Imani Black

Imani Black is the founder and CEO of Minorities In Aquaculture, a nonprofit that empowers and supports underrepresented demographics in the aquaculture industry by educating coastal communities of traditional watermen legacy while providing training and other career-development opportunities in commercial fisheries. She is also pursuing a master’s degree at University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, researching historical minority engagement in commercial fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay. From 2018 to 2020, Black was the assistant hatchery manager for Hoopers Island Oyster Company, working in all aspects of shellfish grow-out. She previously worked on oyster farms, nurseries, and hatcheries along the eastern shore of Virginia and Maryland, after completing an aquaculture training program at Virginia Institute of Marine Science in 2016.