Shamar Hemphill
Former Deputy Director at IMAN (Inner-City Muslim Action Network)
Vice President of Strategy at DAISA Enterprises
(he, him, his)
Shamar Hemphill was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago and brings rich experience in the areas of civic engagement, food ecosystems, and health equity. Shamar has spent his career developing integrative models that offer innovative strategies to social inequities, with an emphasis on those at the intersection of food, health, and art by leveraging local assets including farms, health centers, the local retail economy, arts, and community-based institutions. Shamar has developed systems and campaigns that translated into the opening of a community market, Federally Qualified Health Center and Food & Wellness center on the South West Side of Chicago. Over the course of his career, Shamar has led community organizing & leadership development trainings for more than 1500 community organizers, volunteers, and campaign leaders across five states.
Shamar Hemphill is a national leader with a vision to help foster, launch, and grow creative solutions to community challenges. Over the course of his 20-year career working within non-profit institutions, innovation and creativity have been the inspiration behind his approach to building holistic systems for advancing justice. This has provided a unique vantage point to better understand the urgency, resources, and opportunities needed to improve the quality of life in Chicago and across the country.
In his former role as Deputy Director at Inner-City Muslim Action Network, Shamar spent 16 years growing the organization’s infrastructure and contributing to the national expansion of the work. Shamar has been featured in various local and national publications, radio and television, as a subject in Natalie Moore’s book South Side, and as a part of national panels and coalitions for his work in grassroots-led community development. Shamar holds a graduate degree in theology from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, while concurrently holding a teaching appointment within the school’s Catholic-Muslim Studies Department, where he teaches Liberation Theology through the lens of Community Organizing Science & Racial Justice.
Over the course of his career, Shamar has worked with many populations on the South and West Sides of Chicago around criminal justice, food, and health systems. Working in conjunction with community stakeholders, community development financial institutions (CDFI), local and national foundations, university partners, and partner organizations, Shamar has contributed to the development and strengthening of a holistic model that leverages policy & advocacy, building grassroots community power through community organizing science, and building coalitions across sectors. The culmination of his work led to him being awarded the prestigious El-hibri Community Builder Award in 2019.
Currently, at DAISA, Shamar is developing equity framework for USDA SNAP Online program, providing national Technical Assistance in Food Systems work, facilitation and backbone national support for BIPOC organizations in Food as Medicine work and project leading in equity framework development in Food as Medicine. He is also currently leading DAISAs work with the FED Collective.
Former Deputy Director at IMAN (Inner-City Muslim Action Network)
Vice President of Strategy at DAISA Enterprises
(he, him, his)
Shamar Hemphill was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago and brings rich experience in the areas of civic engagement, food ecosystems, and health equity. Shamar has spent his career developing integrative models that offer innovative strategies to social inequities, with an emphasis on those at the intersection of food, health, and art by leveraging local assets including farms, health centers, the local retail economy, arts, and community-based institutions. Shamar has developed systems and campaigns that translated into the opening of a community market, Federally Qualified Health Center and Food & Wellness center on the South West Side of Chicago. Over the course of his career, Shamar has led community organizing & leadership development trainings for more than 1500 community organizers, volunteers, and campaign leaders across five states.
Shamar Hemphill is a national leader with a vision to help foster, launch, and grow creative solutions to community challenges. Over the course of his 20-year career working within non-profit institutions, innovation and creativity have been the inspiration behind his approach to building holistic systems for advancing justice. This has provided a unique vantage point to better understand the urgency, resources, and opportunities needed to improve the quality of life in Chicago and across the country.
In his former role as Deputy Director at Inner-City Muslim Action Network, Shamar spent 16 years growing the organization’s infrastructure and contributing to the national expansion of the work. Shamar has been featured in various local and national publications, radio and television, as a subject in Natalie Moore’s book South Side, and as a part of national panels and coalitions for his work in grassroots-led community development. Shamar holds a graduate degree in theology from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, while concurrently holding a teaching appointment within the school’s Catholic-Muslim Studies Department, where he teaches Liberation Theology through the lens of Community Organizing Science & Racial Justice.
Over the course of his career, Shamar has worked with many populations on the South and West Sides of Chicago around criminal justice, food, and health systems. Working in conjunction with community stakeholders, community development financial institutions (CDFI), local and national foundations, university partners, and partner organizations, Shamar has contributed to the development and strengthening of a holistic model that leverages policy & advocacy, building grassroots community power through community organizing science, and building coalitions across sectors. The culmination of his work led to him being awarded the prestigious El-hibri Community Builder Award in 2019.
Currently, at DAISA, Shamar is developing equity framework for USDA SNAP Online program, providing national Technical Assistance in Food Systems work, facilitation and backbone national support for BIPOC organizations in Food as Medicine work and project leading in equity framework development in Food as Medicine. He is also currently leading DAISAs work with the FED Collective.
