Communties, Families, Government, & Faith Consulting
A native of San Francisco’s Fillmore district, CamishaFatimah was caught in street life behaviors that tore apart her community along with thousands of other teens in American cities. Surrounded by drugs and violence, she tried her best to fit in as a middle class, biracial, outspoken young person. Unable to do so, she moved from public school to private school and ended up dropping out of high school altogether.
Later, CamishaFatimah was able to escape the influences of the inner city by enrolling in Bennett College in North Carolina, the first African-American women’s college in the nation’s history. At Bennett College, she earned her Bachelor’s in Communications and learned about orthodox Islam. Through her studies, the puzzle pieces of her life began to come together. After her mother's tireless loving efforts, including an adolescent drug treatment facility, therapy, private school, extra curricular groups, CamishaFatimah was able to get her life on track through her conversion to Islam. Travel to South Africa and Saudi Arabia during this time broadened her horizons even further.
After 10 years of marriage and the birth of three amazing daughters, she decided to redirect her hurt and pain from the break-up of her relationship with her husband to pursue her graduate studies at Mills College, receiving her Masters’ in Educational Leadership in 2009. While a graduate student, CamishaFatimah facilitated a self-help course for San Quentin inmates with ‘Keepin’ It Real’, a self-development training group.
CamishaFatimah
Gentry-Ford
CamishaFatimah worked under RJOY, Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth as a School Coordinator. CamishaFatimah has played an instrumental part in RJOY’S mission to institute Restorative Justices in the Oakland Unified School District. She is responsible for implementing restorative processes at the school site, both in response to conflict and as a means of creating a stronger, healthier, and more caring school community.
In 2013, CamishaFatimah was accepted to Pacifica University's PhD program in Depth Psychology, concentrating on Community Psychology, Liberation Psychology and EcoPsychology. CamishaFatimah has earned awards and numerous training certifications. However, the most rewarding of part of her work has been being a witness to transformation on a daily basis and seeing the impossible become possible.
Ms. Gentry is now a consultant, who coaches, trains and supports people in Restorative and Peace Building Practices for individuals, government and organizations throughout the world.
She demonstrates by example that it is possible for youth to turn their lives around and become effective and powerful forces of positive change. Her love of nature and value of the importance of the healing properties of reconnecting human beings to nature, landed her in a number of backpacking trips connecting various religions and cultures to each other.
With one more year of course work and a dissertation away from her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership, CamishaFatimah hopes to bring youth and previously incarcerated folks together to be the leaders of the 'new day " we are headed to.