Collaboration and Care
Last week, AfroVillage’s Executive Director, LaQuida Landford, took the stage as a keynote speaker for IDA Day, hosted by the Oregon IDA Initiative. The day was centered around connection, collaboration, and imagining more caring systems! Themes and values that are woven into everything we do at AfroVillage.
Our presentation, “Building Futures rooted in Community and Love” explored how collaboration and care are not just values, but strategies for building strong, thriving communities. We shared how AfroVillage’s work: from Afro Wellness programs and Housing Justice projects to our Digital Justice and Climate + Food initiatives. They all flow from the same belief: that care is an action, not a sentiment.
“We are not building for people. We are building with people.”
Through stories and reflections, Q guided attendees through how care shows up in our daily work. It shows up in healing circles and acupuncture sessions, in creative reuses of space, in local CSA partnerships, and in free Wi-Fi access for digital learning. Care shows up in everything that we do.
It was also highlighted that collaboration isn’t just about teamwork; it’s about power that we share, deepened trust, and moving at the pace of relationship. When we center care, we build practices that sustain each other and create new possibilities for justice.
It was an inspiring day full of connection, new ideas, and excitement about the future of community. Gratitude to everyone who joined us in conversation about what it means to lead with care and how to do it together.
Stay tuned for more ways AfroVillage is putting Care in Action all year long.