Dr. LaKeisha Cook has over 20 years of experience working in government/non-profits, education, and the African American church. As a faith-based practitioner and racial equity leader, she uses her platform to educate and empower people on social justice and racial inequities and is passionate about justice reform. During her tenure in community-based programming, she has worked with various organizations focused on dismantling racial disparities through advocacy, education, and coalition building. Through the centering lens of equity, she has facilitated countless professional development opportunities for leaders across the globe from various sectors through trainings, keynote addresses, coaching/consultation, etc. Her belief in the collective power of community as the entry point to transformation provides the foundation of her professional work.

Through her work in criminal justice reform, LaKeisha provided leadership in community organizing and advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty in state of Virginia. Drawing from her experience in racial equity, she centered race in the advocacy campaign that highlighted the connection between Virginia’s history of lynching and racial oppression. Her work resulted in Virginia becoming the first state in the south to end capital punishment.

In her current role within the Corporate/Nonprofit/Government sector of Courageous Conversation®, she facilitates customized leadership development (LEADS – Leadership for Equity and Anti-Racist Development) focused on building and strengthening will, skill, knowledge and capacity for racial equity transformation for executive teams including the senior leadership teams of AdCouncil and Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners.

Dr. Cook is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor concentration in Religious Studies and a Master’s of Divinity. She also earned a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University. In the fall of 2012, she completed her studies at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, where she earned her Doctorate of Ministry degree as a Gardner C. Taylor fellow.

She currently resides in Richmond, Virginia with her family.