Koren Dennison
Koren Dennison is a Milwaukee-born raconteur, educator, facilitator, and Black liberatory learning architect committed to creating intergenerational spaces where Black youth and communities can thrive. Raised by a village of strong Black women, Koren understands that her accomplishments are extraordinary for folks where she's from—which is precisely why she's dedicated to responsibly passing the torch.
A first-generation, double alumnus of Marquette University (B.A. '20, M.A. '21 in Corporate Communications), Koren has transitioned from evaluation strategy work focused on amplifying marginalized voices and transforming how we measure impact in communities of color into an independent entrepreneurial journey. She’s developed expertise in culturally responsive evaluation, storytelling methodologies, and community-centered research. Her work now centers on curating community events, Black liberatory education, literacy building, and cultivating intergenerational third-space learning communities.
Koren specializes in:
Youth and adult literacy building through culturally responsive tutoring
Art-based and liberatory education practices
Facilitation of guided group learning and restorative circles
Early education and afterschool programming design
Community-based healing and capacity building
Her approach integrates Black feminist pedagogies with asset-based community development, creating learning environments where Black excellence is nurtured and celebrated. Through facilitation, public speaking, and direct educational services, Koren demonstrates to Black youth—especially young Black girls—that they possess the power to write their own narratives and transform their communities.
Infectiously energetic, candid, and uproarious, Koren is driven by her commitment to setting an example for her little brother, making her family proud, and empowering Black youth. She remains ardent in her pursuit to break generational curses and establish generational wealth through education, community development and empowerment.
"I am because we are" - This philosophy of UBUNTU continues to guide Koren's mission to build a more equitable and liberated future for Black communities.
Koren mixes scintillating energy with her love for Black people’s aliveness. Koren leverages her lived experience as a Milwaukee-based Black woman, alongside her formal education to inform how she facilitates learning for her clients. Koren trusts that the truth will emerge if one holds a growth mindset and diligent study occurs. Koren is adaptable and loves to find new entry points for learning in herself and others.
In-Person | PM Session A
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
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Facilitated By: Koren Dennison
Audience: Black Folks
What does it mean to learn, heal, and grow outside the gaze of whiteness? This session explores Black Liberatory Education as both practice and ecosystem — one rooted in Hush Harbor traditions, mutual aid, and communal care, and in direct opposition to the phantom promises of "connection," "rest," and "self-care" sold back to us without substance.
Through the story of My Kousin's House: a community clubhouse, we'll examine what "village" can mean in 2026, and how we begin rebuilding it. We'll name the fears, media saturation, and limiting beliefs that keep us from curiosity and clarity, and ask what our subconscious is being trained to believe about what's possible.
This is not a session about reform. It's an invitation to sit with harder questions: If you are a future ancestor, what are you leaving behind? What is your responsibility? What does radical transformation actually require of us — and how do we hold one another with care as part of that work?
Rooted in solidarity, abolition, mutual aid, and repair, this session offers a communal space to process, unlearn, and reimagine — casting bold visions for Black liberation from the roots up.