Karlos L. Marshall ’13 and Moses B. Mbeseha ’13, co-founders of The Conscious Connect Inc., were named to Forbes 30 Under 30 2019 list for their work in education. The graduates are fighting to end illiteracy by providing children in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods with access to free books through 70 national literacy access points, such as barbershops and hair salons, as well as “Little Libraries.”
Founded in 2015, Conscious Connect is dedicated to ending “urban book deserts” or areas with diminished access to children’s reading materials. Marshall and Mbeseha are 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.
“Our mission is to end urban book deserts in the state of Ohio by 2021,” said Mbeseha, a resident of Dayton. “That 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.”
Championing literacy as a human right has become a staple of the organization for closing opportunity gaps. Further, the organization has been working with government agencies to remove blighted structures, acquire vacant lots, and return them back to productive status in the form of neighborhood “pocket parks.”
“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 long as access to literature remains an issue for people living in urban book deserts,” Mbeseha said.
In addition to being designated in June 2019 as Luminaries by the Board of Clark County Commissioners in recognition of their efforts to make a difference in their community, the pair was honored by the Library of Congress in September 2019.
Mbeseha, originally from Buea, Cameroon, grew up in Dallas, Texas, and State College, Pennsylvania. 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’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Dayton and is currently pursuing his Ph.D.
“The Conscious Connect was born from a vision to create something that was at the intersections of cultural life and social conditions,” said Marshall, a Springfield High graduate.
