Justin Laing
Justin Laing, the owner and Principal of Hillombo LLC , is from the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area and has lived in Pittsburgh PA for the last twenty-five years. Since working in the early 90’s to get an Afrikan Cultural Center at the University of Pittsburgh as a part of the Black Action Society, he has been co-organizing and facilitating the creation and development of organizations and projects. After being a father, co-creating spaces that people improve, adapt and use for their own ends is pretty much how he engages the world.
Before beginning Hillombo in 2017, Justin spent eleven years working for The Heinz Endowments as Senior Program Officer for Arts & Culture. In this capacity, one of his chief projects was working with staff, artists, young people, and funders to build the Transformative Arts Process, a $1,000,000 field building initiative designed, implemented and evaluated with a diverse group of people largely not employees of the Endowments.
Before and during his time with the Endowments, Justin worked with friends, family, students, co-workers, frat brothers, mentors, teachers in the building and organizing of The Village 4 an Afrikan Cultural Center, Nego Gato, Inc, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc,’s, Omega Dr Carter G. Woodson Academy, a program of the Iota Phi Chapter.