ABOUT US
Community Empowerment Association (CEA) was founded in 1993 in order to establish an organized, structural approach to address the specific needs of at-risk youth and families in
distressed, marginalized communities.
CEA’s 30+ year success emanated through its grassroots origin, serving residents of nine predominantly low-income underserved communities in Allegheny County
and the City of Pittsburgh.
four core beliefs
We believe in the power of Black culture and experience as a moral compass.
EMPOWERMENT
We acknowledge the challenges and obstacles that Black People have historically faced and continue to face.
RESILIENCE
We leverage Black stories and experiences to cultivate critical thinking skills, reasoning abilities, and attention to detail.
STORYTELLING
By placing Black People as the subjects in our narratives, we create relatable and aspirational role models that inspire young minds.
REPRESENTATION
The Afrocentric idea locates Black People as doers, builders, and subjects in their own rights and not on the fringes of the history of others. However, centuries of racism, prejudice, and marginalization have created a multitude of socio-cultural risk factors among contemporary Black People that continue to cause a host of challenges with regard to survival and quality of life (Mitchell, 2007)...
OUR FOUNDER
T. Rashad Byrdsong is the founder and chief executive officer of the unique community-based organization Community Empowerment Association (CEA) that has served over 25,000 individuals, youth and families in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. He simultaneously acts as the President and CEO of MA’AT Construction Group, an enterprise that has trained and/or employed over 1,000 individuals from black, distressed communities around the city. Coveted international speaker, and published author, his commitment to empowering the lives of Black People has garnered him countless professional awards and accolades over the past 25 years.
As a lifelong revolutionary activist and social entrepreneur, Byrdsong is focused on achieving social justice by building institutions that create tangible benefits in Black communities suffering from poverty, racial discrimination, and other systemic disparities. His personal mission to restore, reclaim, and transform these underserved communities through strategic planning, collaboration, advocacy, education, and mobilization are informed by his experiences in the civil rights struggle, combat service in Vietnam, and membership in the Black Panther Party.
A long-standing pillar within the community, C.E.A. is structured around Byrdsong’s own Afrocentric intervention paradigm–an empowerment approach that recaptures the resiliency of families by equipping them with the necessary tools to move towards self-determination, self- sufficiency and stability. This method was developed alongside his work with the National Urban Peace and Justice Council, an initiative that has for over two-decades, served gang members and at-risk youth by negotiating peace treaties, reuniting families, and guiding their
process from adolescence to adulthood.
Byrdsong defies institutionally boundaries in the interest of building national, multi-faceted social justice coalitions. These diverse experiences most recently informed his development of the Public Health Approach to Violence Reduction, a culturally-specific model which has been adopted by the Allegheny County Commission on Gun Violence.
Byrdsong is available for speaking engagements and consultations at your institution. Byrdsong shares his organizing and activist experience by giving speeches, serving as a panelist, and working as a consultant.
t. Rashad Byrdsong
OUR TEAM
CEA Staff is unique because we can engage with residents and provide them with interventions that get to the core of their suffering. We identify with the people in need and view ourselves as equal, as there is virtually no class difference. Staff members are continually exposed to in-house training programs, which occur routinely and as part of monthly staff development meetings.
Executive Team
T. Rashad Byrdsong
President and CEO
Ms. Amargie Davis
Co-Founder & Deputy Director
412-371-3689 Ext. 250
Ms. Angela DeVan
Manager, Therapeutic Support
412-371-3689 Ext. 247
Board Of Directors
Ms. Fran Carter, Secretary of the Board
Retired – Department of Human Services
Dr. Robert Marin
Associate Professor of Psychiatry WPIC
Ms. Lavern Jackson
Retired Registered Nurse, Washington, D.C.
T. Rashad Byrdsong
President and CEO
Mr. Christopher Carter
Board Member
Mr. Martell Covington
Board Chair