Celia Ward-Wallace is the CEO & Co-Founder of South LA Cafe, a community coffee shop, market and cultural center in South Central Los Angeles. South LA Cafe arose as an anti-gentrification effort for cultural preservation and a safe haven for community members to gain access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food while living in the middle of a food desert. Their revolutionary Community Centered Business Model™ (CCBM) explores the intersection of people, place and profit in an innovative way where everyone can win. 

Since its founding in 2019, South LA Café has opened six locations in six years. In addition to sky-rocketing business growth their social impact is unparalleled providing over 300,000 individuals free and fresh groceries through their weekly food distribution the South LA Grocery Giveaway, led by their 501c3 the SLAC Foundation.

Celia is also an internationally recognized expert in the fields of Social Entrepreneurship, Women’s Empowerment, and Community Building & Activism. As a result she founded and is the CEO of The Ward-Wallace Group, Coaching and Consulting Firm which supports entrepreneurs, leaders, activists, and organizations to create, launch, and scale world-changing ideas. 

As the daughter of lifelong community organizers, Celia has committed her life to activism and advocacy. She specialized in the study of intergroup conflict and prejudice as well as civil and women’s rights while at UCLA and received her Juris Doctorate from the People’s College of Law. Celia is a long-term resident of South Central Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and two daughters.

Committed to Diversity and Inclusion: Cela Ward-Wallace enriches our conference with their experience as a certified minority owned business and certified social enterprise.