareness, and emergency preparedness, along with spurring solidarity and trust in challenged communities.
April Dodd
West Baltimore
For April, art has been a source of healing and self-discovery. She shares its power by offering art therapy and creative workshops to underprivileged and at-risk youth, trauma survivors, and elders in underserved communities. Through these programs, April creates safe spaces for self-expression, confidence-building, and personal growth.
MarTaze Gaines
Carroll-South Hilton
After the last supermarket in Edmondson Village closed, MarTaze started a new community garden in nearby Saint Josephs, as a hub for healthy food, gardening, and community gatherings. The longtime community organizer and urban farmer sees connection to the earth and ancestral wisdom as a path to empowerment and dignity.
Vaunita Goodman
Inner Harbor
When Vaunita’s kidneys failed and she needed to spend 12 hours a day on home dialysis, she felt isolated and trapped. Life was about medical care, not living. Then she joined a sailing club and found belonging and adventure again. Now she runs Dialysis to the Docks helping other patients find joy and freedom on the water.
Kai Inman
East Baltimore
Like many girls, Kai felt uncomfortable in her body after experiencing her first period. She started The Hygiene Hookup, Inc. to create a supportive community for open conversation about menstruation. She plans to launch a menstrual hygiene hub to make period products and information easily accessible for girls in East Baltimore.
Rena Jackson
Sandtown
Rena has long given back to the place where she grew up and raised her daughter, often feeding the homeless and working with seniors. Now, she fills the gap left when local grocery and clothing stores closed. As CEO of Sisters Caring and Sharing with Love, Inc., she makes sure seniors get the basics of life and support services.
Tayonna “TayyBandz” Jackson
Waverly and beyond
As a rap artist, Tayonna knows the arts help young people in under-resourced areas build confidence and create community ties. While working with HeartSmiles, she found her calling to mentor youth. She will expand her Be You Youth Talent Showcases that give young people a safe platform to express their talents, grow, and serve.
Raquel Johnson
West Baltimore
A former parole and probation officer and a seasoned psychotherapist, Raquel founded Essential Wellness to offer holistic mental health services that could bridge the gap between officers and civilians. Therapy sessions, community engagement training, and meditation workshops foster healing, unity, and community for the city.
Dr. Erin Lonon
Northeast Baltimore
As a teen, Erin suffered from anxiety, lacked self-confidence, and felt alone. She started the nonprofit I am a Child of God, Inc. to help middle and high school students find community, confidence, and mental health. It offers Safe Haven Saturdays and Retreats where teens can feel seen, heard, and accepted.
Tracey Malone
Sandtown-Winchester
After losing her brother to gun violence, Tracey started helping others turn personal tragedy into community triumph. She led healing programs through dance, photography, and family fun days. Now she is working to create safe, appealing places for neighbors to connect by reclaiming and beautifying three vacant lots as community spaces.
Grace Marshall and Naadiya Hutchinson
Waverly, Remington, and beyond
The Covid-19 pandemic made longstanding issues of racial trauma, economic disparity, and LGBTQ violence more pressing in the city. Naadiya and Grace became co-leaders of Free Baltimore Yoga and expanded it to support BIPOC and queer healing and empowerment. They offer consistent, trauma-informed yoga in many neighborhoods.
Jasmine Mayers
Park Heights
Jasmine founded the M.O.V.E. Collective to heal distrust between Black and indigenous communities and the people who serve them. Her team offers meditation, mental health resources, sound bathes, and gatherings for officers, community stakeholders, and residents to meet each other as partners, rather than as adversaries.
Ebony McClenny
Central East Baltimore
After losing her son to gun violence, Ebony turned her grief into action and started the nonprofit Surviving Our Neighborhood (SON). It provides mentorship and support to at-risk youth, so they can build a bright future despite the adversity they face. The youth work together to understand their trauma and find resilience in serving their community.
Tia McDonald
Greater Mondawmin
Tia is a native of Mondawmin and no longer knew neighbors as new groups arrived and community gatherings disappeared. She became a Master Gardener and started growing in the Mondawmin Urban Green Space (MUGS). Now she meets and teaches neighbors to grow food and native flowers, while rebuilding the community garden.
Rebekah Opher
Downtown
Having faced housing and food insecurity, Rebekah spends Sundays cooking and serving a family dinner at the downtown St. Vincent de Paul Society for those without homes and connection. An undergraduate at the University of Baltimore, she plans to start her own nonprofit as a haven for meals, personal supplies, and community.
Nigeria Segure-Watson
East Baltimore and beyond
When Nigeria was in the 10th grade, mentors took her to other cities to meet experts in creative and tech fields. It opened her world and gave her confidence. She started the Girls Innovation Club to pay that forward, helping girls from underserved communities find peer support, mentors, and resources to overcome the barriers to STEAM careers.
Omar Tarabishi
Highlandtown and beyond
During a cross-country road trip, Omar visited popular restaurants he saw on social media… and was shocked to find that, at closing time, most threw their leftover food away. Back in Baltimore, he created Leftover Love, collecting food that would go to waste and spurring a community of support among businesses, nonprofits, and people.
Naijha Wright-Brown
Cherry Hill
Naijha has been building community around food for over 10 years. Along with running a vegan soul food restaurant with her husband, she holds a festival in Cherry Hill to teach kids to grow and cook cruelty-free food so they can support each other in finding ways to live more sustainably and ethically in the world.
Who Decides?
A local advisory group, made up mainly of Baltimore community advocates, chooses the Awardees. These are people who know the spirit of the community and its neighborhoods. They care about weaving a strong, inclusive social fabric and they know what it takes.
Tiny Adams
Leader Breeders
Lacey Benton
Community Advocate
Victoria Brathwaite
Thread
Monique Bess
Blkboxx Radio
Shannon Hayes
Baltimore City Public Schools
Lucia Islas
Comite De Latino
Jim Peterson
M&T Bank
Eddie Resende
World Trade Center Institute
Chris Wack
Baltimore Ravens
Nikki Stokes
Romans Room
Anna Tatro
West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation
Jennifer West
Plant Mama Alchemy
Shaleece Williams
The Tree House Project
Shaden Dowiatt
Weave
Kristyn Feldman
Weave
Wynisha Witt
Weave
Meet Past Awardees
Past Awardees come from across Baltimore and are connecting and supporting their neighborhoods in a huge range of ways. Some organize clean-ups, others help struggling youth, some plan prayer walks and cookouts, while still others start parent or teach groups. All help neighbors build a sense of belonging, mutual support, and pride in their community. Many Awardees have appeared in local papers or on radio and TV.
Get Involved as a Weaver
Join with others who care about building trust and community in Baltimore by participating in the Weave Baltimore online group. You’ll meet other weavers, be invited to gatherings, get updates on the Weaver Awards, and find resources, partners, and opportunities to learn weaving skills. You’ll join with neighbors and also meet weavers from communities across the country. It takes just a few minutes to register and become connected to a wealth of people, stories, and resources.
Contact Us
If you have questions about the Awards, want to partner, or have issues using this website, let us know. If you want to learn more about weavers across the US, visit weavers.org