Meet LeQuan Hylton, Chair Of Ujima Legacy
LeQuan Hylton is an accomplished man.
He is a member of the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors. He also serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves and is a combat veteran. He previously worked in the Department of Defense, earned his MBA and Ph.D., and is a licensed REALTOR® and Class A Contractor who founded a successful company focused on constructing and managing affordable housing. He is the proud father of three daughters and a devoted husband.
But recently, LeQuan has added a new and vital role to his impressive resume: Chair of the Ujima Legacy Fund.
Ujima was founded in 2013, in collaboration with the Community Foundation for a greater Richmond, to bring together African American men from across the region to increase their shared philanthropic impact, providing grants to nonprofits that impact and empower youth through education-focused programming.
You can learn more about the Ujima Legacy Fund’s founding here.
LeQuan first joined the Ujima Board in 2022.
“Once I saw everything that Ujima was doing, I knew I had to be involved,” he remembered. “And once I'm committed to something, I'm committed.”
But LeQuan’s leadership journey began several hours outside of the area, in Martinsville, where his grandmother played a critical role in his early understanding of service, community, and giving back.
“She was in the NAACP and she belonged to the American Legion,” LeQuan said of his grandmother. “She volunteered for 40 years with her local volunteer fire department, making steak dinners to raise money and was the mother of her church. I’ve always wanted to be a part of things like that.”
LeQuan recalls a very specific interaction with his grandmother when he was young. She had just come home from work, very tired, and not in her usual good mood. He asked her what was wrong.
“She grabbed me by my shirt,” LeQuan remembers, “and told me she wanted me to go to school to get a good education so that I could wear a white shirt to work everyday.”
That experience never left LeQuan. And once he moved to Chesterfield with his mother in 1998, his grandmother’s words continued to influence his academic pursuits, supported by adults in his life who saw his drive and commitment.
“I have great mentors,” LeQuan said, “I'm here today because of them, and so I don't want to break that chain of giving to the next generation.”
LeQuan went on to graduate from Virginia State University (VSU) and begin a career in federal service, climbing the ladder at the Department of Defense. While there, he earned both his MBA and Ph.D from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). His work at VCU inspired him to delve deeper into affordable housing and the region’s unhoused population. Soon after, LeQuan left his job to begin his own company, focused on building affordable housing.
In 2015, after building a successful business, serving on local commissions, and earning several professional recognitions, LeQuan was introduced to the Ujima Legacy Fund. From the beginning, he admired the organization’s mission and impact. In 2022, he officially joined and quickly experienced firsthand the strength of the brotherhood and its deep alignment with his commitment to service and community advancement.
He quickly formed meaningful friendships with Ujima’s members, including previous Chairs Derrick Johnson, Robert Dortch and Joeffrey Trimmingham, who at the time oversaw membership and later also served as Chair.
“Joeff is an amazing leader,” LeQuan said. “Just seeing how he operated day-to-day was amazing. He's probably one of the best leaders that I've seen. And I learned so much from Robert and Derrick.”
Now, just a few short years later, LeQuan finds himself leading the organization he once admired from afar. And just like his predecessors, he wants to forge a fresh path forward, focused on engaging younger Richmonders.
“We are intentional about engaging the next generation of leaders,” he explained. “It’s important that we create space for younger men to participate and ensure our organization is seen as relevant at every stage of life. We want diverse perspectives and voices at the table.”
LeQuan doesn’t just want to recruit the next generation of leaders, though. He also wants to retain and grow them as invested members. And by building that welcoming culture, LeQuan believes new members will bring in others, growing the ranks and increasing the support Ujima can provide to the region’s nonprofits.
LeQuan is focused on strengthening and expanding Ujima’s endowment to ensure the organization’s long-term impact and sustainability. Over the past three years, the Ujima Legacy Fund made the strategic decision to pause grantmaking in order to build a strong financial foundation through their endowment—one designed to support nonprofit partners in perpetuity, not just for today, but for generations to come.
“The red tape in most affordable projects keeps builders away,” said a homebuilder who participated in the Fund. “PHA’s approach took that off the table. They created a system that was fast, fair, and predictable. Once we saw that, we were all in.”