Divinity LaShelle Matovu

TO LIVE IN HEARTS WE LEAVE BEHIND IS NOT TO DIE

Obituary

Divinity Matovu was born in Racine, Wisconsin on April 1, 1986, and transcended back to spirit on December 28, 2025. She was intelligent, assertive, and a natural trailblazer. As a multi-talented entrepreneur and devoted mother, Divinity was deeply passionate about the destigmatization and decriminalization of herbal medicine, racial and gender equity, reproductive justice, technology, startups, and social impact. She made an impact on the world through her entrepreneurial endeavors and work in corporate consulting.

In her youth, Divinity thrived in academia and enjoyed playing basketball at her local school yard. Her talents earned a scholarship to receive an elite, private education at The Prairie School where she graduated in 2004. She became the embodiment for academic excellence as the most academically accomplished person, male or female, on both sides of her family. She completed her undergraduate studies Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude at the University of Southern California in 2008, becoming the 1st person in her family to graduate from a four-year university. Divinity took it even further, becoming a 2017 MBA graduate of The Wharton School, one of the top business institutions globally, where she focused on finance and entrepreneurial management.

A global citizen at heart, Divinity traveled extensively and lived in several cities including Philadelphia, New York, and San Francisco, as well as internationally in Kenya, Ethiopia, Zanzibar, Uganda and Jamaica. Her life was marked by courage, intellect, and an unwavering commitment to creating a more just and expansive world.

Divinity was preceded in death by her mother, Barbara Goss-Gonzalez, and her brother, Deante Goss. She is survived by her family who cherished her light: daughter, Nyah Barkley-Matovu; father, Robbie Barkley (wife, Jimmette Barkley); grandparents, Martha Goss and Ruby Barkley; aunts, Bessie Goss, Rose Barkley, and Debra Barkley; uncles, Ali Goss, Tim Goss (wife, Ketica Goss), and Robert Barkley (wife, Diane Barkley); sisters, Kamara Barkley and Iesha Floyd-Barkley; brother, Robbie Barkley Jr.; niece, Kaleigh Jones and Byronna Greene; and nephews, Easton Barkley and Davon Pirtle.

Divinity also leaves behind a vast network of devoted loved ones, including her godmother: Martinique Coleman and spiritual mother - Carlene Davis, a large array of friends and business colleagues across the world whose lives were touched by her brilliance, compassion, humor and fiery spirit. While Divinity accomplished great things in her lifetime, she wants to be remembered by how she made people feel. 

