For more than 25 years, Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins has been an active member in the Detroit Federation of Teachers. She started her career as a first grade teacher at Spain Elementary & Middle School in 1997. Upon completion of a Master’s Degree in counseling and the timely retirement of Spain’s counselors, Lakia was able to obtain a counseling position at Spain and continue advocating and building relationships with students, families, and staff while leveraging support from stakeholders in the community in which she loved. Lakia recalls the anxiety of walking the picket line in the strike of 1999 and the excitement of delivering Spain Schools’ ballots in the election of officers to the DFT office, which formerly stood next to Dittrich Furs on Third Avenue. Lakia has always provided support to the DFT at the building level as the Building Representative, Alternate, and Union Committee.
In 2014, Lakia was elected to her first term on the DFT Executive Board. Since then, Lakia has served as both Vice President and Executive Vice President of the DFT. With the onset of the 2023-2025 biennium, Lakia is humbled, privileged and blessed to be elected as the 9th President of the DFT. Professionally, Lakia is honored to represent over 3000 of the world’s best educators and support staff.
In Lakia's family, education and unionism have a long history. Her mother was the first black teacher at St. Anne Catholic School in Southwest Detroit for 7 years (now closed). She ultimately retired as a proud MEA member from Mount Clemens Public Schools after 24 years of teaching both kindergarten and first grade. Lakia’s father, after 40 years of work, retired as a proud Chrysler Jefferson North Assembly Plant employee. Her uncles were Sleeping Car Porters, and she has three UAW proud brothers who worked for each of the Big Three—Ford, Chrysler, and GM—with one becoming a union steward for the Bakery and Confectionery Union at Hostess Cake. Her aunts were educators as well. Currently, Lakia’s sister teaches 1st grade in Maryland, her goddaughter is a second year teacher in Tennessee, while her nephew is a professor in Texas. “The love of learning and teaching runs in the family”, claims Lakia.
A lifelong Detroiter—born, raised, living and working in Detroit, Lakia is an outspoken advocate for social, educational and economic justice. Lakia has been featured on many media outlets. Most notable are her appearances on C-SPAN during the AFL-CIO Raising Wages Summit, AFT “Life Inside Detroit Public Schools”, NBC News Learn, and HBO Real Sports.
Lakia is a Mount Clemens High School alumna. She graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Science Education, and Oakland University with a Master of Arts in Counseling. She holds Principal Certification from Lamar University, and is currently working toward her doctoral degree in Leadership at the American College of Education.
Lakia, who still qualifies herself as a newlywed, shares her home with her amazing husband Michael and their energetic eight-year-old son Noah.
