Bios A-G.

Ruby Belton-White was born in Kershaw County, South Carolina, but raised in New Haven, Connecticut. She grew up during the height of the sixties, the Civil Rights Era, and the cry of Black Power. She honors the year 1965 because that is the year the official Voting Rights Act passed. This act allowed her parents to vote although their inability to read well had previously been used as a reason to stop them from voting.
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Ms. Belton-White became a single parent at the age of twenty-one, giving birth to her son, Ashante Lemuel Warner. She credits the love and sacrifice of her now deceased mother, Elizabeth Kibler Belton, with her ability to complete college. In 1977, Ms Belton-White graduated from Southern Connecticut State College in New Haven, Connecticut, where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology.
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Years later, Ms. Belton-White, who has remained unmarried, returned to school “with the help and love of God” and in 2010 earned an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education from Gateway Community College in New Haven, Connecticut. Currently, she is employed by the New Haven City School District.
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In reference to the Sensible Women Initiative, Ms. Belton-White made the following statements: “I’m honored to lend my talent to help this project lean forward. The Sensible Women’s Initiative will engage, enrich, and empower girls growing into womanhood; it’ll support their greatness for this nation.”

Mrs. Kathy Bones was born and raised in Rochester, New York.  She comes from a family of six in which she is the third child in a family of all female children.  During her early schooling, she attended School No. 4 (officially named George Mather Forbes) in the Rochester City School District.  At School No. 4, she participated in the drum and tambourine group, foreshadowing how skillful she would become in using her hands during her career.

For high school, Mrs. Bones attended and graduated from Madison High School, which is also in the Rochester City School District.  During her high school years (at age 14), she got her first taste of what it is like to hold down a job.  She began working for Action for a Better Community (ABC), an agency that aids low-income community members.  Her work ethic followed her, and she has been working ever since.  Her various jobs include, but are not limited to, working as a sales clerk, a hostess, and a cashier.

Graduating from high school in 1972, Mrs. Bones set about preparing herself through higher education to pursue a career as a beautician, running a beauty shop in her home; a realtor, selling houses for Century 21 (a notable Rochester Real Estate Agency); and later, a driver, working for the Rochester Transit Service (RTS), the city’s main bus line.

In her various work opportunities, Mrs. Bones sharpened her personal and professional skills.  As a salesperson, hostess, and casher, she gained experience in working well with the public and doing a skillful job for her employers.  As an entrepreneur and beauty shop owner, she excelled in developing sound business practices and cultivating a stable clientele.  At RTS, she was a member of the RTS Women’s Group and served as a mentor to new drivers.  During her career at the RTS (1982-2020), she was awarded both a One-Million and Two-Million Mile Safe Driving Award.

Mrs. Bones is the mother of four adult children (three sons and one daughter) and Step Grandmother to several others.  In her retirement, she would like to share her career experiences with young people and help them to make wise choices about their own careers.

Priscilla “Dr. Ann” Brown, Ph.D. is an educator, advisor, author, public speaker, and Emotional Freedom Techniques (E.F.T.) practitioner.  Her pursuit of wellness and her commitment to personal accountability and responsibility empowered Dr. Ann to overcome an extremely high (8/10) score on the C.D.C./ Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Inventory.  As a result of building on her mother’s foundational teachings, “They cannot take what you know” and “Once you know better, do better, “Dr. Ann, a lifelong “Learner/Doer,” identified education as her path to creating the different, better, and more fulfilling experiences she envisioned.

At Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, Dr. Ann served as an Associate Professor of English, Director of the McNair Scholars Program, and advisor to Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship applicants.  For several years she was also a member of the selection committee for the U.S. Department of State’s English Teaching Assistant (E.T.A.) Program for Northern Africa and the Middle East (NEMA).

Dr. Ann completed teaching appointments in Arkansas public schools and the Sheridan School in Washington, DC.  In addition, her work in the United Arab Emirates included a visiting professorship at UAEU, multiple tutoring engagements, and English teacher positions on both the secondary and university levels.  As a faculty member at CERT-Higher Colleges, Dr. Ann conducted workshops for public sector entities, including the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and the U.A.E. military’s English language program.  Her ability to communicate effectively in different settings undergirds her philosophy that educators must be willing to meet people where they are and learn with and from their students.

Her commitment to personal, professional, and philanthropic travel reflects her belief that successfully navigating today’s changing global landscape requires face-to-face dialog and hands-on ventures with people from various groups.  She has visited nearly twenty countries, completed a Senecorps work-study program in Senegal, and was selected to the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program and the  Korean American Teacher Workshop.  These experiences continue to enhance her understanding of “broad sympathy” and her commitment to equipping U.S. citizens to thrive in a global marketplace.

A native of Augusta, Arkansas, Dr. Ann earned a B.S.E. (Arkansas State University), an M.S.E. (Harding University), and a Doctorate in Literatures in English (Howard University).  She completed a Tapping into Wealth certification in 2016 and began her practice.  Dr. Ann will receive her Clinical Emotional Freedom Techniques certification from EFTUniverse in 2023.

Maureen D. Campbell recently retired (2022) as an Energy Specialist in the Marketing and Sales Division at UIL Holding Corporation in Orange, Connecticut, after 25 years.  In addition, she has been a licensed insurance producer since 1991 and a licensed registered representative since 1995.

Maureen served as a board member for several years for the New Haven Preservation Trust.  The NHPT is an organization that honors and preserves New Haven’s architectural heritage-historic buildings and neighborhoods through advocacy, education, and collaboration.  In addition, she was also an active board member for Fair Haven Community Management Team, where she served as a secretary for several years.  The Fair Haven Community Management Teams helps residents have a voice in neighborhood improvement and revitalization efforts and are an important link to the police and to other city and social service agencies.

