Meet the Founders

Shanaia Brown and Vashti Starr Buck are the passionate founders of Brilliance Is Black, Incorporated, a faith-based nonprofit committed to restoring, educating, and empowering Black youth—especially young Black males. Lifelong mentors and bold believers, they combine grassroots experience with biblical truth to address the root causes of brokenness in our community. Together, they are raising up a generation of brilliant, disciplined, and purpose-driven leaders who know their identity, embrace their worth, and walk in righteousness.


  • Founder + CEO

    At 39 years old, I am a proud Black woman who carries the weight of real-life experience and the fire of divine purpose. I was raised in the hood, where survival was the norm, not the exception. I witnessed my brothers and friends go through cycles of incarceration, violence, and death—products of a system designed to fail us and communities stripped of resources, guidance, and hope. I know firsthand what Black teenage boys and girls face, because I lived it too. We weren’t just growing up—we were surviving.

    In my upbringing as a young Black woman, I wasn’t just a witness to broken men—I was affected by them. I felt the absence, the anger, the weight of covering myself when the men meant to lead were taken, weakened, or lost. That left me broken too. And that brokenness gave birth to my passion.

    From a young age, I felt different. I asked questions others were too tired or too traumatized to ask. I was revolutionary in spirit, even before I had the language for it. As life unfolded, my pain turned into purpose, and my experiences gave me wisdom. I didn’t have the elders I needed, so now I’ve become the one I wish I had.

    As the CEO of Brilliance Is Black INC, I lead with a solution-based mindset. I don’t believe in staying stuck in pain or pointing fingers without action. Where there’s a problem, we confront it, we pray on it, and we work toward the answer—boldly, biblically, and without fear. My mission is to be a bridge between where we come from and where we’re going, reminding our people that brilliance has always been in us, even when the world tried to blind us to it.

    This isn’t just leadership—it’s legacy. It’s restoration. It’s war against generational curses, and I’m honored to be on the front lines.

  • Founder + President

    Vashti Starr Buck is a revolutionary in both heels and headwraps — a Spelman-trained scholar with Westside Atlanta grit, and a servant-leader devoted to the brilliance of Black youth. As the founder and president of Brilliance Is Black, Inc., Vashti has committed her life to the young men and women whom society overlooks — those labeled “too difficult,” “too broken,” or “too far gone.” She sees their brilliance beneath the struggle and refuses to let them be forgotten.

    Raised in the very hoods she now serves, Vashti didn’t just study theory — she lived the reality. Her mentorship began long before titles or degrees, meeting kids where they were: on porches, in classrooms, at basketball courts, and in detention centers. She’s always been that “big sister who don’t play” — the one who shows up with discipline, love, and expectation. Her standard is high because she knows our youth are capable of more. And with the right guidance, they rise to meet it.

    Professionally, Vashti has worked for over a decade with children and teens — especially those with behavioral challenges and mental disabilities such as autism. Her background as a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT), mentor, educator, and ministry leader uniquely positions her to blend street sense with structure, compassion with correction, and Biblical truth with psychological insight.

    What sets her apart is her fearless belief that righteousness is revolutionary — and that healing our community starts with restoring our children. Through Brilliance Is Black, Vashti creates spaces where Black youth can be seen, heard, disciplined, and developed. She is determined to be the elder she never had: real, raw, rooted in the Word — and relentless in her love for the next generation.