About us

Black and white illustration of a dog and a cat sitting on a bench with a fence behind them.

OUR Mission

Sankofa Saves is dedicated to advancing education, health and wellness, and community wealth and economic security. We invest in people today to strengthen economic stability, personal well-being, and opportunity for future generations.

Our Team

Portrait of a smiling woman with field dreadlocks wearing a light gray button-up shirt against a dark background.
Portrait of a young man with a beard and short hair, wearing a white button-up shirt and a plaid vest, standing outside in front of a building with glass windows.
  • Vice President

    Amber Bell is a former educator and passionate doula from Raleigh, North Carolina, now based in Durham. She is a Certified IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) committed to improving maternal and infant health through advocacy, education, and community-based care. Alongside her roles as a wife and mother of three boys, Amber is a beekeeper, nature enthusiast, human lactation specialist, and lifelong learner who works at the intersection of agriculture, self-awareness, and empowerment to create lasting, transformative change in her community.

  • President

    Devin McAllister is a Charlotte, North Carolina native who earned his BA in Liberal Studies from North Carolina A&T State University and his MA in African American Studies from Clark Atlanta University. With a background in history and the humanities, his work is grounded in storytelling, cultural context, and an appreciation for legacy. He is a Charlotte-based photographer and videographer specializing in weddings, portraits, and on-location work, focused on capturing authentic moments that reflect people, place, and lived experience.

  • Founder

    Kamal Bell is a farmer, entrepreneur, Children’s book author, lifelong learner, and devoted advocate of cultural expansion through agriculture. Driven by a desire to not only give back to the community, but also to restore the legacy of farming in the African American community, he founded Sankofa Farms while pursuing an undergraduate education at North Carolina Agricultural State and University in 2014. Kamal continued in his education becoming even more equipped to now teach and educate the next generation on how to use agriculture as a tool to better oneself as well as one’s community. As a licensed Agricultural Professional after completing a MS in Agricultural Education, also at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Kamal transitioned back to his hometown of Durham, NC, and was a Middle Grades Agricultural Instructor until 2019. Kamal has been featured in a collection of over 25 magazines, books, newspapers, both news and radio stations, and conferences, and strives to continue to empower the community at large through his passion for agriculture.

OUR STORY

At Sankofa Saves, we believe the future is shaped by how deeply we understand and honor the past. Rooted in the legacy of Sankofa Farms, our work is about more than service. It’s about creating lasting systems that support well-being, opportunity, and strength across generations.

We focus on three core areas:

heaLth & wellness

From food access to mental health education, we promote healthier lives through hands-on programs and culturally grounded care.

Community wealth & Economic Security

We help build local networks of support that grow both individual stability and shared prosperity; from small business development to family-centered financial learning.

education

We offer learning experiences that reconnect people to the land, to history, and to themselves through agriculture, literacy, and life skills rooted in tradition and innovation.

Our approach is grounded, relational, and responsive. We collaborate with communities to solve today’s challenges and design structures that last.