Turcois Ominek is the chief operations officer of FreedomOrg, a community development corporation on a mission to invest in communities that have been historically disinvested in so it can inspire growth, empowerment and sustainable change. Ominek studied Africology and African American studies at Temple University. While a student, she studied abroad in Ghana, learning about the country’s linguistics and history. Her time abroad led her to her next opportunity—being a legislative fellow for the NAACP. While there, she learned about advocacy, grassroots initiatives and nonprofits. In college, she co-founded FreedomOrg. After graduating from Temple in 2021, she moved to North Carolina to focus on FreedomOrg full-time.