Aisha Williams

Aisha Williams is proud to serve in her hometown and in the community that her family has lived in for generations. Aisha is the Operations Director for Lyrik’s Institution. Currently, Aisha is in her sixth year with City Year and now serving as the Impact & Evaluation Director. In addition to these roles, she is a 2023 Fellow of the Surge Institute and sits on Teach For America-Kansas City’s Collective Board. Prior to joining Lyrik’s Institution, Aisha served two years as a corps member for Teach For America in Metro Atlanta where she was a seventh-grade English Language Arts educator at Forest Park Middle School in Forest Park, Georgia.

Aisha is an alum of the University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou) where she majored in Multicultural Psychology and Black Studies. While at Mizzou she minored in Gender Studies and received her Multicultural Certificate. Aisha is also a proud women’s college alumna. She attended Cottey College where she majored in Psychology. Aisha enjoys helping people realize what they are passionate about and helping them figure out the steps to take to achieve those things. Aisha‘s pastimes are watching movies, traveling, and trying new foods. She lives in Kansas City with her husband, children, and dog.

​Shelby Payne

Shelby Payne is a promising young woman who dedicates her time going above and behind at Lyriks Institution. Not only does she hold multiple titles at the institution but she's a sophomore at Johnson county community college and Leader with JCCC BSU. Shelby is dedicated to serving her community and she does that by passing her wisdom down to the children at northeast high school. You can catch her in the broadcasting room challenging the minds of students to find the best stories around the school. Ms. Payne is also one of Lyriks newest culture coaches and she implants cognitive behavior to change the survival mode mindset. Shelby lives on the philosophy of, in order to see change, you have to be the change. Not everyone is “ about that active community life” but Miss Payne is. She challenges her city to not only just talk about it, but be about it. 

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