About Celia
Celia Ward-Wallace is a nationally recognized social justice leader, born into a legacy of movement-building, and raised on the front lines of community organizing. A lifelong freedom fighter and visionary changemaker, her journey began in the arms of her activist parents and continues through her transformative leadership in South Los Angeles and beyond.
The daughter of civil rights organizers Lian Hurst Mann and Eric Mann, Celia was raised with a deep responsibility to fight injustice and stand with marginalized communities. At just five years old, she experienced the United Auto Workers’ campaign to save the GM Van Nuys plant—a pivotal labor struggle led by her parents. By 12, she was organizing student walkouts against the Gulf War. At Fairfax High, she founded “Alliance,” an intersectional solidarity group. At UCLA, she marched against Prop 187 and 209 in defense of immigrant rights and affirmative action.
Celia spent 13 years with the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks as a Community Center Director, where she helped launch “Girls Play LA,” expanding Title IX protections and access to sports for girls citywide. While working full-time, she earned her Juris Doctorate from the People’s College of Law, a movement-based institution training lawyers for justice. Though aligned with its mission, Celia realized her greatest gifts lay outside traditional legal practice. She pivoted toward transformational work in coaching, consulting, and community building.
She also earned her Community Counselor Certificate from the Southern California Counseling Center—an organization focused on equitable, culturally competent care—and shortly thereafter became a Certified Coach Practitioner.
In 2011, Celia founded The Ward-Wallace Group, a coaching and consulting firm that has supported over 1,000 purpose-driven leaders, organizations, and social enterprises. Her signature programs—Soulful Coaching Academy, Super Fly Soulful Business, and Women’s Night Out—train women and movement leaders to create impact from a place of purpose and power.
She is also an internationally recognized keynote speaker, author, correspondent, and television host, and serves as an adjunct faculty member, teaching graduate students and community leaders a curriculum rooted in justice, resilience, and legacy. She is the author of A Woman’s Guide to Having It All, a heartfelt blueprint for leading with authenticity and building a just world.
In 2019, Celia and her husband and life partner Joe Ward-Wallace co-founded South LA Cafe, a bold anti-gentrification effort turned community anchor. With multiple South Central LA locations as well as ones at the Natural History Museum and Hollywood Bowl—the cafe offers fresh, healthy, and affordable food while serving as a civic and cultural hub.
In a historic win, they launched SLAC Hospitality, securing a 10-year contract to manage food service at the Natural History Museum—becoming one of the first Black and woman-owned businesses to lead hospitality at a major cultural institution.
South LA Cafe is built on their proprietary Community Centered Business Model™ (CCBM), which reimagines business as a force for justice. They hire locally—including system-impacted individuals—offer above-living wages, and partner with the South LA Community Foundation to run the Cafe Academy, a workforce training program that builds leadership and career pathways.
In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd and the rise of COVID-19, Celia and Joe launched the South LA Grocery Giveaway. Now the Foundation’s signature program, it provides free groceries to over 200 families every Wednesday and has served roughly 300,000 people to date. The Foundation also mobilized free Covid testing, vaccinations, and health clinics during the pandemic.
Formally launched in 2021, the South LA Community Foundation advances racial equity, economic justice, and climate resilience. In 2024, the Foundation secured funding from Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove to develop South LA Community Resilience Centers—expanding the cafes into hubs for empowerment, emergency response, and self-determination.
In response to the 2025 LA Wild Fires, the Foundation organized and mobilized over 1,000 volunteers, distributed air purifiers and core necessities to over 500 families, and supported 400 incarcerated firefighters on the front lines. Their work is backed by major funders including the City of Los Angeles, United Way, Annenberg Foundation, and The California Endowment, affirming deep trust in Celia and Joe’s grassroots leadership.
“Those with privilege have a duty to stand on the front lines and use it in service of justice,” Celia often says. Her life is a testament to that truth.
A proud Bruin, wife, activist, mother, and freedom dreamer, Celia Ward-Wallace exemplifies what it means to live a life of legacy and purpose. Through every movement she builds and every space she transforms, Celia is not just changing lives—she is cultivating a future rooted in justice, healing, and radical love.
