As a community activist who is qualified to speak and inspire community involvement, Leona Tate has an extensive experience directing, hosting and providing workshops and seminars in the community as well as being a guest speaker for schools and universities.

 

In 1960, she was a participant in the Civil Rights movement being one of the first to desegregate an all-white public school in the South. In 2009, Leona Tate created the Leona Tate Foundation for Change to continue educating the public, in particular young people, on the lessons of civil rights and minorities’ struggle for equality.

 

As the executive director of the Foundation and with the support of the board of directors and advisory boards, Leona Tate is also the inspiration and director of the Foundation’s lead project: the preservation and redevelopment of McDonogh #19.

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Her speaking engagements address the Civil Rights Movement, public school desegregation, community engagement, racial equality and education equality topics. Leona Tate's signature topics include:

 

• Desegregation of New Orleans Public Schools

• Women in Leadership

• Community Activism

• Re-developing a Mixed-Use Property