Who We Are
Founded in 2018, Black Veterans Project (BVP) leverages research, narrative power-building strategies, and impact litigation to mobilize a movement for repair, redressing the federal government's long history of discrimination.
BVP represents the first strategic and comprehensive reparative justice effort for veterans and military families systematically denied veterans' housing, education, and disability benefits during and in the aftermath of Jim Crow segregation and through persistent institutionalized racism under the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Join us as we build the collective power to demand accountability, advance policy change, and achieve repair for Black veterans and their descendants in America.
BVP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
2020
Obtaining Historical Data
BVP partners with Yale Law School Jerome N. Franklin Veterans Legal Services Clinic to compel the historic release of racial data by the Department of Veterans Affairs, demonstrating sustained and systemic racial inequities in veterans' benefits programs.
2021
Coalition Building
BVP helps convene a national coalition of Black veterans' groups during the 117th Congress, prompting a historic Government Accountability Office study on racial disparities in veterans' disability compensation.
2022
Legislative Reform
BVP champions military justice reform, the PACT Act, and testifies before Congress to support the reparative legislation, the Sgt. Isaac Woodard, Jr. and Sgt. Joseph H. Maddox GI Bill Restoration Act.
2023
Monk v. United States is filed
BVP helps conceptualize the landmark case Monk v. United States, which became the first to leverage internal government veterans' affairs data to allege gross negligence in addressing racial discrimination in the adjudication of veterans' benefits since 1945.
2024
A New Strategic Vision
BVP undergoes robust strategic planning, collaborating with McKinsey & Co. to scale operations and with the Harvard Kennedy School's Trotter Collaborative for Social Justice to develop a repair-and-reform agenda.
2025
Scaling for Impact
BVP launches new strategic partnerships to scale its impact, positioning the organization as one of the nation's preeminent voices on issues facing Black service members, veterans, and military families.
Co-CEO + Co-Founder
Richard Brookshire is a multi-hyphenate storyteller and reparationist working at the intersection of politics and culture. A nationally recognized political communications strategist, writer, director, and filmmaker, he's held previous leadership roles in communications strategy at Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Human Rights Campaign, and The New School.
Co-CEO + Co-Founder
Kyle Bibby is one of the co-founders of the Black Veterans Project. He also serves as the Chief of Campaigns at Color of Change, and as a Political Partner with the Truman National Security Project.
Co-Founder + Board Chair
Zella Vanié is a multidisciplinary artist and designer whose work is at the intersection of strategy and design. Zella has spent their career helping organizations build inclusive products, craft stories, and push creative ideas to their highest potential.
Co-Founder & Board Member
Daniele is a nationally recognized strategist, historian, and researcher focused on strengthening healthcare access, data-informed advocacy, and institutional accountability. She is deeply committed to building more humane, effective, and equitable systems, particularly for veterans and historically underserved communities.
Creative Producer
Yolanda Hoskey is a Brooklyn-born multidisciplinary artist, storyteller, narrative strategist, and creative producer whose work speaks to the Black experience in America. Across photography, film, and creative production, her practice focuses on shaping and expanding narratives around Black life, identity, and cultural memory, centering stories that are often overlooked, flattened, or misrepresented.
Administrative Manager
Brianna Fernandez is a NYC born artist and administrative worker deeply committed to building efficient, equitable systems that empower mission-driven work and amplify historically marginalized voices. For the past seven years, she has worked across the arts ecosystem as a curator, arts dealer, and liaison in both the primary and secondary markets, developing a strong foundation in operations, communications, and cross-sector collaboration.
Board Member
MaCherie Dunbar brings policy and legislative expertise to advance BVP's organizational objectives. A retired Air Force veteran, she served as a combat engineer with two tours to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Board Member
Dr. Ravi K. Perry is a Professor of Political Science at Howard University, holding a B.A. from the University of Michigan and M.A. and Ph.D. from Brown University.
Organizations advancing the work alongside us.
Yale Law School Jerome N. Franklin Veterans Legal Services Clinic
Updates on the case, the archive, and the organizing.