Who is Lasana?

MY STORY

“The only thing you can assume about a person is that they are human.”

Lasana Tunica-El is an inspirational speaker, activist poet, director, manager, organizer, historian, and yoga practitioner. He was reared in the Queensborough neighborhood of Shreveport, Louisiana. Had excellent teachers in the public schools he attended. He graduated with a degree in African American history from HBCU Southern University and A&M College. Lasana’s full immersion in the culture, activism, and scholarship at SU had a profound effect upon his sense of self and nurtured his lifelong commitment to the progress of the black community.

He relocated to Atlanta, Georgia and continued his cultural studies that informed the poems he penned. He performed with his various bands on his independent label. His studies informed his profound appreciation for the world’s peoples. Lasana’s experience as a teacher began as he home schooled his children in their formative years. He also facilitated sessions on the history and religion of the Moors in Atlanta’s historic West End community. These experiences expanded his commitment to the service of humanity at large.

He later enrolled his children in the first charter school in Atlanta. Due to the STEAM curriculum and black male educators on staff. He served three years on the board at Charles R. Drew Charter School, two as board chair. Lasana also taught four years at Drew in the pre-kindergarten program and in the after-school SAT program for grades 6-8. Under the guise of a spoken word class called Self Construction. He volunteered at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary teaching ethics via Moorish history to black male inmates. He earned a master’s in sports management at Central Michigan University’s Global Campus.

Seeking new opportunities, he and family moved to New York City in 2013. Lasana taught spoken word poetry at Democracy Prep Harlem Middle School. He designed the curriculum for 95 students reflecting 35 ethnicities before culturally responsive education was branded. There were haiku battles and analysis of the Malian Epic of Sundiata.

The mission at Educators for Excellence closely aligned with Lasana’s values, and he was elated to join E4E as an outreach director. After a brief stint assumed the senior outreach director role at E4E– NY, managing the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan outreach teams.

While being the chapter’s DEI Connector designing curriculum for the team’s learning and development needs.

With over 20 years studying race in America, Lasana has been at E4E organizing educators to build power to influence equitable education policies. The founding chair of E4E’s Diversity Council is a champion of diversity, equity, and Inclusion that has contributed to mindsets and policy shifts in the organization resulting in increased intersectional diversity in multiple tiers of the organization.

He founded the Black Male Educators Group at E4E. Lasana spearheaded work in the DEI space at E4E that has now become codified in the institutional core of the organization including E4E’s public commitment to antiracism, NY’s chomp and chats, expanded recruitment pools, diversified hiring teams, identity based learning communities, and transparent salary bands.

Lasana Tunica-El is also a member of Ali’s Men, Inc. a non profit think tank and research group that is committed to the progress of African Americans. He arrived at his present stage of expertise in DEI by practically engaging in the work. While embodying a servant, enterprise leadership style. His calming presence settles the angst of difficult conversations. His sincerity of purpose and insightfulness engender trust in his coaching modalities. Inclusive culture and equitable outcomes are ideals Lasana has manifested multiple times in varied settings. LTE Consulting is the inevitable next step in his journey to share his ever developing DEI learning with organizations committed to embodying their core values.