Lakayana Drury On How Word Is Bond Empowers Young Black Men in Portland

Lakayana Drury (He/Him/His) is the founder and Executive Director of Word is Bond (https://www.mywordisbond.org/). Lakayana Drury is an educator, storyteller, and community organizer. Lakayana was recently named one of Portland Business Journal’s Class of 2021 Forty Under 40. Lakayana Drury was raised in Madison, Wisconsin by his hardworking mother and is the eldest of three children. He experienced adversity at an early age, most notably a learning disability diagnosis in sixth grade and the absence of his father for most of his adolescent years. He overcame those challenges and graduated from the University of Wisconsin Stout and went on to pursue a career as an elementary and high school teacher which lead him to Portland, OR. Lakayana is of Sudanese and Irish ancestry and has done considerable work exploring his biracial identity, particularly his African roots. His lived experience drives his passion for culturally-grounded education, mentorship, healthy masculinity, community investment in Black communities, and reimagining community safety. Lakayana serves on the Black Male Achievement Steering Committee, Local Public Safety CoordinatingCommittee (LPSCC) Executive Committee, and the Center for Black Student Excellence (CBSE) Guiding Coalition with Portland Public Schools.