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Alex Leonard
Alex Leonard is a dedicated father, husband, educator, and coach, and trailblazing co-creator of several successful initiatives. He designs and delivers trauma-informed, Black-centered initiatives in community and educational spaces. Alex was also the co-founder and administrator of the Community Connected Academy (CCA)—a collaborative project between Minneapolis Patrick Henry High School (now Camden High School) and the Jay & Rose Family Phillips Foundation, which invested $1.3 million into the project. At CCA, Alex applied liberatory frameworks to co-design and implement a culturally responsive, inclusive, and project-based learning model. Grounded in student and community voices, this approach led to a 97% program graduation rate, redefining education for high school scholars. Alex is also the co-creator of the Beacons/Boys & Girls Club at Patrick Henry High School, as first of its kind after-school program since 2006, now replicated at a number of Minnesota high school sites. Alex was awarded the 2023 Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship for the work to create healing spaces for educator bodies of culture. He is also a 2010 National Institute on Out-of-School Time Practitioner Research Fellow, a Phillips Family Foundation education advisory committee member, and a restorative conference facilitator and mediator with Community Mediation & Restorative Services. Alex also has experience in developing mentorship programming, equity-centered professional development, and building positive, meaningful, supportive, and safe relationships with young people as a coach and mentor, and in the community.
Danyika Leonard
Danyika (dan-yee-kah) is a mother, wife, daughter, sibling, cousin, friend, dancer, organizer, and collaborator. She brings a multifaceted approach to connect systems and move the right work forward. As a restorative practitioner and connector, her work has focused on building collaboratives of state, county, and local organizations for systems and policy innovation for educational and family success. She has experience in community organizing, coalition building, housing & workforce development, policy design and implementation, design thinking, and youth and family empowerment. Danyika was a 2024 Black-Led Change Fellow with the Minnesota Black Collective Foundation and a 2021 North Star Black Cooperative Fellow by Nexus Community Partners.
Her commitment to advancing educational equity earned her the Minnesota Education Policy Fellowship in 2019 and the 2018 Gary DeCramer Leadership Award and 2017 Thomas Swain Fellowship Award from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. . In 2016, Danyika was selected for the Roy Wilkins Community Policy Fellowship. Danyika’s servant leadership extends to numerous board and advisory roles, amplifying her impact across organizations and initiatives. She currently serves as a board member with Hope Community and has held previous board leadership roles with Urban Homeworks (Now Housing in Action), and the West Broadway Business Area Coalition. Additionally, she provided leadership support to Adam’s Purpose and serves as a core coalition member for the Minnesota Ethnic Studies Coalition. Her advisory expertise supports various programs, including her role as a National SEED Project (Seeking Education Equity & Diversity) facilitator.
