Aisha Shillingford is the Director of Organizing for the Racial and Economic Justice Initiative at the New Economy Coalition where she is working to develop a shared race and class analysis of the new economy and to build collective power among communities of color and low-wealth communities engaging in restorative economy work. Early on Aisha was conscientized on systems change work by her parents and gained her first formal community organizing experiences on the small island of Trinidad where she learned first hand the importance of facilitating the empowerment of community members in developing priorities for action that impacts their wellbeing.

An immigrant to the United States, Aisha earned her BA in Environmental Analysis and Policy from Boston University in 2002, and her Masters in Social Work in Community Organizing from Boston College in 2009. She recently completed her MBA in Social Entrepreneurship at Simmons College where she was a co-chair of the first annual Gender, Justice and Social Entrepreneurship Conference. She has worked extensively within Boston's communities and teaches Field Education at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work. In her free time Aisha does 3-D collages with found objects, makes short films, cultivates a small garden, and rides her bike to far away places. Aisha lives in Jamaica Plain, MA with her partner and five housemates.