Our Team

Della G. Rucker, AICP CEcD

Executive Director

Della Rucker has been working on practical systems to build healthy communities for nearly 30 years. Della has designed systems for accelerating economic revitalization, growing healthy small businesses, fostering intelligent land use and creating inclusive public engagement. Della is one of fewer than 10 persons in the US to hold the industry-standard professional certifications in both planning (AICP) and economic development (CEcD).

Della is the Principal of the Wise Economy Workshop, a platform for Thinking and Doing to help communities of all types become Future-Ready. She is also the Executive Director of the Good Hood Foundation, a nonprofit supporting  black and under-resourced business owners and community leaders, and co-founder of Econogy, a groundbreaking company that accelerates new solutions businesses, organizations and communities by engaging unexpected innovators.

Prior to the Wise Economy Workshop, Della served as an urban planner and as National Lead for Economic Development for Jacobs Engineering Group. During her tenure with Jacobs and predecessor organizations, Della led comprehensive and other plan development for over 50 communities in multiple states, conducted extensive data analysis as well as large-scale public engagement initiatives, and led development of a groundbreaking fiscal impact analysis tool.

Della is the author of several books, including The Local Economy Revolution Has Arrived, Everybody Innovates Here, and Crowdsourcing Wisdom, as well as over a hundred shorter pieces across multiple platforms.  She is a frequent speaker and workshop leader and maintains a newsletter on emerging opportunities for local advocates called Future Here Now. Follow Della on most social media platforms under her name or Wise Economy Workshop.

Jasmine Henderson

Director of Advocacy, Equity and Community

Jasmine Henderson is an activist and community organizer from Dayton, OH. She got her start in politics as a volunteer for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, registering students to vote while attending the University of Dayton. She also helped with fieldwork and canvassing for the campaign in the Northwest neighborhoods of Dayton, OH, contributing to Barack Obama winning Montgomery County by 52%. 

After the 2016 elections, Jasmine became involved with Women’s March Ohio. In 2018, under the direction of the Women’s March and Center for Popular Democracy, she became a volunteer organizer in the actions at the United States Capitol to stop the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. After the month-long action, Jasmine went back to her home state of Ohio and volunteered with the Coordinated Campaigns of Ohio for the Democratic Party in the 2018 midterms.

Jasmine is a part of Birddog Nation, a coalition of activists that puts pressure on elected officials to commit to or move toward a progressive agenda. From March to May 2019, Jasmine and other members of Birddog Nation followed the 2020 Democratic candidates in Iowa publicly asking the candidate to commit to Medicare for All, the C.A.R.E Act, and ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030.

Dr. L. David Stewart

Marketing and Strategy Advisor

Curiosity, experimentation, and seeking to improve the environment around him are the facets that drive Dr. Stewart in all endeavors. His dissertation was a qualitative study on how design thinking can be used to increase the number of Black architects in the United States. This choice of topic was driven by Dr. Stewarts background working in various architecture firms as well as his time as Board Member for NOMA (National Organization of Minority Architects). Dr. Stewart completed his Doctorate in Business Administration at National Louis University February of 2022.

Currently he has a consultant practice entitled Ghostwolfe Holdings, where he and his partner consult businesses on development and scaling. Dr. Stewart is the fractional COO of Trep House, where he lends his expertise in developing the operations, and strategy for the organization. Dr. Stewart is also a board member of The Climate Action Museum (CAM) based in Chicago.

Kemo A’akhutera

Business Development and Alternative Finance Advisor

Kemo is an Afro-futurist with entrepreneurial experience ranging from construction to system design to social impact.  In addition to founding multiple companies, Kemo is also extensively trained in business and personal credit use and credit management, skills that he has parlayed into multiple real estate and other business investments.