Shreveport, LA – Leia Lewis Henderson (www.leialewis.com) is a cultural arts worker, organizer, artist, educator, and mother who has been advancing nonprofit and community-based organizations for more than a decade. Leia is the Founding Director of Sankofa Vision, Inc. (www.sankofavision.org), a nonprofit that celebrates and cultivates the art, culture, and community life of people of African descent. SVI’s central work is Sankofa Gardens, an organic community garden and learning campus that supports low-income families to achieve self-sufficiency and widely attracts good, diverse people. Leia is a dedicated classroom teacher, completing a M.A. in Teaching/ Elementary Education at Centenary College of Louisiana. She has earned a B.A. in Drama and Communications and M.A. in Arts Administration from University of New Orleans. A global student and peaceful warrior, Leia Lewis Henderson’s blessed family heritage is deeply rooted in the farmland of North Louisiana.

Awards

Recipient of the Fellows Fund micro-grant award for: 
EACH ONE GREEN ONE
Shreveport, LA- Sankofa Vision

This Each One Teach One initiative supports physical developments to maintain and expand the Sankofa Gardens site of nearly two acres. These improvements will support the operations, growth, and development of the Sankofa Gardens organic community garden and urban farm. This project enhances the quality of life, improves healthy food access, and cultivate green jobs opportunities for African American and low-income families who reside in a “food desert” neighborhood.