Arekia S. Bennett-Scott

Arekia has dedicated her life to liberatory work in the Deep South for and with Black women and girls. Over the last 12 years, Arekia has been engaging in and co-creating self-sustaining communities throughout the state of Mississippi through a Black, Queer Feminist driven vision that centers human dignity at the core of enhancing the quality of life for all, especially Mississippi's youth.

Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of Mississippi Votes, a statewide, millennial led, civic engagement non-profit organization that has registered over 50,000 young people across the state of Mississippi and engaged most of Mississippi's growing electorate. The organization is consistently advocating for policies to expand voting access in Mississippi. This year, the organization is expected to expand its reach by incorporating the remaining 7 colleges and universities into its network and opening 2 satellite offices in South MS and the Coast.

Above all, Bennett-Scott is a student committed to figuring out what it might mean to have or think of Black Feminist Theory as public policy, noting that the freedom and liberation of Black Women would insist and necessitate the dismantling of every system of oppression. To deepen that analysis, Arekia is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Gender, Leadership, and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Arekia has been recognized nationally for her work to expand voting rights and actualize democracy. In 2019, she was awarded the NAACP Medgar Evers Award and 2022, Arekia was named an Emerson Collective Fellow, awarded the Unita Blackwell Justice Award and Mississippi Votes was recognized as the Community Organization of the Year in Mississippi. The Mississippi Votes staff is full of young folks who share Bennett-Scott’s passion for youth leadership and civic engagement.