Divinity's Contributions to the Collective

Divinity is a 2017 MBA graduate of The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania, where she focused on finance and entrepreneurial management. While at Wharton, she was a visible advocate for student parents and women, leading a successful effort to install lactation rooms in Jon M. Huntsman Hall—creating lasting institutional change that continues to support future generations of MBA mothers.
She completed her undergraduate studies Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude at the University of Southern California in 2008, becoming the first person in her family to graduate from a four-year university. She spent a semester in Kenya and Tanzania studying post-colonial history and KiSwahili.During her time at USC, she spent a semester in Kenya and Tanzania, studying post-colonial history and KiSwahili, deepening her global perspective and lifelong connection to East Africa. She was also a proud alumna of The Prairie School, an elite private school in Wisconsin founded by Sam and Imogene Johnson, where she graduated in 2004.
Divinity began her career as a community organizer working on Obama's 2008 Presidential campaign and local city council and school board campaigns in California. She spent 4 years as a social impact entrepreneur focused on youth development serving under-resourced teens in Uganda. She gained valuable corporate experience as an intern at SC Johnson and Goldman Sachs in 2016, and as a Program Manager at Lyft in 2017,  where she worked with cross-functional stakeholders to make technical improvements to the app, run marketing campaigns, increase driver earnings, and improve safety protocols for drivers. Her final corporate job was with Impactual, a woman-owned, social impact and creative agency operating at the intersection of pop culture, philanthropy, media, and politics. Impactual posted the following statement regarding Divinity - "It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of our colleague and friend, Divinity Matovu. Divinity was a thoughtful, generous member of our team who brought purpose into everything she did. Her contributions extended far beyond our company, and the care she showed to others left a meaningful mark on the world. We are grateful for the time we shared with her and for all that she gave to those around her. Our thoughts are with her family, especially her daughter; friends, and everyone whose life she touched. She will be truly missed and lovingly remembered."
From 2010 - 2024, Divinity was the sole owner of Matovu Consulting, a boutique consulting and business strategy firm.
In 2015, Divinity founded MBA Mama, an online platform created to support and uplift women navigating motherhood and advanced business education. MBA Mama features exclusive, inspirational content, products, and services designed to provide professional MBA women with a strong network and community as they advance in their careers, while equipping aspiring MBA women with tools and resources to pursue graduate business education.
2025 marks the 10-year anniversary of MBA Mama and the launch of MBAMama.com, a milestone that reflects Divinity’s long-standing commitment to redefining leadership, ambition, and success for women. She also founded Watotolly in 2016 to provide busy parents with affordable, convenient, and trustworthy childcare. She made the difficult decision to sunset Exodus Edibles and Watotolly after failing to secure venture capital funding. 
In 2021, Divinity launched Exodus Edibles, a health and wellness cannabis infusion brand that manufactures gourmet Southern-style desserts infused with high quality medical grade cannabis and CBD oil. Divinity was a vocal advocate for the legalization of cannabis federally. Divinity's mother was a cannabis entrepreneur in the legacy market in the 1990's and was unfortunately the target of a federal Drug Enforcement Agency raid when Divinity was a young child. The experience traumatized Divinity and catalyzed her activism in the area of decriminalization and destigmatization of cannabis. Divinity was relaunching Exodus Edibles in 2025; one of her final entrepreneurial endeavors.

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February 8, 2026

Divinity is my niece and at a young age I knew she would be special, she was beautiful, intelligent, caring and all about her family and helping others, we would always talk and crack jokes and over she became more like my little sister rather than my niece I'm going to miss our conversations and the love we always showed each other, I love you niece and please give your mother and brother a hug for me and watch over are family until I see you again fly high angel, your Uncle Tim 💙💙🙏🙏💖💖

Timothy Godd

February 7, 2026

I first met Divinity during her time at Wharton, and living in West Philly. Introduced by a mutual friend, we quickly became friends, taking Target runs and little adventures with Nyah in tow. After we both left Philly, we stayed connected, visiting each other in Cali and DC whenever we were in town, and talking through life's ebbs and flows.
Too many memories to recount, but I will always cherish seeing her love on Nyah; intentionally creating opportunities for her to grow, flourish, and learn to be proud of who she is.
Divinity cared very deeply about many things, but above all was the love for her daughter, and for righting injustice. Thank you, friend, for shining your light in this world. Can't wait to see what you do in the next one🙏🏾

Christel Perkins

February 5, 2026

Divinity was an inspiration. I can’t believe she is gone. Her memory lives on in her work and her daughter.

Sharonda Harris-Marshall

February 2, 2026

Divinity showed me what authenticity really looks like. She was unwaveringly herself. All of it; brilliant, deep, and luminous in a way that never asked for permission. I remember sitting beside her in college, watching her grasp philosophies that soared far above my understanding, completely in her element, completely at home in her mind. She loved with her whole heart, fiercely and without apology, and her daughter was the center of her universe and her greatest joy, her greatest devotion. But beyond all of that, what stays with me most is how Divinity made people feel. Seen. Lifted. Braver. She was the embodiment of heart, courage, and power, and her brilliance left an imprint that time can’t erase. I miss her deeply, and I always will.

Sarah Springer

February 2, 2026

One of the things I will miss most about my sister is her and I quoting and randomly blurting out random movie quote and song lyrics. One of our favorites was the scene from Life when Ray says 'don't piss the bed with that weak bladder.". I was Ray and she was Claude.

KAMARA BARKLEY

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