Meet Malaika Wells | President & CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Malaika Wells and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Malaika, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
The Stonecrest Citizens Coalition (SCC), with its history of grassroots organizing and advocacy, is guided by Stonecrest residents committed to community engagement, dialogue and deliberation, transparency, and efficacy. Our mission is to improve the quality of life and prosperity for Stonecrest residents, business owners and other stakeholders through education, advocacy and action. We do that by engaging in transformative, impactful work informed by the community to ensure that we are responding to community wants and needs – such as organizing and facilitating informal dialogues between residents, elected officials, and city staff as well as hosting community clean ups, voter outreach events, and candidate forums during elections. At SCC, our business IS community!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As a nonprofit, SCC is unique in that it is hyperlocal. Our work is anchored in the City of Stonecrest, GA. Stonecrest is a relatively new city at six years old. Our organization was started in 2018, a few short months after the city was incorporated. So in Stonecrest-years, we’re OGs! All our members are also residents of the city. I came on board in 2021. Like many other nonprofits, the pandemic was devastating for us. The challenge for us was how to connect and build community when the community couldn’t gather safely. We adapted to moving our engagement to virtual platforms. We attended city council meetings virtually; we emailed our public comments to the clerk. It was especially challenging to hold our elected officials accountable for their citizen engagement practices when we couldn’t access them personally. Offering constructive criticism or feedback to folks who many times don’t want to hear what you have to say or believe that they have the answers, so don’t need you, is tough. It takes a thick skin and a lot of grace! And so much of community engagement and accountability is relational work. Tones can be misconstrued, messaging miscommunicated in email and over the phone; it’s easier to be understood when you’re connecting with someone face-to-face. Nevertheless, we persevered. In 2021 we were “in the lab” crafting our comeback and hosted monthly, virtual community enrichment and education workshops throughout 2022. Right now, we’re busy planning the first-ever, city-wide graduation celebration for Class of 2023 graduates who are residents of the city. It’s gonna be great! And we plan for this to be an annual event. What I learned through the transition to our “new normal” is that we are resilient, resourceful, and persistent. And our community (including our elected officials) is better because of our advocacy and activism.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When my friends and family visit, we always go to the mall. In many American cities, malls are floundering; some are even shutting down. But the Mall at Stonecrest has managed to reinvent itself time and time again. As many flagship stores have closed due to a shift in the way consumers shop (i.e., online), the mall has attracted many boutique stores and has even offered pop-up opportunities to local businesses. We go to the mall to walk when it’s cold outside (it’s beautifully serene on weekday mornings) and also because stores like Dillard’s, Macy’s, H&M, Children’s Place, and others remain. For outdoor pursuits, we hike at Arabia Mountain and walk the PATH. The South River runs through Stonecrest and there are paths a plenty to ramble on. I especially love the one behind the Stonecrest Library that takes you through the old Vaughters Farm. When we want to learn about the history of the area, we visit The Flat Rock Archives and other Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area sites. When it’s time to eat and drink, we love to support locally-owned businesses like Fletcher’s, Belinda’s Southern Cuisine, Golden Glow Juice Bar, as well as the Black Dot Coffee Bar and Green Love Kitchen which are a stone’s throw away in our sister City of Lithonia. Some of the most interesting, genuine, friendly, and intelligent people live around here. When we want to mix and mingle, we head to Spice House Restaurant & Lounge, Black Dot’s High Vibrational Thursday’s, and Double Scoop ice cream when we’re craving something sweet. New on the scene here is Dope Coffee, and I’ll be meeting with a friend there soon!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
So many people deserve to shine in this story! But I could not effectively tell the story of the Stonecrest Citizens Coalition (SCC) without telling you about the Sisters of Stonecrest. The Sisters of Stonecrest are a group of wise, wonderful, and worthy women – most of whom are also long-time residents of Stonecrest. Some of them are co-founders of the SCC! The Sisters of Stonecrest provide wisdom, insight, guidance, encouragement, and opportunities that help increase our capacity to do good in Stonecrest. Additionally, we have incredible Board members, like Dana Holmes and Andrew Wells, who keep us operationally and administratively on point — and are prayer warriors as well! Personally, I could not do this work without having an incredibly supportive family. My husband and children are willing to pitch in whenever needed and do without me at times when they might not want to! And I have benefitted so much from the lived experiences and counsel of my grandmother, Mary Chrissie Brinson, Sumaya Karimi of Global Ubuntu, LLC and Roberta Malavenda of CDF Action. These women know love and community building like fish know water. They are incredible! I am a product of so many influences, including the powerful ones I shared above.

Website: www.stonecrestcitizens.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stonecrestcitizensengage/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malaika-wells-38723432

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StonecrestCitizensCoalition

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@stonecrestcitizenscoalitio4742

Image Credits
Stonecrest Citizens Coalition