Developing Strong Role Models for Young Black Men

Featuring LAKAYANA YOTOMA DRURY

Executive Director of Word is Bond

Lakayana Yotoma Drury has a passion for culturally-grounded education, mentorship, and community development. Raised in Madison, Wisconsin, Lakayana experienced adversity at a young age. His father was absent for most of his adolescent years so he and his two younger siblings were raised by his hardworking mother. Despite a learning disability diagnosis in sixth grade, Lakayana graduated from the University of Wisconsin Stout and started his career as a teacher in both elementary and high school.

As a young Black man navigating adolescence in the absence of strong male role models, he recognized the decades of data pointing to the underachievement of Black men, as well as the opportunities. Lakayana founded Word is Bond in Portland, Oregon in 2017, a nonprofit leadership incubator that creates a pipeline for young Black men, aged 15-20, to discover their identity and higher purpose. Word is Bond teaches leadership, storytelling, narrative reclamation, collaboration, innovation, self-actualization, and abundance mindset. Youth are served through 3 year leadership training programs, monthly school programs, spring break leadership forums, story telling tours, capstone leadership experiences, and multimedia experiences.

As a storyteller, Lakayana also believes in the power of community engagement to uplift hidden stories and inspire others to collective action. In particular, in 2024, he produced his first film, The Black Stars, a documentary that chronicles the journey of eight young Black men to Ghana as part of a summer leadership program through Word is Bond.

Finally, Lakayana serves in multiple leadership roles throughout the community, such as commissioner to the Oregon Commission of Black Affairs. The OCBA serves to empower the Black community as policy advisors to Oregon state leaders and become a catalyst to address longstanding and emerging issues, such as education, healthcare, policing, housing, environmental justice, and civic engagement.

As an educator, social entrepreneur, community advocate, writer, poet, and filmmaker, Lakayana Drury believes in “building a world based on compassion for all people, where every individual has the resources they need to thrive…in dismantling systems of oppression and replacing them with ecosystems that nurture the innate empathy of humanity.”

Inspiring The State of Colorado To Respond to Human Trafficking

Featuring Amanda Finger —
Executive Director of the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking

Amanda Finger, the Executive Director of the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking, has spent the last 20 years dedicated to combating human trafficking. 

As a student at the Josef Korbel School for International Studies at the University of Denver, graduating with a Master’s of Arts in International Human Rights and a Certificate in Global Health Affairs in 2007, Amanda first encountered the realities of human trafficking and their impact on societies and individuals. She was moved by a desire to see her generation uphold human rights more effectively and, in 2005, formed a state chapter of the national Polaris Project. The national response to human trafficking was still in its infancy and efforts were isolated, uncoordinated, and disconnected from the data, especially in Colorado.

While starting her professional career, Amanda continued engaging and advocating for anti-human trafficking, from working as a women’s health advocate in Washington, DC to conducting field research in Johannesburg, South Africa on human trafficking and health services. She served two years as an Adjunct Professor with the Institute for Women’s Studies and Services at Metropolitan State University of Denver, teaching Human Trafficking and Women’s Health courses.

In 2009, Amanda co-founded an independent nonprofit organization called the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking with Dr. AnnJanette Alejano-Steele. The Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking believes a comprehensive response to human trafficking in Colorado will contribute to their vision of ending human trafficking across the world. The Laboratory, under Amanda’s leadership, has conducted four major research projects, led the operation of Colorado’s 24/7 Human Trafficking Hotline, trained nearly 90,000 community members and professionals, and supported more than 200 aspiring human rights leaders, becoming a critical force in supporting survivors and strengthening Colorado’s response to human trafficking.

One important lesson we can learn from Amanda is the importance of rest and rejuvenation for leaders in order to continue working passionately and tirelessly for their mission. A few years ago, Amanda went on a two-month sabbatical to reflect and rest on her seventeen years of leadership in anti-trafficking work. Amanda believes this sabbatical sets a great example for the people she leads, especially being in the nonprofit sector where burnout is a large threat to teams and these types of breaks can be critical to continue the good work of the organization’s mission.

In Amanda’s words, “I’ve come to realize how important it is for leaders to recognize when a break is needed – when we should step back and recharge. I also believe that championing others to lead can build resilience in an organization and even in a movement. Beyond that, the problem of human trafficking is much bigger than one person or one organization! So I’m ready to pause and reflect, to read stories of resiliency and hope, and to have time to simply sit still. It is key to sustaining this work.”