This Courageous Conversation is a virtual event.  Please use this link to join us: Google Meet

Black women have excelled even in the midst of difficult and challenging obstacles.  These obstacles include racism, sexism, misogynoir, and stereotypes. We have been witnessing on a national and global level humiliating and vicious attacks on Black women's bodies, credibility, and leadership. How do we persist in this climate?  As part of Women's History Month, Black women leaders will share their journeys, challenges, and advice. 

Meet our Guests:

Dr. Menah Pratt is the Vice President for Strategic Affairs and Diversity and Professor of Education at Virginia Tech. She has almost 25 years of leadership experience in higher education, with a focus on large-scale institutional transformation. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, she held senior leadership positions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Associate Chancellor and Associate Provost) and Vanderbilt University (Assistant Secretary of the University, University Counsel, and University Compliance Officer). She also founded the Black College Institute, a summer leadership program for 600 rising junior and senior high school students, hosted at Virginia Tech. 

Her forthcoming book and companion journal, Blackwildgirl: A Writer’s Journey to Take Back her Superpower, is a power and transformational autobiography of her life journey from Black girlhood to Black womanhood in America (April 2, 2024, release date).   A writer, poet, public speaker, creative artist, scholar-activist, academic advocate, and a blogger at www.menahpratt.com, her life’s work reflects a commitment to helping others actualize their potential to serve humanity. 

Mrs. Ashley Reynolds Marshall, MPA, J.D., is the first Deputy City Manager for Social Equity in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Her role in Charlottesville will focus on leading efforts to cultivate an organization that values and demonstrates the City's commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.  In addition, she provides complementary leadership for departments and offices focused on human needs and justice: Parks & Recreation, Human Rights, Human Services, Police Civilian Oversight, Social Services, Sustainability, and Social Equity. Her work will also incorporate public health ideas and principles.

Ashley holds a B.A. in Psychology from Hollins University, a J.D. from the College of William and Mary School of Law, and an M.P.A. from Virginia Tech. She is also completing the Executive Master of Public Health program at Yale University's School of Public Health (2024). 

Dr. Dawn Thomas is an adjunct professor at Randolph College int he School of Education and the Assistant Principal and Dean of Women at Liberty Christian Academy. Dr. Thomas is the product of an array of educational experiences that has bred her passion to be a life-long learner and academic enthusiast. Her diverse and unprecedented schooling has cultivated her fervent passion for academic excellence and diversity. The work of supporting students as they own their own stories, bring awareness to racial mistreatment and injustice, and become all that God has for them, drives her work, research, and love of education.

Dawn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in African American Studies, Women's Studies and History and a Master's in the Art of Teaching from Duke University. Dawn earned her Educational Specialist (Ed.S) and Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership and Administration from Liberty University.

Mrs. Donise Farmer, serving as the pioneering Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at Border States, the sixth-largest electrical distribution company in the United States, is a trailblazer in fostering justice, diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging. With a comprehensive understanding of these critical areas, Donise is committed to effecting positive change both within the workplace and in the broader community. As a true influencer and a "healthy disruptor," Donise specializes in culture change. Her distinctive voice, incisive questions, and purposeful actions serve as a catalyst, inspiring others to adopt different perspectives, engage in uncomfortable conversations, and drive transformative shifts in mindset.

Donise is an alumna of a Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), having earned her degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Pre-Law from Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. 

Ms. Consuella Kinnemore Woods is a Faculty Emerita from Randolph College and an adjunct in the Educator Preparation Program. Professor Woods holds a BS degree in Elementary Education and English from Bluefield College and a Master's in Administration from Lynchburg College.  Conseulla has served on numerous boards and committees including, Centra Health, United Way, New Vistas, FBLA National Middle School Curriculum Planning Committee, President of the local chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, SACS Review Team Chair for Arlington County Public Schools and an education consultant through Temple University.  She was appointed to the Standard Setting Advisory Committee for the SOL Tests from 1998-2001 by Governor Gilmore. 

Consuella was the first woman to serve as state president of the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals. She was also inducted in the WVA Educator Hall of Fame.

She recently finished working with UVA on a research project called "Teachers in the Movement" and is writing a book "Old & Bold."