Leila Steinberg (born December 18, 1961) is an American manager, business woman, educator, writer, poet, and founder of AIM4TheHeART, a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

non-profit dedicated to helping at-risk youth find their voice using an emotional literacy curriculum and writing workshops. She is best known as the artist mentor and first manager for superstar rapper

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

. They met when he was a student in her writing workshop, The Microphone Sessions, in the Oakland Bay area. Today Leila manages the rapper Earl Sweatshirt, formerly of

Odd Future Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF or OFWGKTA, was an American alternative hip-hop Musical collective, music collective formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007. The group consisted of rap ...

. In the 2017 Tupac biopic '' All Eyez On Me'', Leila was played by actress

Lauren Cohan Lauren Cohan ( ; born January 7, 1982) is an American actress known for her role as Maggie Rhee in the AMC post-apocalyptic horror television series '' The Walking Dead'' (2011–2018; 2020–2022), a role she reprises in '' The Walking Dead: ...

. In 2023, Leila was interviewed in the FX television documentaries series Dear Mama.

Life and work

Steinberg was born in Los Angeles, California.''Tupac Amaru Shakur''
by Jean-Pierre Hombach p. 194 Her mother was an activist of Mexican-Turkish descent, and her father was a criminal defense lawyer of

Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

descent.Seth Rogovoy, "The secret Jewish history of Tupac Shakur"
''The Forward,'' 18 June 2014; accessed 12 March 2012 During the late 1980s, Steinberg performed as a backup dancer and singer, touring with musicians O.J. Ekemode & The Nigerian Allstars. She also shared the stage with

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

The Neville Brothers The Neville Brothers were an American R&B/soul/funk group, formed in 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana. History The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art (1937–2019), Charles (1938–2018), Aaron (b. 19 ...

, The Spinners,

Burning Spear Winston Rodney Order of Distinction, OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist, and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian movement, Rastafarian and one of the ...

and

Jimmy Cliff James Chambers, Jamaican Order of Merit, OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hol ...

. As a veteran music industry executive, she served as a marketer with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

, Tommy Boy,

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

, and Relativity. She currently resides in Southern California near her four children and two grandchildren. While living in the San Francisco Bay Area, Steinberg held poetry classes in Santa Rosa. Among her students was young

. After he came to her poetry class in spring 1989, they hit it off. For a time he lived with her and her family, and read and wrote under her encouragement. She served as a mentor and manager until he needed more professional help. He signed with Atron Gregory in 1989. Steinberg and Shakur further developed what they called The Microphone Sessions (TMS), a writing workshop that develops the spoken word, poetry, musical, hip-hop, pop and dance, jazz, rock n' roll singing, and dramatic performances. Weekly gatherings are held worldwide, led by Steinberg-trained artist-educators. Steinberg co-teaches a class on Race and the Law at

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

's Law School with Professor

Jody Armour Jody David Armour is an American academic. He is the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at the University of Southern California, where he specializes in race issues in legal decision-making. Life and career Armour came to study law after his father ...

.
''Citizens of Humanity'', Blog, 05 April 2016 For more than 25 years, she has also taught her class to inmates at San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, through the No More Tears program. One of her students, Curtis "Wall Street" Carroll, has become known as the "Oracle of San Quentin" because of his success in stock picks."Murderer turned stock picker is oracle of San Quentin"
''Market Watch'', 10 July 2014

References

External links

AIM4TheHeART
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinberg, Leila 1961 births Living people American people of Polish-Jewish descent American writers of Mexican descent American people of Turkish descent Jewish American poets American women poets 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American Jews