"The Science of Skin Color"--Workshop Invitation

Khela Baskett studied chemistry and computer science at UC Berkeley. She has worked in biotech at the Joint Genome Institute and held software engineering and project management roles for academic, government, and industry projects. She is interested in anti-racism education, especially what genetics and evolutionary biology can teach us about the unity of the human family. Khela is a regular participants in Wilmette Institute programs, and has presented "The Science of Skin Color" workshop in high schools, and at a Youth Seminar at Green Acre in 2022.

I am a native New Yorker, raised in Bedford–Stuyvesant, (a.k.a. Bed–Stuy) Brooklyn and the South Bronx. I have lived a significant number of years in New England and various parts of California. My undergraduate degree focused on Ed Philosophy & Theory, and Multicultural Education. Graduate studies were in Public Administration and Leadership; and Adult Education with focuses on Program Planning & Development. My professional career as an administrator and instructor was primarily spent in colleges and universities, both public and private, on both the east and west coast, ending in Arizona, where I am currently retired. I continue to use my professional skills as a consultant providing coaching and mentoring. My community activities have been geared towards programming in Race Unity and Racism Awareness, youth leadership and empowerment, affordable housing, and early childhood education. I am active in my Bahá’í community serving on my Local Spiritual Assembly. Pre-COVID-19, I enjoyed traveling and sharing home-cooked meals with extended family and friends. Favorite places, anywhere with large bodies of water, New England autumn foliage, and awe-inspiring scenery!See Faculty Bio

I was born in Kingston, Jamaica. My interest in music, theatre, and the literary arts led me to abandon my academic degrees and a career in the Forensic Sciences, to take up a position with the British Council Caribbean as Arts & Education Officer. I worked for several years as the British Council Manager in my homeland, performing at various times with the Jamaica Musical Theatre Company, the National Chorale, and the Carifolk Singers. A small book of my poetry—Weights and Measures—was published by the Calabash Foundation in 2005, and my poems have garnered awards and been honored by publication in several anthologies. I served (and learned) alongside Jamaica’s first national poet laureate, Professor Mervyn Morris, as a judge for the Cultural Development Commission’s annual poetry competition. In 2008 I migrated to the US to live with my second husband, Julian, whom I met on Bahá’í pilgrimage in Israel. My first teaching experience was as a poetry tutor at the Phillip Sherlock Center for the Creative Arts. Later, I participated in one of the first Wilmette Institute Science & Religion courses, and have since served as faculty on that course, and several others. In March 2012, I gave a presentation on World Peace at a Peace Conference hosted by Lander University. This experience inspired me to create a board game called Heart to Heart, featuring short quotations on unifying spiritual themes from 10 of the world’s religions and cultures. The game led to a website, a video channel, firmer friendships, a lot of learning, and a good deal of fun! After having served as a member of the Wilmette Institute Board, and also working part-time for the Institute as Marketing Coordinator and Course Creation Assistant, in March 2019 I filled the position of the Institute’s first Registrar. After the death of my second huband I reunited with an old friend from Jamaica; we are married and living in Jamaica, New York.See Faculty Bio