Professional Resume'

Skills & Abilities		• intensive training in servant-leadership and flat leadership techniques • professional visual artist, photographer, and artistic/design consultant • accredited career development, art, English and MS software instructor • interactive work with special needs groups including homeless populations, at-risk students, abused children, (ex-)offenders, adult students, and underserved populations • extensive grant-writing/evaluation/research/management experience • 20+ years of volunteer management, public service, project creation and management • excellent communication/public speaking skills • experience in all aspects of non-profit administration and operation, and board service and development • professional experience in economic development, membership management, and governmental/political/community activism
Experience		Director - Works In Progress Louisiana Shreveport, LA May 2014 - present Responsible for all functions of nonprofit agency which provides business development workshops/project funding grants to creative professionals in 26 North Louisiana parishes Nonprofit Consultant Northwest Louisiana June 2011 - present Research, write and manage grants and databases for various nonprofit clients and creative professionals; use Constant Contact, SAGE, Excel, Access, ServicePoint, WIX and other MS/web-based/database programs; train grant writing and database personnel; assist nonprofit organizations with 501(c)3 applications, Articles of Incorporation, bylaws, board selection, etc.; acquired $500,000.00+ in grant funding from various sources including the State of Louisiana DHH/OPH, Beaird Foundation, Caddo Parish Commission, Blue Cross/Blue Shield Foundation of Louisiana, Gamma Mu Foundation, Grayson Foundation, R.Q. Terrell Charitable Trust, Caesars Foundation, MAC AIDS Foundation, Elton John AIDS Foundation, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Combined Federal Campaign (OPM CFC), Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundations, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, et al Director of Serving Ministries - First United Methodist Church Shreveport, LA June 2005 – October 2010 Responsible for leading a large mission ministry that created/implemented community outreach programs including ex-offender services, homeless outreach, and prison ministry/education programs; assisted people in need of various types of emergency assistance; managed FUMC Community Grants Program, community volunteer education and training, and internship program; significantly increased church’s local missions budget; hosted annual outreach events for people in need, e.g.: Christmas Love Feast, Operation Stand Down;  served as liaison between church and community non-profits/agencies, and represented the church at local/national mission-related events; presented educational seminars about serving/outreach to various civic/religious/non-profit groups, and published numerous articles re: community outreach and social justice concerns President - West Edge Artists’ Co-op Shreveport, LA June 2005 – October 2010 Founded, organized, and managed a regional nonprofit arts organization; directed operations at art gallery in downtown arts district, worked with film industry to provide services for set designers and artistic directors; curated art exhibits at local businesses; consulted/collaborated with other arts agencies on local/state level Instructor - Career Technical College Shreveport, LA June 2004 - July 2005 Taught Computer Education, Career Development, English and Composition/Writing; coordinated with staff & management re: lesson plans, teaching goals, and other aspects of proprietary college; reported grades, student progress and provided student advancement recommendations; consulted students on specific academic/career goals Art Instructor - Shreveport Regional Arts Council Shreveport, LA August 2003 - January 2005 Taught comprehensive art lessons to elementary public school students; responsible for reporting detailed data to Shreveport Regional Arts Council for state/federal grants Database Administrator - Volunteers for Youth Justice/CASA Shreveport, LA October 2001 - October 2003 Implemented/maintained new database for CASA program; instructed case management staff in use of database; interviewed and screened new volunteer case managers; wrote grants for various VYJ programs; hosted events for donors/board members, and assisted with collecting donations for high-risk foster children; consulted with administration on new/existing program development; created arts-based juvenile diversion program; worked with adjudicated children in the anger-management program
Education		Centenary College – B.A., Art and Visual culture - 2004 Louisiana Tech University – 1988 - 1990
Community Service		·         Former Commissioner - Shreveport Mayor’s Women’s Commission (2015) ·         Member – National Association of Professional Women ·         President – N.O.W. Shreveport/Bossier (2013 – 2015) ·         Former Board Member - Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College ·         Advisory Board Member – Highland Cultural District ·         Founding Board Member - Noel UMC Community Arts Program ·         Former Commissioner – Louisiana Governor’s Women’s Commission (2005) ·         Contributing Writer – HenryHarbor.com, ForwardNow.com, et al ·         Juror/Curator/Critic – Shreveport Art Club, Bossier Arts Council, et al ·         Louisiana Civil Law Notary (1998) ·         Contributor – Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom, Forum for Equality Louisiana, various political campaigns ·         Community Supporter/Organizer - Shreveport Opera, Baylor University Kappa Omega Tau Fraternity, Meadows Museum of Art, Philadelphia Center HIV/AIDS Resource Center, MLK Health Center, Holy Angels Residential Facility, ACLU,  Shreveport House Concert Series, Renzi Education and Arts Center, Montessori School of Shreveport, YWCA, Volunteers of America, Multicultural Center of the South, ACS Gender Studies Conference, Northwest Louisiana Art Gallery, Betty and Leonard Phillips Deaf Action Center, Community Renewal International

Artwork Clearance!

Please visit me at the "Artwork Clearance" Facebook page for great buys on original photography...pre-Christmas sale begins soon!

Poets Versus Practicality

A friend wrote,

‘It reads better than it lives.’

Baffling, ‘til I realized

His autobiography is mine.

Learn about thinkers –

(Descartes, Dylan, and Dorothy Parker);

Live with assholes –

(Politicians, ex-lovers, and bosses).

See, you’re set up for failure from the start –

Philosophy has no effect on the short-sighted

And college classes are useless in the real world.

They only prove you’ve got sticking power

In the face of obnoxious self-righteousness.

Damn those professors for not warning us about

Hierarchical leadership and Excel spreadsheets.

Their  tenured advice – wise and well-intentioned and right in every way -

Loses its efficacy out here in the real world.

-DBE