3:00 PM – 5:30 PM
6:30 – 9:00 PM
7:00 AM – 1:00 PM
7:30 AM – 8:50 AM
9:05 AM – 9:55 AM
10:10 AM – 11:00 AM
11:15 AM – 12:05 PM
12:20 PM – 1:20 PM
1:35 PM – 2:25 PM
2:40 PM – 3:30 PM
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
7:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Registration Check-in
7:30 AM – 8:30 AM
Breakfast
Maintaining Mindfulness with Jeryn – Start your day with a moment of mindfulness, Jeryn Alise Turner, Founder of Chameleon Consciousness, will share interactive tools and techniques to help you embody wellness.To learn more about Maintaining Mindfulness in Mainstream Society, visit jerynturner.com.
8:45 AM – 10:45 AM
Regional Meetings
11:00 AM – 11:50 AM
Vendors & Networking
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Queen Charlotte Luncheon (w/group photo)
1:45 PM – 2:35 PM
Workshop Block 5
2:50 – 3:40 PM
7:00 PM – Until
7:00 AM – 1:00 PM
7:30 – 8:30 AM
8:45 AM – 9:35 AM
9:50 AM – 10:40 AM
10:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Vendors & Networking
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
1:15 PM – 2:05 PM
2:20 PM – 3:10 PM
3:15 PM – 3:45 PM
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM
Schedule is subject to change.
This workshop will explore soul-care practices unique to Black women that integrate our history and culture to nurture and support our holistic wellness. We will discuss practical ways to support our physical and mental health by reconnecting with ourselves and reclaiming our most valuable resources (time, energy, and money).
Rev. Angela “Angie” Johnson – C’95, is an ordained Elder in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. She received her Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology and her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Spelman College. Rev. Johnson identifies as a HEALER, facilitating healing and personal discovery through dialogue, reflection, and community building. She serves as Connections Pastor at Impact Church in East Point, GA, and is affectionately known as the “Holy Ratchet Pastor” for her love of Hip Hop, tattoos, reality TV, and insistence on speaking truth to power.
Shelley Chapman, EdM – C’2003, is a mindful nutrition coach and educator who helps women shift from emotional and stress eating to mindful eating. She transformed her life and lost 60 pounds by learning about food, nutrition, dietary lifestyles, and focusing on her emotional healing. Shelley has been featured twice on Dr. Oz and in Women’s Health Magazine. She has led workshops with Calm, Papa Johns, Food Network, National Institute of Mental Health, Teach for America, New York University, and Emory University. Shelley also creates cooking videos for her YouTube channel, The Mindful Plate, with over 15,000 subscribers.
The workshop aims to tackle spending, saving, and debt management, while also addressing the pressure to match others’ lifestyles, impulsive spending, and breaking harmful financial cycles and habits.
Patricia W. Bradford – C’85, owner of Estate Law 2 Go, PA in Tampa, Florida specializes in estate planning and probate. A Spelman College alumna and Florida State University College of Law graduate, she transitioned from teaching to law. Previously a trial court staff attorney and Assistant Attorney General, she opened her private practice. Active in professional organizations including BNI and the Florida Bar, she’s also involved with chambers and bar associations
Sexual satisfaction is an important part of a healthy and fulfilling relationship. However, many women find it difficult to create space for sexual intimacy in their busy lives. This workshop will provide participants with the tools and resources they need to create more space for sexual satisfaction and wellness in their own relationships.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
Renée Burwell, LCSW, MPA, CST-S, CSE – C’2004, is a skilled psychotherapist and educator with specializations in couple’s work, sex therapy, and trauma. Her practice, Pandora’s Awakening, focuses on helping individuals, families, and communities heal and become more authentically themselves. Renée holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Spelman College and is AASECT certified as a sex therapist, supervisor, and educator.
Dr. Daria Valentine, Ed.D. – C’2000, Principal at the Academy of Health Sciences at Prince George’s Community College, brings 20 years of leadership in Prince George’s County Public Schools. Notably, as Assistant Principal, she raised the graduation rate by 6% and boosted the college acceptance and attendance rate. With degrees from Spelman College, National Louis University, and The George Washington University, she’s an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Alpha Alpha Lambda Omega Chapter. Daria’s has proudly served the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College as National Assistant Corresponding Secretary, NE Region Secretary and President of the Southern, MD Chapter, championing scholarships and student recruitment. As President-elect, she’s committed to transparency, alumnae engagement, and student mentorship, ensuring the association’s vitality and impact.
