Expanding Our Roots: Laquitta Bowers and Wankeeta Jackson

Expanding Our Roots: Global Conversations With 821 is an online interview series hosted by The 821 Project. The purpose of the series is to showcases the cultural diversity, global connections and social consciousness of the people of southeast Louisiana as well as those who work to expand southeast Louisiana’s roots to the world through works that promote social justice and global citizenship.

The series presents community organizers, community leaders and residents living in southeast Louisiana who come from different parts of the world or who work to promote global citizenship, multiculturalism and social justice in our regional community.

This interview is with Laquitta Bowers and Wankeeta Jackson. Laquitta Bowers is the racial justice program associate at the Foundation for Louisiana ( FFL) in Baton Rouge. She is a committed social justice advocate who spent her early years working for the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition; AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families; in the Greater Washington DC area. She earned a Master’s in Management from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.

Wankeeta Jackson is the racial justice program officer at the Foundation for Louisiana (FFL) in New Orleans). She is a passionate racial justice advocate whose work has spanned both the public and private sectors. Before her work at the foundation, she served as Grant Research and Evaluation Associate at Go Propeller. Currently, she serves on the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition board as Co-chair working towards a safer, decarcerated New Orleans. Keeta earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management from Virginia Tech and later a Master’s in Human Services.

Recording date of interview: January 11, 2021