What does Masakhane mean?

Masakhane (masa-con-eh) is a Xhosa word that means "let's build ourselves, for ourselves, together".

What is our mission?

Masakhane is a youth-driven organization providing community-based sexuality education in and around Newark, NJ. Masakhane’s anti-racist, pro-queer & pro-trans approach to sex-positive programming seeks to promote sexual liberation, including the right to pleasure, for marginalized communities.

Our Guiding Principles

  • Masakhane believes everyone has the right to accurate, non-judgmental information on all sexuality topics.

  • Masakhane uses a sex-positive, pleasure-focused lens to help participants build supportive relationships and experiences grounded in communication and consent.

  • Masakhane workshops honor the rights of young people to make their own decisions.

  • Masakhane provides resources that encourage folks to incorporate sexual wellness into their lives, if they so choose.

  • Masakhane's programs represent the experiences of those marginalized for their gender identity and/or sexual orientation.

  • Masakhane's programs are actively anti-racist. Masakhane works to dismantle the racism and anti-Blackness that is ingrained within traditional sexuality education.

  • Masakhane is a reproductive justice organization. Reproductive justice, as defined by SisterSong, is the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.

Meet the Team

  • Picture of Stephanie Franklin, a brown-skinned Black person with a shaved head. They're wearing a cable knit sweater.

    Stephanie Franklin (Stephanie/she/they)

    Founder/Executive Director

  • Avery in squatting down with their mini-dildo cane, in front of a see-through cabinet of sex toys. Avery is a white person with purple and blue hair and blue makeup on.

    Avery Heimann (they/them)

    Board Member

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  • Founder/Executive Director

    Stephanie has a comprehensive background in sexuality education having worked in community, and with non-profits, in the US and South Africa. Stephanie's sex ed career began over 20 years ago when Stephanie started working as a street outreach worker in Philadelphia. After doing street outreach for only a few months, she was asked to facilitate her first sex ed workshop. It was for a group of 20- to 40-year-old Black and Latine women. She still recalls their interactions with participants that day. A few Black women came up to Stephanie afterwards and shared how happy they were to learn new info, and be in dialogue with another Black woman. For most of them, it was the first time they had a Black educator and the first time they felt free to talk about themselves, their relationships and their bodies. And that was it. At that moment, Stephanie knew this was exactly what they wanted to do with their life. Over the next couple of years, Stephanie continued to work doing street outreach and facilitating workshops in various Philadelphia schools and community spots. A couple of years later she was promoted to Youth Education Coordinator and began developing programs and managing volunteers and other educators.

  • Board Member

    Avery Heimann, MA, MEd, LSW (they/them) is a transgender, genderqueer, queer, disabled, neurodivergent, white, polyamorous sex educator, therapist, social worker, blogger, and healthcare advocate. They believe in bodily autonomy, youth welfare, disability justice, and anti-oppressive praxis.  Avery has led support groups for LGBTQ+ youth and adults, worked with friends and families of LGBTQ+ individuals, and offered professional trainings for LGBTQ+ competencies.  They are certified by the NASW in Child and Adolescent Well-Being, the Transgender Training Institute, and have been recognized for their commitments by the Downtown Somerville Alliance as a Somerset County Community Leader and Star Award Recipient at RWJUH’s Proud Awards.  Avery has been featured on PBS for their contributions in gender-affirming care.  They were also featured as a "Sex Ed Superhero" on Shevibe's trading card series for their work in sex toy education.  

  • Board Member

    JV (pronoun JV) is a Newark native, first generation child of Andean immigrants. JV has worked in Sexual and Reproductive Justice in Newark for over 12 years, has been featured in media surrounding the impact of Environmental Racism on Reproductive Health, and has served as a sexuality educator for youth, Spanish speakers, and adults with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities.

    JV is currently serving as Frontline Communications Lead for Ironbound Community Corp’s Environmental Justice team, threading together a passion for Environmental Justice and public health.

