Meet Our Team
Meet our Team
The staff at Black In Nature plan and provide exceptional care to the children enrolled in our programs, providing them with guidance as they explore the natural world around them. They come with backgrounds in STEM and with extensive experience working with children of all ages.
Our staff are experienced, playful and intuitive facilitators & educators. We are proud to offer bilingual programming and a welcoming and inclusive space for Black children.
We would like to introduce you to the Core Lead Team members who make Black In Nature such a success!
Current Staff:
Lukeisha Andrews - Certified National (Canada-wide) Forest School Practitioner
Meet Our Lead Forest School Practioners
Lukeisha Andrews not only design our Nature programs but brings the joy, laughter and excitement to Black In Nature.
Ms. Andrews is the CEO & Founder of Black In Nature and has been working as a Certified Forest School Practioner since 2016 and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the space.
Lukeisha is a cisgender Black woman of the Kalinago heritage, raised along the beautiful shores of Hairouna, “Land of the Blessed”, now known as St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This is where she spent most of her time playing outdoors; dancing in the rain on black sand beaches; hiking the volcano; and swimming in beaches surrounded by volcanic rocks. She has fond memories from playing in nearby streams and banana fields; and enjoying fresh produce from mountain trips with her grandma, all the while connecting and making relationships with the Land she knows and loves deeply.
For a short time Lukeisha connected with the Land of the Maroons (Jamaica) where she studied Library and Information Studies at the University of the Westies Mona Chapter.
Lukeisha is life long learner-unlearner, a peaceful disrupter, and is passionate about creating brave spaces for all children to be fully immersed in nature and on the Land. Like Richard Louv stated, ‘Every child needs nature not just the ones with parents who appreciate nature. Not only those of a certain economic class or culture or set of abilities. Every child.’
When not on the Land with children of Black in Nature Ottawa as a forest school practitioner, Lukeisha serves as a facilitator with Child and Nature Alliance Canada she is committed to Calls to Action Nos. 10, 13, 15, 63, 64, 79 and 93. Lukeisha will collaborate with CNAC and local Indigenous Elder or Knowledge Sharers to help co-create courses to reflect a more inclusive story of the First Peoples of this Land, Treaties, and culture. Lukeisha strives to dismantle systematic racism, white supremacy culture, and break down barriers that impact children’s access to outdoor play. She is currently focused on Call to Action # 93, ensuring newcomers or anyone else who participates in these courses will learn about the truth of the Land.