Danyika Leonard

Board Co-Chair | Policy Director, Education Evolving"I've been a part of Urban Homeworks since 2013, where I worked in partnership with UHW to support the fundamental right to equitable, safe, stable, affordable, dignified, accessible rental housing and homeownership for Northside families. I joined the board after shifting to education policy. It takes courage, commitment, resolve, and humility to ask of ourselves, "How do we honor and be 'in right relationship' with community?" UHW takes this charge to heart and strives to embody what it means to 'neighbor,' and I've seen this reflected in the community." --- Danyika Leonard (Dan-yee-kah) is the policy director at Education Evolving, where she advocates for policies that clear barriers and create opportunities for educators to design equitable student-centered learning experiences. She is co-founder of the Ujima Collective, which exists to create solutions and empower those seeking to address issues and policies impacting the Black community. Their work encompasses collaborative efforts of educators, organizers, artists, youth workers, and teachers committed to doing community safety, equity, and racial justice. As a restorative practitioner by calling and social worker by trade, her work has focused on building collaboratives of state, county, and local organizations for systems and policy innovation for educational and family success. She has experience in community organizing, coalition building, group/circle facilitations, housing & workforce development, policy design and implementation, design thinking, and youth and family empowerment. Danyika holds a MPA degree from the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs. She lives in North Minneapolis with her husband, Alex, and two children.