Kerstin Roper – C’2005, Kerstin Roper is a proud member of the Class of 2005, a NAASC Lifetime member, and current NAASC Membership Chair. While she holds positions on other 501c3 boards, no service compares to her support to NAASC and Spelman College. As an enthusiastic member of the DC Metro Chapter, she has served on the executive board as president and treasurer. She happily extends support to neighboring chapters to recruit students, fundraise, and encourage Spelman alumnae engagement.
Kerstin has extensive experience in strategic planning, budget and program management in both the public and private sectors. With over 15 years of service at the US Department of State, Kerstin is a Deputy Director in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and candidate for the Senior Executive Service corps.
Tina McElroy Ansa – C’71, Tina McElroy Ansa, a teacher, editor, publisher and gardener, is the author of five award-winning novels, including Baby of the Family, The Hand I Fan With, Ugly Ways, You Know Better and Taking After Mudear. All five of of her novels are on the Georgia Center for the Book’s “List of Books All Georgians Should Read.” Baby of the Family and The Hand I Fan With both received the Georgia Authors Series Award. And Ugly Ways was nominated for an “NAACP Image Award in Fiction.”
In 2020, Ansa edited and wrote the Introduction to the anthology MEETING AT THE TABLE: African -American Women Write on Race, Culture and Community with her freshman Spelman College roommate journalist Wanda S. Lloyd in response to the turbulence and social justice protests that emerged in American life. Ansa’s DownSouth Press published the collection of stellar essays by a cross-section of 15 brilliant black women thinkers.
In 2004, Ansa founded the Sea Island Writers Retreat in her home state of Georgia and has taken the retreats on the road around the country, including to the Spelman College campus. The most recent retreat was held in November of 2022 on Tybee Island, Georgia, with Ansa, Crystal Wilkinson, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Dawn Turner, Nic Stone, Wanda Lloyd (Class of ‘71), and Regina Taylor leading workshops
In 2007, Ansa founded the independent publishing company DownSouth Press, which published her fifth novel, Taking After Mudear. That novel also was chosen for the Georgia Center for Fiction’s “… Should Read List.”
In 2021, Ansa launched the podcast with sister Lloyd, appropriately titled, “2 Old Chicks Who Know a Lot of Sh*t” The podcast is in its fourth year.
Ansa has received the Bebe Moore Campbell Memorial Award from the National Book Club Conference. She has been awarded the Stanley W. Lindberg Award for her body of work and for her contributions to the literary arts community of Georgia. She was inducted into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent at the Gwendolyn Brooks Center of Chicago State University.
As well as lecturing and reading around the country, Ansa has also contributed “Essays From Georgia” to CBS Sunday Morning.
In 2011, Ansa was awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts from her alma mater Spelman College.
Ansa serves on the board of the St. Simons Island African-American Heritage Coalition. She is the first African -American. “Come her’” on the board, which fills her with pride.
She is at work on her sixth novel and is writing her first work of nonfiction. She is blessed to live and write on St. Simons Island, Georgia, along the Gullah-Geechee Corridor, where she always has greens growing outside her door.
Tayari Jones – C’91, New York Times best-selling author Tayari Jones is the author of four novels, most recently An American Marriage.
Published in 2018, An American Marriage is an Oprah’s Book Club Selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list as well as his year-end roundup. The novel was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize), Aspen Words Prize and an NAACP Image Award. It has been published in two dozen countries.
Jones, a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, has also been a recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, United States Artist Fellowship, NEA Fellowship, and Radcliffe Institute Bunting Fellowship.
Her third novel, Silver Sparrow, was added to the NEA Big Read Library of classics in 2016. Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, University of Iowa, and Arizona State University. She is an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University and the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University.
Emma Jackson – C’2015, From Durham, N.C., Emma J. is an International Model, Actress, Award-Winning Documentary Producer, HBCU Advocate, Event Producer, and Host! You may recognize her from various commercials: Secret Deodorant, North Carolina Lottery, Harris Teeter, Lenovo, Atrium Health, South Africa’s Primus Beer, and Ryobi!
You can watch Emma J. on Black & Sexy TV’s Chef Julian (streaming on Tubi), VH1’s Games People Play, and the host of ABFF Insider by the American Black Film Festival.
Through her own production company, Mary & Emma Productions, she directs the documentary, What Keeps Me Going, and the short film 1963. Through 4910 Rosalie Productions, she is an Award-Winning Documentary producer for Target St. Louis Vol.1. Emma J. is a 2015 graduate of Spelman College. She curated events with brands and icons such as Skyy Communications, Human2Human with Stacy Ike, Nice Crowd, Combs Enterprises’ Empower Global, Black Enterprise, Tene Nicole, and many more!