Her Story
About Dr
I've been in the youth development space for 36 years, though professionally it's been about 25 years with the organization I helped to found. I'm a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, raised by a single mom who modeled what it looks like to be a strong and resilient woman. Though my heart said education and youth, like many, I chose a different route and studied business at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Alabama, because I was running from the calling. I moved to Atlanta and started my corporate journey, and my last corporate career was as a computer analyst for a subsidiary of Delta Airlines. I was very successful early on, and I've also been an entrepreneur with a gift shop that I owned for many years doing corporate gifts. But I quickly learned that you can't run, you can't hide when it's in you. The desire to serve young people never left. I got involved when I was in college working with great programs like Junior Achievement, and when I moved to Atlanta, I started a mentoring program that served inner-city youth for about 6 or 7 years. As they graduated, it evolved into what we now call Diamond in the Rough, which is a full-fledged nonprofit. I was always called to serve, to help, to gather and create community. My mother says I would even do it with my dolls and my Cabbage Patch kids and my stuffed animals in the basement. I would gather them. Now I get the pleasure to work alongside people who share my passion in this purpose-filled work. There's nothing like waking up every day and knowing that you're doing what you were called to do.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Dr
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I highly encourage young women who want to start a nonprofit because there is a lot of work to do out here and not enough people in position to do it. I am always committed to helping people get further, faster, and really tap into what it is that they're bringing to the world. I know firsthand what it was like to have a prompting and to really begin to lean in on that, and I know all of the emotions - the fear, the uncertainty, the anxiety, the people who mean well who might be trying to talk you out of things because they can't see the vision. I know about all of those. So having a chance to encourage people, to help them identify or help them confidently walk in and tap into their calling, that's what I do. I think there's nothing like it. I think that I'm very fortunate to have learned and tapped into what my purpose is, and there's nothing like waking up every day and knowing that you're doing what you were called to do. So I would support them.
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