Davona LC Pacley

Co-Founder of Erie's Black Wall Street, Community Birth Doula, and Co-creator of Our Erie podcast and Hearth Folk Collective

LocationErie, PA

Preferred pronounshe/her

Email address

Headshot of Davona LC Pacley

Biographical information

Davona is 32 and an Erie native who graduated from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania with a B.A in Sociology. She currently resides in Erie, PA with her wife Angelica Spraggins. She is a Co-Founder and Board Member of Erie’s Black Wall Street; as well as a trained birth doula with emphasis on community advocacy. In 2019, she was the first open black-woman to run for a City Council seat in Erie, PA on a wide platform of creating a more livable city for all. The greatest focus being on the lack of representation in positions of power in city/council government. “You can’t be; what you can’t see” and with Black people making up 16.7% of the population in the City of Erie; it was imperative to highlight that. Even though she did not win the seat, she is able to align her goals with EBWS’ mission to serve as a vehicle for change and empowerment of Erie’s Black community through cultivating meaningful relationships, education of members, the creation of social networks and the promotion of Black entrepreneurship. Davona was recently appointed as a commissioner for the PA Commission on LGBT Affairs. This past summer she became a trained birth doula and reiki 2 practitioner and working towards certification; she also co-created Hearth Folk Collective with a friend to create a brave space for healers of all backgrounds. Lastly, she collaborated with other local activists and a film director and launched the Our Erie Series (podcast); which will bring citizens, entrepreneurs, activists, politicians and thought leaders together for a frank discussion around societal issues facing the post-industrial city of Erie, Pennsylvania and the United States at large. When she is not championing for the change, Davona enjoys hanging with her wife, friends and family, loves to braid hair, loves music, reiki, meditation, reading a good book, and plants.