Pamela Bakewell

Pamela A. Bakewell, Executive Team Member and Chief Neighborhood Officer of the Los Angeles Urban League, leads one of the organization’s most innovative initiatives, Neighborhoods@Work (N@W).  Ms. Bakewell and her team’s focus are to revitalize a designated area of South Los Angeles through Neighborhoods@Work (N@W), a 5-year holistic placed based neighborhood model that measurably impacts 5 disciplines simultaneously—Education, Employment, Safety, Housing and Health—with a strong emphasis on community engagement and outreach.  Neighborhoods@Work was launched in 2007 in the 70-block area of Park Mesa Heights with a $25 million budget over 5 years that leverages high level partnerships and community stakeholders to collaborate and change the targeted community one block at a time.  Over 100 partnerships have been established to effect on the ground change.   The ultimate goal of the initiative is to create a best practices model for sustainable neighborhood change that can be replicated throughout urban communities in Los Angeles and even across the country. 

Ms. Bakewell has led organizations in the South Los Angeles community for more than twenty years, both in the private sector and the nonprofit community.  Prior to joining the League, Ms. Bakewell was a successful entrepreneur in real estate sales, commercial development and property management.  Earlier in her career, she also held the leadership position of Executive Director of the Los Angeles Brotherhood Crusade, a non-profit philanthropic organization in South Los Angeles, where she remained a consultant for 20 years after leaving to enter the real estate development business.  This transition allowed Ms. Bakewell to combine her business acumen with her non-profit skills to create a vision for neighborhood change in South Los Angeles.    

As Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of The Bakewell Company, the company successfully grew into one of the largest African-American commercial real estate development companies in the Western United States.   Ms. Bakewell played a pivotal role in the acquisition of diversified assets, including the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper, which later led to the company’s expansion into radio broadcasting in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Highly regarded as a uniquely talented business leader, motivator, mentor and dealmaker, Ms. Bakewell has given her time and expertise to numerous social and community causes.  Ms. Bakewell has worked on projects with the African American Unity Center, Brotherhood Crusade and served on the boards of Sabriya’s Castle of Fun Foundation (serving children of terminally ill diseases), the Los Angeles Urban Education Partnership (LAEP) and Brotherhood Business Development & Capital Fund.  She is also a life time member of the National Council of Negro Women and has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund for achievement in advancing human rights for African Americans.  Ms. Bakewell is also a member of the 100 Black Women of Los Angeles and is interested in advancing leadership opportunities for women and girls through mentorship.           

Ms. Bakewell earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, and holds a California Real Estate Sales License.  Ms. Bakewell is most proud of her accomplishment of raising five wonderful children while successfully accommodating her busy schedule in business.  Faith and family are Ms. Bakewell’s top priorities.                                                        6/29/10