Daeja Baker is a tireless advocate, activist, and proud native of the Allegheny Valley. Raised in Pittsburgh’s Charles Street Valley, Daeja grew up in a tight-knit community focused on mutual support and treating neighbors like family. Surrounded by intergenerational homes, family-run businesses, and neighbors who gave quarters to children seeking candy from the corner store, Daeja learned the importance of community early. Buoyed by community leaders who ensured that she had opportunities to have experiences outside of her immediate environment, Daeja attended Pittsburgh’s Creative and Performing Arts Academy, and went on to earn a BFA and MFA in Creative Writing from Chatham University. However, these experiences were juxtaposed with those of other people in her community.

 

As time progressed, Daeja noticed that her community was changing. People who never previously struggled with paying their rent, buying groceries, or getting to work suddenly became statistics in Pittsburgh's housing insecurity, food access, and transportation crises. Classmates and neighbors became caught up in the ever-growing drug and gun violence epidemic. The community that instilled in her values of interdependence, mutual aid, and support for the most vulnerable was falling apart. She felt she had to do something to help support the multitude of people losing their ability to stay afloat.

 

After earning her degrees from Chatham University, Daeja founded Pittsburgh Feminists for Intersectionality, an organization that spearheads mutual aid for BiPoC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) women and femmes in need across the Pittsburgh metro area. Through this endeavor, Daeja has helped raise over one-hundred-thousand-dollars to support some of our region's most vulnerable populations. She has also served as the lead organizer for the Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit, an intensive conference and training geared toward educating Allegheny County residents in the history of its race relations and its potential for growth. In addition to this, Daeja uses her public profile to advocate for and raise awareness about the issues impacting youth who have interaction with the juvenile justice system, transgender members of our community, and those impacted by mental illness. 

 

One of Daeja’s main goals is to help people understand their power to influence local government, and their material conditions. Daeja understands that many of the same issues that impacted her community as she was growing up are affecting people in our region today. For too many people in our communities, worries about a stable tomorrow have intensified as tax rates increase and borough budgets shrink. 

 

Her core message: We do not have to accept this. Daeja believes that strong leadership, co-governance across municipal lines, and intentional correspondence with community advocates, students, teachers, and other school board members can help us chart a new path forward. She is running for Shaler Area School Board to do just that.