The Richmonder 25: Lea Whitehurst-Gibson works to amplify Southside’s voice

At the tender age of 16, Lea Whitehurst-Gibson undertook a missionary trip to Ghana during the height of the AIDS epidemic in Africa. While the experience was a formative one, it didn’t impact her the way that you might expect.

Not only did she encounter some problematic practices, but Whitehurst-Gibson realized that being physically present in West Africa might not be the most impactful way to help.

“All of the problems that we were seeing were deeper than one intervention,” she recalled by Zoom in July. “These are systemic problems.”

That experience, in part, led Whitehurst-Gibson to her current role as founder and executive director of Virginia Community Voice, a nonprofit that works to galvanize historically marginalized communities in Southside Richmond.  

Originally from upstate New York, Whitehurst-Gibson moved to Virginia at the age of 13 with her parents and three siblings to be closer to their extended family. She credits her parents with pushing her and her siblings to find their purpose in life: her sister is a Yale professor who studies cognitive neuroscience; one brother is a vice president at Wells Fargo; and her other brother runs a day camp for people with disabilities. 

“We grew up with lots of experiences, lots of opportunities,” Whitehurst-Gibson said. “Our parents were very intentional about: everyone goes to school; everyone gets a degree.”

After studying theology at Elim Bible College, Whitehurst-Gibson also conducted missionary work in Kenya, Zambia and Mongolia. In 2008, she and her siblings moved to Richmond and shared a house in Jackson Ward. While Whitehurst-Gibson took classes in international studies at VCU, she fell in love with the city. 

“I love how small it is,” she said. “I loved knowing my neighbors. I loved being connected with them, and that is what changed me.”

Instead of going overseas to navigate problems that weren’t central to her own lived experience, Whitehurst-Gibson became engaged with local issues.

As the anti-human trafficking Central Virginia Justice Initiative was just starting out, she got involved and helped get it on its feet. The initiative advocated for legislation that helped move Virginia from having some of the worst human trafficking laws in the country to having some of the best.

Still, human trafficking was outside of the scope of Whitehurst-Gibson’s own experience. Noting that she personally knew people who had children attending unaccredited schools, she decided to focus more on the immediate needs of her community. When a job at faith-based direct-action organization Richmonders Involved to Strengthen Our Communities opened up, she felt that the job description had been directly tailored to her. She applied and got the job. 

In her role at RISC, Whitehurst-Gibson worked with a wide spectrum of faith-based organizations, including by organizing the annual Nehemiah Action. At the event, faith-based organizations provide testimony and present research about community problems to public officials.

Issues such as affordable housing, reading scores in schools, and the creation of a healthcare job training ladder were a few issues that the event tackled while Whitehurst-Gibson was with RISC. She also helped bolster the pre-existing Virginia Coordinated Care initiative that provides healthcare for the uninsured. 

“It really was the kind of work that I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” Whitehurst-Gibson said. While she loved the job, it started taking a toll on her health: she started having panic attacks and losing hair. “For five years, I probably worked between 70 and 100 hours per week, and it was hard work.”

Observing that she had to stay healthy in order to continue doing justice work, Whitehurst-Gibson decided it was time to leave her position.

She was hired as the director of community engagement at Thriving Cities Group, a Charlottesville-based nonprofit. In 2019, she started RVA Thrives, a program that aims to build power and grow community leadership in Southside Richmond. Two years later, RVA Thrives rolled out of Thriving Cities Group to form part of Virginia Community Voice. The program focuses on policy solutions for issues like youth programing, housing, food justice and climate change.

During her time in Richmond, Whitehurst-Gibson said she noticed that Southside Richmond often got left behind in the public discourse. 

“It was the only part of the city I couldn’t tell you what was going on,” she said. “When you cross the bridge, it’s a different city, so we focus on Southside Richmond for that reason.” 

The other arm of Whitehurst-Gibson’s nonprofit is the Virginia Community Voice Blueprint, a guide for organizations on how to conduct equitable community engagement, avoid exploiting communities and amply citizens’ voices. Since 2020, more than 200 organizations across the country have received Blueprint training from VCV.

Colleagues say Whitehurst-Gibson is motivated by her faith, enjoys gardening, and loves spending time with her son who has special needs. She is also a great cook whose “sweet potato nut stuff” is a highlight of the holiday season for her social circle.

Rev. LaKeisha Cook first met Whitehurst-Gibson as part of the succession planning for the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. 

“I quickly saw what an amazing professional resource she would be, just because of how community-minded she is and how she always keeps people at the center of the work that she does,” Cook said. “She has this internal light that’s really warm and welcoming. She puts you at ease within the first couple of minutes of having a conversation with her.”

Shekinah Mitchell, director of neighborhood engagement for Bon Secours, says Whitehurst-Gibson sees value in every person, regardless of who they are or where they’re from.

“Lea is such a passionate leader with a strong moral compass rooted in her genuine love for this community,” Mitchell said. “There are many things I adore about Lea, but her approachability and humility sets her apart.”

In recent news, Virginia Community Voices just moved into a new space in Southside Richmond. They are currently working to raise $600,000 to renovate the space and turn it into the Healing Justice and Community Power Center, a space for community organizing and holistic wellness.

Cook says Whitehurst-Gibson is always focused on trying to build power within communities and make the world a better place.

“She’s had a tremendous impact on the South Richmond community,” she said. “She continually has her finger on the pulse of what’s really going on in the community, because she’s a part of it.”

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