Guests
Dr. Beverly Tatum
President Emerita, Spelman College
Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum is president emerita of Spelman College. A nationally recognized authority on racial issues in America and a licensed clinical psychologist, she has toured extensively, leading workshops and presenting papers and lectures on racial identity development. Dr. Tatum is the author of the critically acclaimed book, Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race, which was released as a fifth anniversary edition in January 2003. Since its original publication in 1997, the book has been listed on the Independent Bookstore Bestseller list and was selected as the multicultural book of the year in 1998 by the National Association of Multicultural Education. The New York Times recommended the book as required reading for private school teachers and administrators in the greater New York area who were dealing with issues of race and class. Dr. Tatum is also the author of Assimilation Blues: Black Families in a White Community (1987) and has published widely in social science and education journals. In May 2007, Dr. Tatum released Can We Talk About Race?: And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation.
Michelle Matthews
Senior Vice President, Purpose Built Communities
Michelle Matthews joined Purpose Built Communities in 2016 as Senior Vice President after leading her own consulting company, Matthews Consulting Group (MCG), for more than a decade. She is a trusted advisor with more than 30 years of experience in organizational development, change management and consulting. She is a recognized expert when it comes to developing strategies to improve business processes, maximize human capital and increase revenues.
Michelle’s guidance has enabled nonprofit organizations, such as Families First, the Task Force for Global Health, and Communities in Schools of Atlanta; educational institutions, such as Spelman College and Atlanta Public Schools; and numerous Fortune 500 companies, such as Delta Air Lines, Kimberly Clark and Georgia Pacific to implement strategic change and improve individual, team and organizational performance.
An authority on adapting to changing environments, Michelle has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Black Enterprise and Smart Money. She has also appeared as a CNN guest on the program “Your Money,” where she shared her experiences in leadership and change. In 2011, Michelle received the Atlanta Business League’s Business Achievement Award, and she was featured in the 2012 November/December issue of Minority Business Entrepreneur magazine. In 2013-2014 Michelle was host of “Growth Matters”, a weekly radio show where she dialogued with executives and entrepreneurs about their insights into growing an organization in today’s competitive environment.
Michelle graduated summa cum laude from Spelman College, with an economics degree.
Narrator
Alexandra Wiggins
Community Development Associate, Purpose Built Communities
Alexandra Wiggins supports current Network Members and assists new prospects as a Community Development Advisor for Purpose Built Communities. Alex is a recent graduate of Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center where she received her Juris Doctor as well as a Graduate Diploma in Comparative Law.
This is Community is created in partnership with HL Strategy. Our executive producers are Eytan Davidson, Howard Lalli, and Sherry Crawley. Our producer, director, and editor is Brady Hummel. Mixing and mastering is by Matt Honkonen, and our music is from Pitchwire.