  • Board Member

    Chanta is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified School Social Worker in the state of New Jersey. She has a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Child Development from Spelman College in Atlanta, G.A. Chanta also has her Masters of Social Work from Rutgers University and her Masters of Education in Human Sexuality from Widener University. Chanta has been providing psychotherapy to adolescents and adults for the past 10 years in various settings, including schools, community mental health agencies, and HIV/AIDS prevention organizations. For the last eight years she has been a mental health counselor in a public high school where she is also the co-advisor for a comprehensive sexual health program called Teen PEP. Chanta is also an adjunct professor at Bloomfield College, teaching courses related to general, social, and developmental psychology as well as human sexuality. In addition, Chanta is the co-founder and lead sex & relationship therapist at Blue Counseling and Wellness Center in Montclair, NJ.

  • Board Member

    celeste (she/they) is a Board Member and Sexuality Educator. celeste started with us in summer '18 as an intern and has loved every moment since. They holds a bachelor's degree in public health from Rutgers University and graduated with a minor in women's and gender studies and certificate in health disparities. She would like to go back to school eventually to earn a master's degree in public health or human sexuality - once they figured out to how fund it, of course. Her interests in the field of sexuality education include reproductive justice, pleasure, and the sexual liberation of marginalized communities, especially that of youth and folks of color who were socialized as women. In addition to her work with youth in Newark, celeste has experience facilitating sex ed for youth in Paterson and Jersey City and has received training in support for survivors of domestic violence and youth suicide prevention. In celeste's spare time, she enjoys collecting books they might never get to, buying herself flowers and way too many candles, and scrolling anti-capitalist Twitter. You can connect with celeste on Instagram at @celestialvulva.​

  • Board Member/Outreach Coordinator

    Sabriya (she/her) is a board member who is bisexual, Muslim, and Bengali, committed to the liberation of all oppressed people. She started as a Masakhane sexuality educator intern in Fall ’22 and loved being here since then. She has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and political science with a minor in women’s and gender studies from Stony Brook University. Currently, she is a graduate student at Columbia University, working on her Masters degree in Public Health. She is studying the major health disparities in marginalized groups, especially within the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. During her free time, she likes to draw, read, and binge a lot of Chinese and Korean dramas.

  • Sexuality Educator Intern

    Jaelyn (she/her) is a Sexuality Educator Intern. Jaelyn is finishing her undergraduate studies in sociology and women and gender studies at the City University of New York. She is committed to learning, specifically through anti-oppression frameworks, and would love to be an educator herself in the future. In her free time, Jaelyn enjoys cooking her favorite cultural dishes and listening to music, (often at the same time).

  • Sexuality Educator Intern

    Momo Ramstedt (they/she) is a sexuality educator intern who is queer, an abolitionist, and a lesbian of mixed white american and Japanese heritage dedicated to the sexual liberation of all oppressed peoples. Momo is especially passionate about Asian American sexuality, critical education, and the racial and queer politics of genitals. They love cheesy foods, family recipes, conversations about feelings, the color red, and being a lesbian!

  • Community Sex Ed Facilitator Intern

    Olivia is finishing her undergraduate studies in Psychology and Sociology at Loyola University Maryland (Baltimore). She is committed to establishing a safe area in informing the free rights to learning about sex and sexuality to all and promote liberation to many. In her free time, Olivia enjoys reading, cooking Haitian food and raving to house music during her free time.

  • Community Sex Ed Facilitator Intern

    Kiara Celi is a senior at Rutgers University, pursuing a degree in Public Health with a concentration in Health Education and Advocacy. As a dedicated sexual health advocate on campus and a Clinical Care Technician at Robert Wood Johnson, she is deeply committed to promoting health equity. Originally from Newark, New Jersey, Kiara is passionate about addressing health disparities and empowering underserved and historically-excluded communities through education and advocacy. Her goal is to create meaningful change by improving access to healthcare and advancing health literacy for minority populations.

  • Community Sex Ed Facilitator

    Kimi Tsukayama is currently pursuing a Public Health degree in Rutgers University with an interest in Gender and Minority studies. Kimi is of Peruvian and Japanese descent and her experiences as a racial minority in America made her passionate about reducing health disparities and confronting institutional racism. In her free time, Kimi likes to play the bass guitar, cook, and play video games.