Malaika Cheney-Coker

Creature of Air and Still Water

Malaika Cheney-Coker was born in Nigeria where she spent her earliest years, along with time spent in the Philippines with her maternal relatives. She spent the remainder of her childhood in Sierra Leone. After immigrating to the United States, she earned a bachelor of arts degree in English and French from Lebanon Valley College and a master’s degree in international affairs and development from Clark Atlanta University. She then pursued two careers—in writing and in international development—with the latter taking her on world travels, and she later moved into social justice work in the United States and abroad. She is the founder and principal of the organizational creativity and social impact–focused firm, Ignited Word. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and two sons.