She holds an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Norwalk Community College.  In May 2014, Maureen graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut.

Maureen was born in Jamaica, West Indies, and resides in New Haven, Connecticut.  She is the daughter of the late Lascelles A. Burke, Sr. and Gwendolyn Burke and has five siblings.  Maureen is married to Earl Campbell and has a son, Earl Campbell, Jr.; a daughter, Leah Campbell; and a wonderful grandson, Blake Andrew Campbell.

Her goal is to continue to lead by example to mentor young ladies to be the best they can be.

Ms. Lakesha Fowler is a graduate of Saint Augustine’s University, located in Raleigh, NC, where she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies in 2013. During college, she received several commendations and participated in several activities including, but not limited to, making the Dean’s List, NC State’s EXCITE Program Participant, Brain Muscle Participant, Focus on Children, Inc. Member, and Peace College Racial Discussion Participant. She served as a student representative for Judicial Affairs as well as president of the Modeling Troupe. Academically, she maintained a 3.3 GPA and received a 4.0 her last semester in undergrad.

Ms. Fowler is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Information Systems Management via DeVry, Keller Graduate School of Management. She expects to receive her graduate degree in January 2019.

Since May 2017, Ms. Fowler has been an employee of Acosta Sales & Marketing as a Claims Resolution Analyst. Prior employment for her includes working in the Student Affairs Department at St. Augustine’s University, serving as a YMCA counselor and tutor, and working as teacher assistant for several NC Public Schools.

Ms. Fowler has been a member of the Sensible Women Initiative since 2015, at which time she served as Assistant Chapter Coordinator for Towson University’s Beta Chapter in Towson, MD. Currently, she serves as SWI Director of Mentoring. She prides herself in assisting young ladies ages 5-25 in making more sensible choices. Mentorship, leadership, education, professionalism, and service are several key terms around which Ms. Fowler revolves her life. More importantly, she is a living testimony of the value of making better choices.

She has relocated to the Charlotte, NC area where she volunteers with the Charlotte Alumni Chapter of Saint Augustine’s University. However, she still manages to find time to help with Girl Scout Troop 2311 in Washington, DC and SWI’s Beta and Gamma Chapters at Towson University and Delaware State University, respectively.

Ms. Fowler’s goals are to aid in the development of SWI’s Mentoring Curriculum as well as furthering her own entrepreneurial endeavors after graduate school. More importantly, Ms. Fowler wants to maintain her sensibleness, always be mindful of her choices, and grow spiritually. She is always willing to help and be an avid listener.

She is inspired by a quote from Marian Anderson which states: ” If you have a purpose in which you can believe, there is no end to the number of things you can accomplish.”

Born in Canada, Wandah Gibbs travelled to every single European Country before she was 15 years of age. She and her family lived in the South of France and Scotland where she attended grade school. In fact, a native English speaker, she started 1st Grade in a French school, even though at the time, she spoke no French at all. She had to adapt and did. Upon her return to Canada, she attended an all-French school where she excelled in French and English and was placed in Advanced Placement classes in both subjects.

Wandah married an American Air Force airman and moved to the US into a completely different culture. She had to adapt and did. She moved to California and started a family then on to Germany for seven years. She had to adapt again and did. In fact, she was living in Germany when the Berlin Wall came down and the Cold War was over.

She and her husband, decided to volunteer to exit the Air Force, and for a number of good reasons, moved to a city they had never visited before. She had to adapt and did. Meanwhile her young family was growing up when tragedy struck, and her husband of 20 years was killed in a motorcycle accident. Suddenly, head of household and needing to provide for her family, Ms. Gibbs worked full-time and attended college in the evenings part-time where she excelled and earned a scholarship to Syracuse University at the prestigious Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Within three years, she completed a dual-major, Bachelor’s in Public Relations and International Relations. Though going back to school as an adult was tough, she had to adapt and did. Soon after that, she completed a Master’s in Television/Radio and Film Production and was named Newhouse Scholar, an award bestowed upon few.

She became Director of Operations for a large Educational Company managing contracts under the No Child Left Behind era. She spent several more years both as Director and Director of Operations of student-centered programs both in the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds.

In 2016, Wandah Gibbs earned her Doctorate in Executive Leadership from St. John Fisher College. In October of 2017, Dr. Gibbs and her business partner launched a publishing company: WGW Publishing Inc. Being an entrepreneur has had its challenges. Again, she had to adapt and did . . . To date, they have published 14 books with several more on the way.

Though life has its challenges and she’s had to adapt . . . , she did.

Dr. Cheryl R. Grice is a university strategic partner for community engagement and regional workforce development focused on attracting, retaining, training, and employment.  She has made contributions towards: Diversity awareness and inclusiveness in the workplace; community engagement; talent acquisition and retention; leadership and staff development; retention and professional development of transitioning soldiers, veterans, and family members; strategic planning and mentoring students.

Dr. Grice has over 25 years of human resource experience in management, talent acquisition and retention, training, hiring managers, dual career partnerships, developing and facilitating supervisory training, workforce development, and communication initiatives.

Her research and interests include the adult learner and workforce development, diversity awareness perceptions in the workplace, and assisting transitioning veterans and their family members with career path and educational or professional development opportunities.

She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with emphasis in Human Resource Management from Upper Iowa University, a Master of Science in Adult and Continuing Education and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration, both from Kansas State University.

She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., a graduate of Leadership Manhattan and the Coffman Leadership Institute.  Dr. Grice is also a founding member of the Fairy Godmother Fund, Greater Manhattan Community Foundation Volunteer of the Year, and 2018 Manhattan Chamber of Commerce C. Clyde Jones Volunteer of the Year recipient.