Malik Nevels
Malik Nevels is the Chief Operating Officer for Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities, Inc. (TASC, Inc.), one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit providers of specialized case management services designed to help people with substance use and mental health issues move away from costly public systems and into treatment and other community-based supports. Working closely with TASC, Inc.’s Executive Leadership Team, Malik is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of a statewide behavioral health organization with a $20M+ annual operating budget and 250+ staff located across 15+ sites in Illinois.
He serves or has served on a number of local boards and statewide taskforces including the 100 Black Men of Chicago, Inc., Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management at North Park University, Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity, Illinois Bullying Prevention Taskforce, State Health Improvement Plan Planning Team, Illinois After-School Funding Policy Taskforce, Illinois Medicaid Advisory Committee - Subcommittee on Access, Northwestern University School of Medicine’s Center for Community Health, African American Advisory Council for the University of Illinois at Chicago, and United States Commission on Civil Rights. In 2011, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn appointed Malik to the Illinois Youth Development Council.
Prior to joining TASC, Inc., Malik served in various senior-level executive capacities for the Safer Foundation, Illinois African American Coalition for Prevention, Illinois Center for Violence Prevention, Duncan YMCA, and the Chicago Urban League. He also worked for U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr., Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley, and U.S. Senator Carol Moseley- Braun. Malik often credits his concern for social justice and community building to his experience as a Public Ally in Chicago (Class of ’95) under the tutelage of First Lady Michelle Obama, then executive director for Public Allies Chicago.
Malik earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois' College of Law. During the summer of his second year in law school, Malik traveled to Cape Town, South Africa to study at the University of the Western Cape Law School and clerk for the law firm of Findlay & Tait, the second largest commercial law firm in southern Africa.
Malik also holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a Certificate in Strategies in Non-Profit Management from the University of Chicago, and a Project Management Professional Certificate from the Project Management Institute. He is active in various civic organizations and professional associations including 100 Black Men of Chicago, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., The Midwesterners Club, and University of Illinois at Chicago Alumni Association.
Malik’s wife, Kimberly Nevels, a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and the University of Illinois College of Law, is the Director of Equity for The Office of Field Policy and Management for Fair Housing at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They reside in Chicago’s South Shore community with their two children, Mikaila, 15, and Elijah, 13.