As a first-generation Pittsburgher, LaKeisha Wolf has developed her roots across the community working at the intersection of arts and culture, social entrepreneurship, and community development and wellness for 20 years. She is a founding member of the Hill District based non-profit Ujamaa Collective, serving as Executive Director since 2013. In this role, LaKeisha focuses on the agency’s business affairs, including the cooperative development of emerging Africana women-owned craft industries and maintaining an artisans’ retail boutique in conjunction with creative community programming. She initiated the organization’s first direct fair trade relationship in East Africa.
LaKeisha holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Penn State University where she served as Black Caucus President, revising diversity curriculum and helping to establish the State of Pennsylvania’s first Africana Research Institute at PSU in 2001. She has been immersed in the world of cooperative economics for many years, studying and learning with organizations such as NASCO Institute’s Emerging Cooperative Leaders Program and the Eastern Conference on Workplace Democracy. She is a creative entrepreneur and teaching artist; founding a micro-enterprise called EnjoyourSelf, creating gemstone jewelry and producing E-Ma’s Natural Body and Hair Care line. LaKeisha is known for helping women make healthy, informed choices around beauty product consumption combined with self and environmental awareness.
