Nedra Hotchkins, MEd

Mrs. Nedra L Hotchkins is the co-founder of Think Positionality, LLC. and one of the leading feminist voices in the nation on the subject of owning one's identity and using your voice to facilitate social justice outcomes. She is a servant-leader, mentor, relationship builder and advocate of women. She is a native of Oklahoma City, OK and relocated to Lubbock, TX to become the executive director of a non-profit organization. Nedra holds a masters degree in Educational Leadership and Policy (ELP) from the University of Utah. She conducts diversity, equity and inclusion workshops about how to host difficult discussions within organizations, corporations and community settings.  

Nedra is the founder of The V(i)llage™, a college pathways, leadership bridge program for students. She also created the Community V(i)llage program for transracial adoptive parents of Black children designed to teach about instilling Black cultural pride within their children while having difficult discussions about race. Nedra's higher education background has allowed her to utilize empirical data in rich, meaningful ways to benefit those with whom she works for as a champion of equality. She also serves on the Lubbock Area United Way board.

Nedra served as the President to the YWCA Young Women's Council and the Women's Resource Center in Salt Lake City, UT. Recently, she received the YWCA Women of Excellence Award. Nedra is a proud member of Junior League of Lubbock, Lubbock Women’s Club and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Finally, her communal work is focused on empowering historically marginalized people of color though building bridges across varied communities.    

Bryan Hotchkins, PhD

Dr. Bryan K. Hotchkins is one of the leading intellectual voices in the nation on the subject of race relations in America. As a published scholar and book author of “My Black is Exhausted: Forever in Pursuit of a Racist-free World Where Hashtags Don’t Exist” he has spent the last 15 years researching how organization climate, context and culture shape identity development, leadership performance and morale. Specifically, his research examines how leaders navigate the geographies of racism, belongingness and identity-based trauma.

Having struggled to manage his own path through society as an adoptee, Dr. Hotchkins also educates transracial adoptive parents of children of African descent about best practices for developing culturally competent families.  While he primarily invests scholarly time teaching students and faculty of color about how to safely traverse academe, his newest endeavor, the Belongingness as Organizational Emotional Intelligence™ facilitates an empirical-based understanding about how organizational goals are achieved when employees are seen, accepted and valued.

Over the past few years, he has actively worked with the University of Arizona Medical School, University of Utah, Rowland Hall St. Mark’s School, Texas Tech University and Lubbock Partnership Network. He is currently writing a book entitled  Dr. Hotchkins is currently an Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University in the Educational Psychology and Leadership department, Higher Education focus. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Utah and degrees from the University of Oklahoma and Southern Methodist University. 

And the counselors!!! There is no camp without our adult Ethiopian Counselors, who bring their magic and enthusiasm and love for the culture with them each and every year. Thanks to Yodit, Brook, Elsa, Eskedar, Fikeraddis, Nefthalem, Wubet,Elleni and Sara, for your time and dedication to helping our kids feel their Ethiopian pride! Also a huge thanks to our youth adoptees, who are strong role models for our younger campers, and are their to support with encouragement, empathy and advice. Thank you Rozina, Musse, Kalkidan, Girmanesh, and Campbell!