Lakeisha Wolf Shares how Ujamaa Collective uses Co-op Model to Create Generational Wealth

Everything Co-op with Vernon Oakes

LaKeisha Wolf, Executive Director of Ujamaa Collective discusses how Ujamaa has used the collective cooperative business model to address Community problems, and create generational wealth. This interview features selections from Everything Co-op's 2023 Holiday List, a thoughtfully curated list of products and services from the cooperative community. The intention is to put into practice the principle of Cooperation Among Cooperatives. In this first installment Vernon introduces his listeners to one of his picks for your "Soul," with LaKeisha Wolf. LaKeisha Wolf is a co-founder and serves as executive director of a non-profit, Ujamaa Collective. She leads through the lens of creativity and community, working with artists and organizers to develop place-making strategies, models of equity for community resources, as well as local and global partnerships rooted in the values of fair trade entrepreneurship, mutual aid and wellness. Additionally, as a community cultural worker and teaching artist, LaKeisha provides support and workshops in the areas of culturally responsive arts and wellness practices; and cooperative enterprise development. Ujamaa Collective is a grassroots organization that works to center Black Africana people within a cooperative economics practice. provides a cooperative retail boutique for makers and artists to connect with conscientious consumers. For more info, visit Ujamaa at: https://www.ujamaacollective.org/