MEET OUR FOUNDER
Meet Shané Darby, Founder & Executive Director of BMIP
Shané Darby is a dedicated leader, Black abolitionist, and community organizer committed to equity, justice, and building systems by us, for us.
Now serving her second term as the 2nd District Councilperson for Wilmington, Delaware, Shané continues to push for bold systemic change in housing, criminal justice, and economic policies that impact Black people, working-class, and low-income families.
In her first term, she launched transformative initiatives including the Fines and Fees Task Force to combat predatory financial penalties and introduced the Jeremy McCole Police Reform Package to enhance police accountability and community trust. Her leadership also brought Wilmington into the National League of Cities’ Landlord Engagement Lab to prevent evictions and stabilize housing. She currently serves as Chair of the Intergovernmental Committee and is a member of the Finance, Public Safety, and CDUP Committees.
Shané was born and raised in Garvey City (Wilmington’s 2nd District) by her immigrant Jamaican mother and stepfather at 27th and Creston. She is now raising her three daughters in the same neighborhood. Despite becoming a mother in high school, she earned her Bachelor’s in Mass Communication & African American Studies from Temple University and a Master’s in Africana Studies with a focus on Ethnography and Black Women’s Studies. Her background also includes work as a mental health counselor.
Shané is the founder of Black Mothers In Power (BMiP) - a statewide nonprofit dedicated to Black maternal health, which includes initiatives like a bail fund, participatory budgeting, food insecurity response, birthwork workforce training, and self-defense programs. She is currently campaigning to open a Maternal Care Center focused on supporting Black families across Delaware.
She also founded Ma’at Community Healing & Art Spaces, a cultural project centered on healing through art. A trained postpartum doula, she blends direct service with legislative advocacy for maternal and infant wellness.
Shané has taught at the University of Delaware in the Women’s Studies, English, and Africana Studies departments. She integrates Hip-Hop, literature, and community organizing into her teaching. Her radio show, All Black Everythang, explores Black history, culture, entertainment, and politics through a radical lens. She is also a poet and a fierce believer in creative expression as a tool for liberation.
She is the co-founder of CWATU (Citywide Wilmington Association of Tenants Union) and facilitates the Ella J. Baker Black Organizing course, building a statewide network of Black organizers focused on Black issues. Though deeply principled, she believes in “people over party” and doesn’t tie herself to any single political ideology.
In 2022, she ran for State Representative, losing by just 90 votes—proof of the growing demand for her leadership. She is running again in 2026, with a bold platform focused on housing, transforming the criminal justice system, Black maternal health care, and reparations for Black Delawareans.
Her affiliations include:
Network Delaware
Working Families Party
Delaware DSA
NAACP Wilmington Branch
Community Movement Builders
2nd Neighborhood Planning Council
Black Girl Health Collective (Board Member)
Brandywine Village Civic Association
2nd Ward Democrat
Local Progress
National League of Cities
Since 2012, Shané has also served as a paralegal in the Army National Guard, adding legal expertise and discipline to her advocacy. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., with the line name Black Lives Matter.
Beyond her work, Shané embraces joy - dancing, music, film, puzzles, karaoke, and laughter. A proud ADOS and Pan-Africanist, she is sensitive about her work, deeply rooted in community love, and unwavering in her fight for Black liberation.