Our Bios
Cosette L. Ayele (she/they)
CO-FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Cosette is a community investment strategist, urban planner, and grassroots organizer whose work centers care, collective power, and transformative responses to systemic racism. Since 2014, she has been a member of BYP100’s Chicago chapter, where she has collaboratively led campaigns to address gender-based and police violence and redirect public resources toward community services.
Born and raised in Roseland on Chicago’s South Side, Cosette’s lived experience with housing instability informs her commitment to expanding housing opportunities and building community power. Her professional work has included expanding low-income housing opportunities at the Chicago Housing Authority, alongside experience in both local and statewide advocacy and public policy. She now works full-time at Chicago Quilombo to advance the development of the Quilombo Community Center, a community-rooted investment in collective ownership, neighborhood resources, and Black generational wealth.
Cosette lives on the South Side with her husband, daughter, and son.
Sarina Shane (she/they)
CO-FOUNDER & DESIGN LEAD
Sarina Shane is a Chicago-based cultural organizer, writer, teaching artist, and designer. Since 2021, she has been an active member of BYP100 and is also a co-founder, board member, and staff member of Chicago Quilombo. Her work, driven by a curiosity about space and context, focuses on community and innovative ways to disseminate information. She aims to create resourceful content and value-driven programming for everyday people, including train commuters and first-generation students who enjoy alternative learning.
Her interests lie in new media, local art history, womxn's issues, and interiors as extensions of installation art. Through her art, she uses visual mediums as tools for social justice, aiming to connect with and inspire viewers to explore their power and express themselves. Her long-term interests include cooperative housing, visual communication, and process-based art.
Jeffrey Hitchens (he/him)
CO-FOUNDER & COMMS-LEAD
Jeffrey Hitchens (he/him) is a graphic designer, entrepreneur, and community organizer originally from Long Beach, California, who has called Chicago home since 2011. He is a co-founder of Chicago Quilombo, and joined BYP100 in 2016 after witnessing its’ members advocate for Rekia Boyd at a Chicago Police Board public meeting. Since then, he has participated in campaigns, direct actions, and rapid response efforts, including the Community Benefits Agreement for the Obama Presidential Center, Expanded Sanctuary, and Honor Her Labor campaigns.
Jeffrey is the founder and owner of J. Hitchens Design, providing graphic design, branding, photography, and video services to clients across Chicago and the country. He designed Chicago Quilombo’s branding and photography, helping shape the organization’s visual identity. In addition to his creative and organizing work, Jeffrey serves on the board of Chicago Quilombo, the Chicago Chapter Board of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), and is a member of the Chicago Graphic Design Club.
Dr. Inez White, DNP (they/them)
CO-FOUNDER & WELLNESS LEAD
Inez White is a co-founder and Board President of Chicago Quilombo, a nurse practitioner, and a community organizer committed to advancing liberation, safety, and land ownership for Black and queer communities. They have been a member of BYP100 since 2017, serving in leadership roles including Healing & Safety Co-Chair and Membership Chair. Through their organizing, they have helped advance collective approaches to community safety and liberation.
Raised on Chicago’s South Side and in Lansing, Illinois, Inez has deep roots in the region and became a property owner in 2018. They earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Illinois Wesleyan University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Resurrection University. Inez currently works full-time as a nurse practitioner at Howard Brown Health and serves on the board of the Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus. Inez brings their clinical expertise, understanding of systemic inequities, and commitment to community engagement to Chicago Quilombo’s work building pathways to collective ownership and community power.
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