About Us
The Maggie L. Walker Foundation was started by family. The three founding board members are Walker's great-great-grandchildren, incorporated in Virginia in June 2026 to do something we believed was long overdue: formalize what has been shared in this family for generations.
Our grandmothers — Mamie Evelyn Walker and Elizabeth Mitchell Walker, sisters — grew up in the house on East Leigh Street in Jackson Ward that the National Park Service now preserves as Walker's National Historic Site. We grew up in their care, hearing her name as family history. That is where this Foundation comes from.
We work across economic empowerment, historic preservation, and civic leadership — the same three things Walker pursued in her life, because she understood they were a part of the same fight. We serve to build a philanthropic partnership with the National Historic Site, raising resources for programs and community initiatives that fall outside what NPS can fund directly. We also lead our own programming, build national awareness of her legacy, and advance the kind of civic leadership she embodied.
Our Mission and Vision
Historic Preservation & Awareness
National Park Service Partnership
Ensuring Walker's story, the history of the Independent Order of St. Luke, and the story of Jackson Ward are preserved, told accurately, and amplified nationally.
Economic Empowerment
Community Programming
Building the financial infrastructure and individual economic capacity that Walker modeled — from homeownership to entrepreneurship to financial literacy.
Civic Leadership
Voter Education
Developing the next generation of leaders in Richmond and beyond who understand that civic power and economic power are inseparable — as Walker did.
Richmond First
Local Action
Richmond is home. Our deepest commitments, our sharpest attention, and our most meaningful work begin here — in the city where Walker built everything she built.
Meet the Family
Liza Mickens
President | Great-Great-Granddaughter of Maggie Lena Walker
Liza has spent more than two decades sharing her ancestor's story locally and nationally. As Walker's great-great-granddaughter, she carries a personal accountability to this legacy that shapes everything she does. In 2018 she joined Virginia's efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment — work that sits squarely in Walker's tradition of connecting women's rights to civic and economic power. Her gender equality advocacy has been recognized by the New York Times, PBS, and Style Weekly.
She currently manages Virginia Tourism's Black Travel Campaign, Heart & Soul, developing content and strategy that reflects the full depth of Virginia's Black history and culture.
Diallo K. Brooks
Secretary | Great-Great-Grandson of Maggie Lena Walker
Diallo is a transformational senior executive and movement strategist with more than 25 years of national leadership advancing racial and economic justice across philanthropy, public policy, and advocacy. As Founder and Principal of Civic Vision Strategies, he advises nonprofits, advocacy organizations, and philanthropic institutions on leadership development, strategic planning, and community-rooted systems change.
As Walker's great-great-grandson, Diallo brings the same integration of institution-building and civic power that defined Walker's life to the work of this Foundation. He is the author of the Bold Quiet Warrior leadership series.
The grandchildren of Maggie L. Walker. Left to right: Maggie Laura, Mamie Evelyn, Armstead, Elizabeth
Johnny Mickens IV
Mick is an experienced data security, risk, and compliance leader with a proven track record managing complex regulatory environments and high-stakes compliance operations. He currently serves as Compliance Lead for TikTok and Family Apps at the TikTok US Data Security Joint Venture, overseeing national security compliance requirements for TikTok's U.S. users.
As Walker's great-great-grandson, Mick brings the financial and operational discipline the Foundation needs at this stage of its growth. Walker built a bank. He intends to make sure this Foundation is built just as soundly.
Treasurer | Great-Great-Grandson of Maggie Lena Walker