Powering Ujamaa: Sustaining Community-Driven Growth

The Ujamaa Collective invites you to join us in an extraordinary movement to transform the lives of artisans, visionaries, and community members in Pittsburgh and beyond. Your support for our Powering Ujamaa community campaign ensures that this vibrant cooperative continues to empower Black women artisans, foster cultural sustainability, and create liberated spaces where the seeds of economic interdependence and creative possibility flourish.

The Legacy of Ujamaa

Ujamaa, meaning "cooperative economics" in Swahili, embodies a tradition of collective courage, innovation, and shared prosperity rooted in African heritage. As outlined in Dr. Jessica Gordon-Nembhard’s seminal work, Collective Courage, cooperatives have long been a lifeline for Black communities, offering sustainable solutions to systemic inequities. Since its inception, Ujamaa Collective has carried this torch in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, creating a vibrant arts, culture, and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Through a network of over 70 artisans and small business owners, Ujamaa Collective offers a platform for Black women to realize financial autonomy and global recognition for their craftsmanship. From handcrafted teas to intricately designed apparel, the work of our artisans represents more than economic gain—it is the cultural lifeblood of a community that refuses to be silenced.

The Value Beyond Measure

Ujamaa’s work has yielded tangible and intangible results that ripple across local and global communities:

Economic Empowerment: Black women and other Africana artisans affiliated with Ujamaa are achieving financial success by accessing markets locally and globally. In 2023 alone, sales from artisan products increased by over 20%, providing these women with vital resources to sustain their families and communities.
Cultural Sustainability: Through every sage bundle, beadwork, and textile, our artisans preserve traditions, share stories, and honor the ancestral wisdom that inspires their creations. Ujamaa has become a repository of Black culture in Pittsburgh, connecting generations to the beauty and resilience of African diasporic traditions.
Liberated Zones for Creation: Our space is more than a marketplace—it is a sanctuary. As Ed Whitfield aptly described in his essay What Must We Do to Be Free, we envision “zones of liberation” where Black creation and prosperity thrive. Every program and partnership at Ujamaa reinforces this promise to our community.
A Future of Possibility: For our youth and aspiring visionaries, Ujamaa symbolizes what is possible today. Through workshops, mentorships, and events, we provide tools to help them reimagine economic models that center on cooperation, equity, and creativity.

Green, Gold, and Black Sponsorship Levels

In the spirit of honoring Ujamaa’s African roots and cultural significance, we offer the following sponsorship and giving levels:

Green Level: Sustaining Growth ($50–$2,499)

Recognition on our website and social media as a Green Sponsor.
Quarterly updates on artisan success stories and Ujamaa's community impact.
Exclusive access to artisan previews and product launches.

Gold Level: Empowering Prosperity ($2,500–$9,999)

All Green Level benefits.
Name or business logo on event materials and promotional campaigns for one year.
Special acknowledgment in our annual report and donor recognition wall.

Purple Level: Liberating Futures ($10,000 and above)

All Gold Level benefits.
Opportunity to co-sponsor a flagship community program or artisan workshop.
Recognition as a Founding Patron of Ujamaa’s future expansion projects.
Invitation to an exclusive artisan showcase and private reception.

Your Contribution Builds Liberation

By supporting Ujamaa Collective, you are directly investing in a vision that uplifts communities through arts, culture, and cooperative economics. You are helping to sustain a space where the intangible value of heritage, identity, and resilience meets the tangible rewards of economic empowerment and global recognition.

We invite you to contribute to this campaign and to be part of a legacy that will inspire and transform lives for years to come. Together, we can ensure that Ujamaa’s promise of possibility is realized in the present and sustained into the future.