STUFF ABOUT ME:

Yoga + Creativity + Internet Geek = Ananda Leeke (www.anandaleeke.com). Leeke is a lawyer turned “Jill of many trades”: innerpreneur, author, artist, coach, and yoga teacher. Her mission is “Empowering U2BU through creativity coaching, Reiki, self-care, social media, volunteerism, and yoga.”

In 2010, she launched Digital Sisterhood Month and the Digital Sisterhood Network to give women an opportunity to celebrate their online and offline connections, conversations, communities, collaborative partnerships, and commerce with other women. Visit http://digitalsisterhood.wordpress.com and http://twitter.com/digitalsisterhd.

Leeke penned That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman’s Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery (2009 – available on Amazon.com) and her debut novel Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One (2007 – available on Amazon.com). Her poetry appeared in Beyond the Frontier: African American Poetry for the 21st Century (2002) edited by E. Ethelbert Miller. Her six-word memoir – Go Green Boho BAP. Urban Debutante. - was published in It All Changed in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser of Smith Magazine in 2010. She is currently writing Digital Sisterhood, a memoir (2011) and Love’s Troubadours – Symon: Book Two (2012).

Leeke has served as a volunteer yoga teacher since 2006 for the Kind and Gentle C-OM-MUNITY Yoga Meet Up Group in Washington, DC. She has also volunteered as a Reiki practitioner, creativity coach, workshop presenter, online community manager, Internet radio host, blogger, speaker, mentor, social media coach, green living coach, and worship associate for All Souls Unitarian Church. In 2010, she volunteered as an online yoga teacher, Crisis Camp DC technology worker, and Heart of Haiti Ambassador.

Leeke began 2011 with a commitment to conduct digital advocacy and raise funds on Crowdrise.com for the following causes over the next two years (January 2011 - January 2013):

1) The Women's Collective, a direct services organization that supports women living with HIV/AIDS in Washington, DC - www.womenscollective.org;

2) Renewal 4 Haiti, a Haitian nonprofit organization that is committed to bringing medical care and skills training to Léogâne, the epicenter of the Haitian earthquake in 2010 - http://renewal4haiti.org; and

3) Fonkoze, the largest grassroots microfinance institution in Haiti that supports Haitian women's economic development efforts - http://fonkoze.org.

She is also raising funds for Renewal 4 Haiti with her "Open your heart to Haiti today!" CafePress.com site: http://www.cafepress.com/openyourhearttohaititoday.

Please consider making a donation to support these organizations. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!


WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR ME:

Ananda Leeke has always been inspired by Dr. Dorothy I. Height's wisdom: "Without community service, we would not have a strong quality of life. It's important to the person who serves as well as the recipient. It's the way in which we ourselves grow and develop." While pledging Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. on the campus of Morgan State University, Leeke learned how to live Sigma's motto "Greater Service, Greater Progress." Her chapter's college community service projects laid the foundation for her current volunteer experiences. She is passionate about sharing her gifts and empowering others through service. She deeply believes Muhammad Ali's wisdom: "Service to others is the payment you make for your space here on earth."