Everything Co-op With Vernon Oakes

LaKeisha Wolf, Executive Director of Ujamaa Collective discusses the history of the collective and its plans to expand. Vernon and Lakeisha also discuss the role that Ujamaa Collective plays in the community, and how it has incorporated the needs of the community to create other cooperatives, which is in keeping with the meaning of it's name. Ujamaa is the fourth of the seven Nguzo Saba principles of Kwanzaa, and it means Cooperative Economics. Vernon and Lakeisha also discuss the other six principles of Kwanza and how their meanings are used as guiding principles of life. As a first-generation Pittsburgher, LaKeisha Wolf has developed her roots across the community working at the intersection of social justice, arts, culture and entrepreneurship. 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 business affairs and cooperative development of emerging Africana women-owned craft industries. S