N. Kelani Silk

Kelani has worked with community-based organizations in Southern California for over 20 years, mostly focused on assisting with higher education, cultural education and preservation, health advocacy and data collection. She represented the Marshallese community at: The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans Policy Summit to shape and integrate Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) community voices and priorities, Washington DC; NHPI National Convening meeting with policymakers, Washington DC; The Stakeholder’s Convening, Mainlanders for Education, Las Vegas, NV; NHPI National Census 2020; National NHPI Civic Engagement; WH OPE & WHIAANHPI AA and NHPI Stakeholder Briefing, Washington DC;  WHIAANPI Briefing – 2022 Hunga Tonga Eruption and Tsunami, Washington DC; Asian Pacific Islander Moving Forward Food distribution/Resourcing Programs; SoCal NHPI COVID Response Team; Evening Talk Speaker, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles; Tapa/Jaki Blessing, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles; UCLA Youth Health Fair; PIFA and HBPIF.

In addition, Kelani has taught traditional weaving and dance workshops at the Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum; is the current COVID-19 point of contact for RMI citizens residing in the Americas - US west coast; event coordinator for RMI delegate convenings held in SoCal;  California Department of Human Services – COFA population, Medi-Cal and in language scribe.

Kelani is a board member of the Pacific Islanders Community Council (PICC), Pacific Islanders Health Partnership (PIHP), Southern California COVID Response Team (SoCal PICRT) and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Alliance (NHPIA) and is an Entrepreneur -Ja’Nei Island Goods and  Services. She was born in Chicago, Illinois and is the daughter of Deaconess Neibaj and Deacon Jack Silk and brought up with a traditional Marshallese upbringing, descends from Ribit Clan with islands of origin: Ebon, RMI; Namdrik, RMI and Tarawa, Kiribati.