The Lace on Race Center for Racial Equity is a community that strives every day, both online and in the real world, to walk steadily and reliably in service to our North Star: lessening and mitigating the harm endured by Black and Brown people, perpetuated by white people and white supremacy.
As an organization, we offer opportunities for individuals, communities, and organizations to work together in service of this North Star. Our focus is on promoting racial equity in a way that focuses on our relationships with each other as fellow, equal human beings, and on our relationships with the structures and institutions of our world that are built on, informed by, and steeped in racism.
Of equal importance is the Western Star of financial engagement. We believe that people working towards anti-racism and racial equity MUST have “skin in the game”. For white people especially, the “skin” available to put out there are the resources accumulated through privilege and centuries of racial exploitation. We financially engage with our first fruits, and the Lace on Race Center for Racial Equity uses these resources to support our organization and to contribute to our community partners.
Our Board of Directors
Leonie Cesvette, Interim Executive Director
Born in Jamaica, Ms. Cesvette has extensive racial justice leadership experience. Leonie also has a deep understanding of the principles and methods established by the Center’s founder, Lace Watkins (1963-2023), and she is resolved to guide the board in adapting the foundation to its abruptly altered circumstances.
Laura Berwick
Washington, USA
Jessica Lee
Florida, USA
Rebecca McClinton Washington, USA
Christina Sonas
California, USA
Vicki van den Eikhof
California, USA
Kelsi Watters
Washington, USA
Dee Weinfurtner
California, USA
Our History
We started out in January of 2018 as Lace on Race, a Facebook community founded by Lace Watkins. Lace was a San Diego activist with decades of experience in social justice work in faith-based, secular, electoral, institutional, and grassroots environments. Lace coached unlearning racism using concepts common in addiction counseling, knowing that white supremacy is one of the most rampant and harmful addictions in our society.
We created the Lace on Race Center for Racial Equity as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in January of 2021, recognizing that the entire non-profit industry is, by design, racist and classist. We took this step so that we could leverage our nonprofit status for the benefit of other racial justice organizations who are often grassroots groups doing profoundly important work even without the “legitimacy” of nonprofit-hood that so many donors insist upon.
In February of 2023, we were devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved Lace. She was our center, our leader, and the heart of our community. We are not entirely sure what the years ahead will look like for the organization she founded, that is her enduring legacy, but we are committed to preserving that legacy and continuing to mitigate and lessen the harm endured by Black and Brown people, perpetuated by white people and white supremacy, by walking steadfastly along the paths she showed us, in a spirit of Hesed love, with resolve, resilience, and relentless reliability.