Bevelyn Afor Ukah is a consultant, facilitator, and self-taught mixed media artist born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, within a multicultural Black, Nigerian American family. A major part of her life’s work is exploring how humans connect across cultures, using both art and community engagement to foster equity, cultural connection, and collaboration.

Bevelyn has co-instructed multiple permaculture courses alongside colleague Laura Ruby and is currently co-developing a permaculture course specifically designed for BIPOC participants. Recognizing that permaculture is not always accessible to people of color, she is passionate about creating spaces where individuals can deepen their connection to the land. Bevelyn brings a strong focus on deep ecology, helping students explore the connections between ecological systems and human systems, making these relationships tangible and meaningful.

Over years of collaboration with communities across North Carolina, Bevelyn has co-created learning spaces to advocate for food and environmental justice. Her most poignant lessons have come from listening to and sharing stories of loss, resilience, contradiction, and triumph. Community work remains her greatest love, and she views artistic storytelling as one of the strongest bridges for connection and transformation.

Bevelyn holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies, Sociology, and Anthropology from Guilford College, where she was a Bonner Scholar and Multicultural Leadership Scholar, and a Master’s in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management with a focus on facilitation and social justice.

As the founding consultant of AFI Oak Consulting and, The Manifest Farm Bevelyn brings her passion for justice and equity into every endeavor. She serves as the Director of the Committee on Racial Equity in Food Systems at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), where she fosters shared understanding of language, history, and race.