Chief Operating Officer
Email Malik

With more than 20 years’ experience as a nonprofit executive and criminal justice advocate, Malik Nevels, JD, serves as chief operating officer (COO) for TASC. In this role, he leads TASC’s statewide services for nearly 30,000 youth and adults annually across all 102 Illinois counties. Malik’s wide breadth of skills and experience includes expertise in strategic planning, continuous quality improvement, compliance, and the use of information technology to better reach and serve individuals both in person and virtually.

Prior to joining TASC in October 2021, Malik served as executive project manager for the Safer Foundation, which supports employment access for justice-involved individuals, often working closely with TASC to support individuals’ community reentry following incarceration. Previously, he served in senior-level executive capacities for the Illinois African American Coalition for Prevention, Illinois Center for Violence Prevention, Duncan YMCA, and the Chicago Urban League.

Malik developed his strong concern for social justice and community building during his experience as a Public Ally in Chicago (class of ’95) under the tutelage of former First Lady Michelle Obama, who was then the executive director for Public Allies Chicago. 

Malik serves, or has served, on a number of local boards and statewide task forces, including the Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management at North Park University, Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity, Illinois School Bullying Prevention Taskforce, State Health Improvement Plan Planning Team, Illinois After-School Funding Policy Task Force, 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 the United States Commission on Civil Rights. In 2011, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn appointed Malik to the Illinois Youth Development Council. 

In addition, he is active in various civic organizations and professional associations, including 100 Black Men of Chicago, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., The Frogs Club, and the University of Illinois at Chicago Alumni Association.

Malik earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois College of Law and his BA in political science from the University of Illinois at Chicago. 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.

In addition to his undergraduate and law degrees, he also earned a certificate in Strategies in Non-Profit Management from the University of Chicago, as well as Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute.