A grassroots nonprofit dedicated to school-age and neighborhood literacy in Springfield, Ohio, and the Greater Miami Valley area, The Conscious Connect, Inc. is the brainchild of Wittenberg graduates Moses Mbeseha and Karlos Marshall, both members of Wittenberg鈥檚 class of 2013.
Founded in 2015 with a primary mission of ending 鈥渦rban book deserts鈥� or areas with diminished access to children's reading materials, the 501(c)3 non-profit is reimagining and redeveloping underutilized spaces for the purpose of education, culture and peace. The Conscious Connect also serves as a cultural renaissance and street revitalization organization.
鈥淥ur mission is to end urban book deserts in the state of Ohio by 2021,鈥� said Mbeseha, a resident of Dayton. 鈥淭hat will continue to be the main objective until we accomplish it. But growth is also a natural part of the process, and we really want to create an ecosystem to sustain the literary oasis we are building. Short term, our mission is to end book deserts, but our vision is growing along with expectations from the community, so we will continue to take this as far as access to literature remains an issue for people living in urban book deserts.鈥�
Mbeseha, originally from Buea, Cameroon, grew up in Dallas, Texas, and State College, Pa. He majored in political science and minored in African and diaspora studies at Wittenberg and is currently pursuing his M.B.A. at the University of Dayton. Marshall, originally from Springfield, was a philosophy major at Wittenberg with a minor in African and diaspora studies, a three-year letter winner as a football player and a member of Concerned Black Students. He went on to achieve his master鈥檚 degree in higher education administration from the University of Dayton, where he鈥檚 currently working as an academic development coordinator.
鈥淭he Conscious Connect was born from a vision to create something that was at the intersections of cultural life and social conditions,鈥� said Marshall, a Springfield High graduate. He is currently pursuing his doctorate degree in higher education administration at the University of Dayton. 鈥淲e fundamentally believe that common thoughts must meet uncommon actions. The collective power of people has the capacity to do brilliant things. The mission is to establish southwest Ohio as the model and mecca for urban literary oasis. More critically, we're seeking to eradicate urban book deserts through neighborhood co-opt systems 鈥� by using current assets and creating new spatial literacy access points.鈥�
Committed to mobilizing neighborhoods around urban education and literacy, The Conscious Connect has already received awards from the African American Community Fund in Springfield and from the United Way of Clark, Champaign and Madison Counties.
鈥淜arlos and I got to know each other toward the end of our time at Wittenberg, but we both had the same ideals and calling to serve,鈥� said Mbeseha, who was involved with Concerned Black Students, the Security Council and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), as well as ran track for three years and played soccer during his time at Wittenberg.
鈥淚t was actually Karlos鈥� idea, and he brought folks to the table,鈥� Mbeseha continued. 鈥淲e had conversations and went on to design the platform we鈥檙e using now. As a Springfield native, he really wanted to impact his community in every way possible and tapped me to help out. With the tremendous support we鈥檝e received, we鈥檝e been able to grow our vision much more than I think we anticipated, which is a really a good thing as we now look to do as much positive work and impact as many people as possible.鈥�
The nonprofit was also one of three award recipients of the UpDayton Summit for the Reading Park Project.
鈥淚鈥檝e been blessed to have a lot of people act as guides in my journey so far. Wittenberg played a monumental part in that 鈥楬aving light we pass it on鈥� has been something that has stuck with me about Wittenberg since the first time I saw it before I ever enrolled,鈥� said Mbeseha, referring to the university鈥檚 beloved motto. 鈥淎 lot of people on campus passed the torch allowing me to do the same to others. Wittenberg was a place that enabled my greatest strengths and allowed me to develop some lifelong relationships. Wittenberg was a lot of fun, and I was involved in a lot of things on campus, and I simply want to share that energy and the knowledge and experiences I鈥檝e been blessed to have.鈥�
Mbeseha remembers when Scott Rosenberg, professor of history and director of the Peace Corps Preparation program, would emphasize in his classes 鈥渢hat as young people we shouldn鈥檛 ever believe we don鈥檛 have the power to change the world.鈥�
鈥淗e said something of that note in every one of his classes. I took a lot of his classes, and it was the greatest lesson I鈥檝e received in school to this date,鈥� Mbeseha added. 鈥淚 believe after graduation we had a mission to serve and have some level of positive impact in our community. There were so many issues to pick from, but literacy became our calling as that鈥檚 what most resonated with our experiences, and it was a great need in our community. We felt we could give back in that way. We picked an issue we felt we could provide alternative solutions to and attacked it.鈥�
