Speaker Biographies
2023 NC ACE Women’s Network Conference Speakers
Dr. Jo Allen
Presidents Panel
Jo Allen, Ph.D., Meredith College Class of 1980, took office as the eighth president of the College on July 1, 2011. She is the first Meredith College alumna to assume leadership of the 130-year-old institution, one of the largest private colleges for women in the United States. Allen brought her extensive experience as a faculty member, administrator, and scholar to her current role.
Since taking office, President Allen has guided Meredith to an enviable position of strength and vitality. After leading a collaborative, community-wide process to develop a comprehensive strategic plan, Meredith Forever, Allen and the Executive Leadership Team have overseen its implementation with impressive results. In the years since the rolling plan was put in place, Meredith has exceeded enrollment and retention goals; raised more than $90 million in Beyond Strong, its largest fundraising campaign ever; earned the highest rating from the U.S. Department of Education for financial stability; launched the Going Strong brand initiative; established StrongPoints®, the College’s signature coaching and personal advising program; created a personal and professional development program for the community; and built or renovated buildings and infrastructure across campus, including Johnson Hall, the College’s most iconic building, the Lowery Fitness Center, the Elizabeth Triplett Beam Fountain Plaza, a new building for Exercise & Sports Science and Communications, and more.
A North Carolina native, Allen earned her Master’s degree from East Carolina University and her doctorate from Oklahoma State University. Both her M.A. and her Ph.D. are in English literature, with an emphasis in Technical and Professional Communication. Her B.A. from Meredith is also in English. She served as tenured associate professor of English at East Carolina University and at North Carolina State University in addition to her administrative roles. Dr. Allen was an American Council on Education Fellow at the University of Virginia.
Allen previously served as senior vice president and provost, and tenured professor of English, at Widener University, in Chester, Pa. There she oversaw academic and student affairs on four campuses in two states for approximately 6,500 students and more than 700 full- and part-time faculty. Other leadership positions held by Allen at East Carolina University and at North Carolina State University include special assistant positions for various projects, as well as associate vice provost and interim vice provost.
Allen has made numerous contributions to the advancement of higher education. She has been the featured speaker and facilitator at programs including the American Council on Education Chief Academic Officers Institute and the Pennsylvania State University’s Academic Leadership Academy. She has also served as president of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, the largest international scholarly organization for technical and professional communication scholars. She was a Commissioner for Middle States Commission on Higher Education, for whom she also led training workshops on assessment and led site visits for regional and international institutions’ accreditation. She also served on the Board of Trustees and has been a frequent site reviewer for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges. She has been a site reviewer for the American Bar Association. She also served on the board of the Association of American Colleges of Teacher Education.
President Allen has published and presented in more than 200 regional, national, and international scholarly venues, focusing on communication, assessment, and leadership in higher education. Books written or edited by Allen include Writing in the Workplace and Assessment in Technical and Professional Communication, which won the Council of Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication’s 2010 award for best contribution to the work of program assessment. The book also won the 2012 College Composition and Communication Award for best collection of original essays about assessment of professional communication. In addition to publishing her own work extensively in the form of chapters in scholarly books, articles reprinted in books, peer reviewed articles, and articles in higher education publications, Allen has been a reviewer for scholarly journals and has co-edited several special journal issues of Technical Communication Quarterly.
Currently, she is past chair of the Executive Board and served on the Audit Committee and the Administration Committee for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). She is also the past treasurer and current chair of the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU). She serves on the Presidents’ Council of the Cooperating Raleigh Colleges and chairs the Presidents’ Council of USA South, Meredith’s athletic conference.
Debbie Kilby Baker
From Ideation to Top in the Nation: Ascending Leadership Lessons
Debbie Kilby Baker is a senior lecturer for the Department of Communication Studies at UNC Charlotte, prolific public speaker, passionate mentor, and learner. She integrates a specialized background in education, business, communication theory, and continuing education to launch initiatives that support students, faculty, and community leaders. During her 26 years in higher education, she has been appointed as the first Communication Across the Curriculum Fellow, a faculty development initiative which supports instructional strategies for academic excellence, coached TEDx speakers and business leaders, presented at numerous regional and national conferences, and received the 2013 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. With a limited budget, she became the founding director for the University Speaking Center in 2016, which earned the 2017 and 2019 National Association of Communication Center’s Most Outstanding Undergraduate Consultant awards. She holds a M.A. in Communication Theory and Research from UNC Greensboro, B.A. in Education from UNC Charlotte.
Dr. Crystal Renée Chambers
Leading Structural Change: From Conception to Implementation
Dr. Crystal Renée Chambers, J.D., Ph.D. chambersc@ecu.edu is a Professor of Educational Leadership at East Carolina University where she examines matters of race and gender equity in higher education, particularly the areas of college choice and faculty advancement. Dr. Chambers is the author/ co-author of over 50 peer reviewed articles, book chapters, and monographs as well as the editor of eight book and journal volumes, including the forthcoming Black Women’s Pathways to Executive Academic Leadership: Lessons from Lived Experiences (UWP, 2023). Dr. Chambers is a 2018 Carnegie Fellow and is a co-PI on THRIVE@ECU, an NSF ADVANCE Adaptation grant and has served as a Coach and faculty expert with the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. She is a 2016 ECU Graduate Faculty Mentor and East Carolina University Women of Distinction Award recipient, and a fellow of the BRIDGES Leadership for Women (2020) and UNC System Executive Leadership Institute (2021-2022).
Eli Collins-Brown
How to be a Collaborative Leader and Still Get Things Done
Eli Collins-Brown began her career in Higher Ed in 1997. Fueled by her interest in web-based and online education and the possibilities for non-traditional student (of which she was one), she has worked at 6 institutions as an instructional designer, media developers, faculty, educational developer, and administrator. She has started up new teaching and learning centers at 3 of these institutions. Eli currently serves as the Director of the Coulter Faculty Commons at Western Carolina University, where she has spent the last four years collaborating across the institution to improve teaching & learning in all modalities. She is married to Dr. George Brown, who is dean of the Belcher College of Fine and Performing Arts at WCU, has 4 grown children, 6 grandchildren, two large lovable dogs, one feisty cat and three alpacas. Eli is an artist and musician and loves to read and spend time in nature.
Janny DeLoache
Career Moves: Advice for Working With Search Firms- Buffin/Baker
Janny DeLoache serves as a Principal in Buffin/Baker’s Higher Education Practice. For over 20 years, she has provided research, sourcing, candidate development, and client relations and consultations on numerous search engagements. She has a particular focus in the areas of education, nonprofit, and governmental entities, as well as sales and marketing positions. She is also active in business development including sales presentations to potential clients. Additionally, Janny is an AIRS Certified Diversity and Inclusion Recruiter (CDR). Utilizing the AIRS search techniques enables search consultants to locate diverse candidate pools using a variety of resources, including the internet.
Janny attended Converse College, where she earned a BFA degree with honors and an MEd degree. Early in her career, she served as an Admissions Counselor and as Assistant Dean of Students at Converse, and later as the Assistant to the Vice President of Student Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology. She also worked in account services as Vice President for Marketing Outreach, Inc. in Atlanta, and as a Southeast Regional Manager for New York-based, US Concepts, Inc. Both firms specialized in the execution of marketing campaigns, sales/retail promotions, and special events for Fortune 500 firms.
Janny is a member of the Mint Museum Auxiliary, the Junior League, as well as an ENCORE! Life Member at the Children’s Theater of Charlotte. She has served on the Converse Alumnae Board and the Wofford College’s Parent Advisory Council. A recipient of the Converse 100 Award, Janny and her husband have two grown children.
Shelly-Ann Eweka
Pushing Ourselves: The Steps We Must Take to Achieve Financial Freedom- with Dr. Sonyia Richardson
Shelly is a nationally known financial planner and well-known speaker who has pushed to narrow the widening gap in retirement savings between genders and different races.
After nearly three decades in financial services, Shelly served as an expert on the Woman-to-Woman Community section of TIAA.org. Within the firm, she launched a group called Black Indigenous Women of Color Financial Advisors/Planners of TIAA, and she’s a member of several other organizations – including ones for Black and female employees – that create leaders and influence culture.
Shelly is frequently quoted by news outlets, such Bloomberg, CNBC, USA Today, Black Enterprise and CNN. She’s also been asked to speak at high-profile events such as the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) and the 2022 Women’s Network Conference, which is run by the N.C. chapter of the American Council on Education (ACE). In addition, she’s been part of a financial literacy webinar organized by George Washington University that was attended by national researchers, policy makers and reporters.
Shelly is a member of the Association of African American Financial Advisors, and she recently chaired the CFP Board’s Commission on Sanctions and Fitness and serves on the CFP Board Appeals Commission. She’s also an Arbitrator for FINRA and has chaired the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission of the CFP Board.
Shelly received a Bachelor’s of Science Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters of Taxation from Northeastern University and a Certificate of Financial Planning from New York University.
Dr. Loury Floyd
Overcoming Self-Doubt by Implementing Self-Care
Dr. Loury Ollison Floyd is professor and dean of the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Prior to this role, Dr. Floyd served as associate dean of Educator Preparation and Undergraduate Programs in the College of Education at North Carolina A&T State University. Dr. Floyd completed her doctoral studies at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She has been honored as Rookie Researcher of the Year and a Leadership Fellow during her tenure at NC A&T. Dr. Floyd was recently elected to serve on the Board of Directors for American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education. She also serves as a chair of the BRIDGES: Academic Leadership for Women program.
Dr. Floyd has collaborated with colleagues to secure funding in excess of $2.5 million to enhance teacher quality in low-performing school districts. Dr. Floyd has written numerous mini- grants and collaborated with students to create Home Learning Tool-Kits for families. She has also co-authored articles published in Teacher Education and Special Education, Intervention in School and Clinic, Academic Exchange Quarterly, The Educational Forum, and The Clearing House and Centroid. Dr. Floyd has also co-authored two book chapters Relationships In and Outside the Inclusive Classroom and Response to Intervention and Inclusion: Facilitating Collaborative Arrangements.
Since joining UNC Pembroke in July of 2020; Dr. Floyd has worked to secure funding from the United States Department of Education Office of Indian Education, Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity, and the Anonymous Trust. These initiatives total 4.5 million and are focused on creating culturally responsive curricula and diversifying the teacher workforce.
Dr. Krista T. Kenney
Designing Women: Cultivate, Collaborate, and Co-design Innovation at your Institution w/Charlotte Rose Williams
Krista T. Kenney, PhD is a longtime resident of Durham, NC. She has over 15 years of experience in neuroscience and education, nonprofit management, organizational learning, and research. Krista serves as the Associate Director of Sponsored Programs Assurance and Research Compliance within the Office of Audit, Risk, and Compliance at Duke University. Prior to this role, Krista was the director of learning and evaluation at the North Carolina Partnership for Children where she oversaw evaluation of program effectiveness and data integrity across North Carolina’s statewide Smart Start network.
In another role Krista served as the Clinical Research Compliance Officer at Cone Health where she led change management initiatives to provide enterprise-wide leadership for clinical research compliance and development. In addition, Krista has also held roles at the Duke Office of Clinical Research, Duke’s Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)- Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.
Krista is currently a member of the Institutional Review Board at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is a county-appointed member of the Durham City-County Racial Equity Commission and a city-appointed member of the Durham Workers Rights Commission. She also serves on the board for the Elna B. Spaulding Conflict Resolution Center. Krista earned her PhD in Public Administration from North Carolina State University. Her applied research focuses on areas of human resource management, employee well-being, burnout, organizational culture, intersectionality, and workplace health promotion.
Dr. Monica Terrell Leach
Keynote Speaker - The Power of Influence through Resilient Leadership
Dr. Monica Terrell Leach currently serves as the Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at Fayetteville State University (FSU) located in Fayetteville, NC. In this role Leach oversees the Division of Academic and Student Affairs, which includes four colleges and over 1053 faculty, staff and administrators that manages numerous academic and co-curricular departments/programs at the university. Prior to joining FSU, Dr. Leach served as senior associate vice chancellor for enrollment management and academic affairs at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). She also served 18 years at NC State in a myriad of positions and 4 years at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her career has spanned over 31 years in administrative and faculty roles in the academy.
Leach received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Education from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She earned her Master of Education in Adult and Community College Education, and a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration from NC State.
Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail
Presidents Panel
Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail is the 13th President of Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, NC. Prior to joining Saint Augustine’s, Dr. McPhail served as President and CEO of the McPhail Group, LLC and a nationally recognized thought leader in higher education. She is the founding professor and director of the Community College Leadership Doctoral Program at Morgan State University. Dr. McPhail is the former president of Cypress College in California. She also recently served as a professor of practice at Kansas State University in the John E. Roueche Center for Community College Leadership Development. She is a Certified Associate for Emergenetics International, which helps organizations, ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, achieve desired results including increased efficiency and improved communication through solutions centered on the Emergenetics Profile and tools.
After multiple decades in higher education, Dr. McPhail served as a leadership coach with Achieving the Dream with a mission to help leaders shape the teaching and learning environment by engaging, aligning, and inspiring people to act. She has developed proven coaching and consulting methodologies and leadership programs that are now used by numerous institutions to help their leaders drive results.
Dr. McPhail is the recipient of the 2018 Diverse Champions Award from Diverse Issues in Higher Education, the 2010 AACC National Leadership Award, and the 2008 League of Innovation’s Terry O’Banion Leadership Award. She served on the Advisory Council for the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and the National Center for Postsecondary Research at the Community College Research Center.
She served on the board of directors for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and the Council for the Study of Community Colleges. Dr. McPhail has also served as the affirmative action officer for Division J of the American Education Research Association and on the editorial board for the Community College Journal of Research and Practice. She is the editor for one of AACC’s best-selling publications, Establishing and Sustaining Learning Centered Community Colleges, the coauthor of the best-selling Practical Leadership in Community Colleges with Dr. George Boggs, and author of Leadership Tune-Up: Twelve Steps to Becoming a More Successful and Innovative Leader.
Dr. McPhail’s research interests lie in the intersection of three fields of higher education: leadership, governance, and learning.
Dr. Sonyia Richardson
Pushing Ourselves: The Steps We Must Take to Achieve Financial Freedom - with Shelly-Ann Eweka
Sonyia Richardson, Ph.D., is a healer and motivator, encouraging others to live bold and courageous lives. An entrepreneur and therapist for over fifteen years, she owns Another Level Counseling and Consultation in Charlotte, North Carolina, a company that seeks to transform lives through holistic healing. As a professor and researcher, Dr. Richardson is teaching and training the next generation of healers while developing innovative interventions to meet diverse mental health needs.
Dr. Richardson was named 2021 Social Worker of the Year by the North Carolina National Association of Social Workers. She earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, a master’s degree in social work from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Dr. Richardson is passionate about helping others to pursue their purpose, justice, entrepreneurship, and life transformation. She also enjoys spending time with her spouse, Rondell, and their two sons, Micah and Jayson. “Experiencing Greater: An Intimate Journey with God” is her first book.
Visit Dr. Richardson’s website: https://www.SonyiaRichardson.com
Dr. Janet N. Spriggs
Presidents Panel
Dr. Janet N. Spriggs became the seventh President for Forsyth Technical Community College on January 1, 2019. Prior to joining Forsyth Tech, she served seven years in various executive leadership roles at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and for fifteen years as an executive leader at Carteret Community College, giving her more than 24 years of service in the North Carolina Community College System.
Dr. Spriggs has the unique honor of having been named an Aspen Presidential Fellow for Community College Excellence two times. She was one of 40 leaders selected from across the nation as a 2018-2019 Aspen Rising Presidential Fellow and earlier this year, she was one of 25 new community college presidents from across the nation selected as a member of the inaugural cohort of the Aspen New Presidents Fellowship.
Dr. Spriggs earned her doctorate in higher education administration from Northeastern University in 2018. Her passion is in the power of education to change lives and the vital role community colleges play as catalysts for equity, and workforce and economic development. As a student centered visionary, Dr. Spriggs is dedicated to fostering high quality learning, improving completion, advancing equity of success for all students, and expanding post-graduation success. In addition to her doctorate, she also holds a master’s degree in computing technology from Nova Southeastern University and a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from Roger Williams University.
A native of North Carolina, Dr. Spriggs grew up in Milton, NC and is also proud to be a former community college student, having attended two North Carolina Community Colleges: Rockingham Community College and Durham Technical Community College. “I have witnessed countless life-changing moments that illustrate the power of education to transform lives,” says Dr. Spriggs, “and as a low-income, first-generation student, education changed my life. As a leader, I believe leaders are more effective when they lead from within rather than from above and by influence instead of authority, and I am committed to a culture of belonging where inclusion is weaved into the fabric of who we are.”
In June 2020, Dr. Spriggs was selected for a three-year term on the American Association of Community College’s Student Success Commission. Additionally, Dr. Spriggs serves the community and our state as a Rotarian, a member of the Advisory Board for the Belk Center at NC State University and on the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Commission. She also serves on the boards for the Winston-Salem Alliance, Greater Winston-Salem, Inc. and the United Way of Forsyth County. Recently Dr. Spriggs was invited to serve on the JFF Policy Leadership Trust. She has been married to her husband Doug for almost 35 years and they love spending time with their five children, four grandchildren, and their two Norfolk Terriers.
Anne Schwarz
Career Moves: Advice for Working With Search Firms- The University of North Carolina System, Director of Executive Search and Leadership Programs
Anne Schwarz serves as director of executive search and leadership programs for the University of North Carolina System, a position she assumed in May 2022. Prior to working for the UNC System Office, Schwarz worked as director of human resources for PBS North Carolina for eight years and with the University of North Carolina system at General Administration and on the Chapel Hill campus since 2008 in various human resources capacities, including employee relations, talent management, performance management, and organization development. Schwarz holds a bachelor’s degree in French and international studies from Virginia Tech. She and her husband Jochen live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with their three young daughters.
Charlotte Rose Williams
Designing Women: Cultivate, Collaborate, and Co-design Innovation at your Institution- with Dr. Kenney
Charlotte Rose Williams brings a background in Public Health to her understanding of the higher education and student life landscape. She serves as the Associate Director for Student Wellness at Elon University. In her role she works with her team to champion a campus culture of holistic well-being. She enjoys providing leadership and guidance for peer health education initiatives where students develop programs and events that support students’ academic success by reducing risks related to substance use, sexual health, and mental well-being. Lifelong education is part of Charlotte’s career DNA and as an educator and Certified Health Coach, she has had the opportunity to cultivate well-being throughout the life-span from pre-conception to older adults. She previously worked at Cone Health and served as a Health Teacher and School Health Administrator in the K-12 setting.
A native North Carolinian, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a Master of Education degree in Health Education & Promotion from East Carolina University. She recently completed the Leadership for Diversity Institute through the National Coalition Building Institute International. She is currently pursuing doctoral studies in Organizational Change and Leadership at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education. Her research interests include restorative justice practices, women’s leadership, employee well-being and family dynamics.
Ruth Shoemaker Wood
Career Moves: Advice for Working With Search Firms- Storbeck Search Managing Director
Ruth brings scholarly training and hands-on experience to her understanding of the higher education landscape. Prior to entering the executive search sector, she served as Assistant Dean of Students at New York University’s College of Arts and Science. Before her role in the Dean’s Office at NYU, Ruth worked as a consultant to educational institutions experiencing organizational change and strategic planning challenges.
Ruth also served as a Career Counselor at the University of Pennsylvania where she worked with undergraduates and developed a deep commitment to student advising.
Ruth’s scholarly research centers around the college presidency and cultural change at small liberal arts institutions. Her book, Transforming Campus Culture: Frank Aydelotte’s Honors Experiment at Swarthmore College, was published in 2012 by the University of Delaware Press.
Ruth has enjoyed teaching in the Higher Education graduate programs at NYU, Penn, CUNY, and Rider University where she has developed courses including The College Presidency, Leadership in Higher Education, Research Methods, Campus Environments, History of American Colleges and Universities, Small Liberal Arts Colleges, and Student Affairs Administration, among others.
In addition, Ruth has served on the boards of Swarthmore College and the Humanity in Action fellowship program.
Dr. Laura Woodworth-Ney
Career Moves: Advice for Working With Search Firms- AGB Search, Principal
Laura Woodworth-Ney, Ph.D., joined AGB Search in 2022. Prior to joining the firm, she served as Senior Consultant for an executive search firm in the higher education and non-profit sectors. Dr. Woodworth-Ney has more than thirty years of experience in higher education as a tenured full professor, academic historian and administrator. With over a decade in the Provost’s Office at Idaho State University, she was the first female Executive Vice President and Provost. Other administrative roles included Vice President and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Department Chair and Director of Women’s Studies. She has also taught at the University of North Texas, Maryville University in St. Louis, and Washington State University. A staunch advocate for equity and accessibility, Dr. Woodworth-Ney helped pioneer initiatives that significantly expanded the application and retention rates of Idaho’s public institutions and was honored with the 2021 President’s Medallion Award from Idaho State University. Dr. Woodworth-Ney has served on the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education's Academic Forum and as a board member of the American Association of Chief Academic Officers. An expert on the history of the North American West, Dr. Woodworth-Ney is the author of three books. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in History from Washington State University and a B.A. in English from the University of Idaho.