WE'RE ELIMINATING RACISM & EMPOWERING WOMEN
​with a dynamic board of directors

Our board of directors makes a real difference in the lives of women and people of color in the Charleston region, working hard behind the scenes to enable our programs, from our annual MLK Celebration to our annual What Women Bring event. We can't thank this passionate, talented group of women enough! 

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KENDRA SNIPE
YWCA.GC Board Chair

A board member since 2015 and a native of Johns Island, Kendra originally joined our board to serve as an under-30 member, and quickly rose to leadership. Now one of our youngest board chairs, she graduated from Columbia College in Columbia, SC, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology with minors in communications and Spanish. 

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She went on to graduate school at Georgia School of Professional Psychology and again at Webster University to become a master level-trained professional in counseling, Human Resources development, and management & leadership. Her education and experience both allow her to promote behavioral change, build training programs, and improve organizational processes. 

Kendra currently serves as a college recruiting coordinator at Nucor Corporation, where she supports more than 300 Nucor divisions and 27,000-plus teammates, and assists the developmental district sales manager program lead in developing strategies to attract world-class talent to the steel industry.

Prior to joining Nucor, she served as the training and diversity coordinator at The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. 

Kendra has been recognized as one of the Charleston Regional Business Journal's Forty Under 40 for service and commitment in the professional arena and in the area of community involvement. She chairs the AKA Connection Committee for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.'s Gamma Xi Omega Chapter, and has served on the North Charleston POPS! board as president-elect and the chair of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Committee for the Association of Fundraising Professionals' SC Lowcountry Chapter.

Kendra is on the move and enjoying every minute of the ride. She is committed to living a balanced life and creating memorable moments with those she holds near and dear to her. Her theory of life is: "Enjoy life as best you can; there are no refunds."

Kendra has served as YWCA.GC board vice chair and secretary, as well as chairing  the YWCA.GC Organizational Leadership Committee and serving on the YWCA.GC Governance Committee. 

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JENNIFER DUNLAP
YWCA.GC Board Vice Chair

A board member since 2017, Jennifer is a partner at the law office of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, LLP where she practices employment law. She is a 1997 graduate of Southern Methodist University and a 2000 graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law.   

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Jenni represents clients in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) proceedings and federal and state court cases involving all aspects arising out of the employment relationship. She serves as an advisor to businesses on all issues related to employment, including drafting policies and agreements as well as best practices for hiring, background checks, employee classification, performance management, leave issues, internal investigations, wage and hour compliance, workforce reductions, and diversity and inclusion.

Jenni currently serves as the chair-elect of the South Carolina Bar's Labor and Employment Section. She was selected as one of the Charleston Regional Business Journal’s Forty under 40 in 2013 and a South Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Star in Employment Litigation: Defense, 2012-2015.

Jenni is also a participant in Leadership South Carolina's 2021-2022 program. She has served the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry and the Junior League. She has also participated as a speaker in YWCA.GC's Career Success Series program for women.

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JANET HART
YWCA.GC Board Secretary

A board member since 2019, Janet has also served as co-chair of our What Women Bring event. A business development leader with a broad operations and product management background who enjoys solving puzzles to drive positive change for customers, she currently leads products for Amazon's print-on-demand division.  

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Previously she served in seven roles at Blackbaud, including running its global sales operations, building a new marketing operations team, and leading a back-office transformation as its director of operational excellence.  
 
Janet and her husband Greg are the proud parents of one daughter, Margot. She has been a YWCA.GC board member since 2019.

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COURTNEY JOHNSON
YWCA.GC Board Treasurer

A board member since 2019 and a group insurance executive for more than 15 years, Courtney is the vice president of client relationship management for national accounts at Fortune 500 firm Prudential Financial, where she helps others with life, health, and other insurance needs.   

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Courtney enjoys coaching and mentoring children as well as volunteering to help the homeless. For six years she served as a mentor for children as part of Omaha TeamMates Mentoring, which provides mentors for thousands of students across five states, and as a girls track coach for the Amateur Athletic Union, a nonprofit providing inclusive sports programs for all participants of all ages through the efforts of more than 150,000 volunteers. For two years she also taught children in the Schools on Wheels program in Huntington Beach, California. 

She is a member of the Charleston, SC Chapter of The Links, Inc., and was previously a member of the Omaha chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, a nonprofit seeking to empower black women and girls in the areas of economic wellbeing, education, and health.   

She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is the proud pet parent of a rescue dog named CoCo, with whom she enjoys running 5Ks.

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JUDGE TAMARA C. CURRY
YWCA.GC Past Board Chair

A board member since 2015, Tamara was appointed associate probate judge for Charleston County in August of 1998. A native Charlestonian, she is a graduate of South Carolina State University and a 1988 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law.
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She was admitted into the practice of law in Ohio in 1988 and South Carolina in 1992. In addition to her duties as associate probate judge, she has been appointed to preside over four additional courts: the Charleston County Adult Drug Court in 1992, the Charleston County Mental Health Court in 2003, the Charleston County Juvenile Drug Court in 2010, and the Charleston County Veterans Court in 2019. 

She was inducted as the first African American president of the National College of Probate Judges in 2017.

​Tamara serves on the Board of Trustees for Allen University and has served as a past board chair for The Centers for Heirs Property Preservation and for Mental Health for Heroes. She is currently serving as the Southern Area Chair for Ethics and Standards for The Links, Incorporated.

She has chaired the YWCA.GC Personnel and Bylaws Committees, and currently serves on the Finance, Governance, and Strategic Planning committees.

​Tamara is a faithful member of Mount Carmel African American Church, where she is an advisor of the Young People’s Division, Missionary Society, and Church Outreach Ministry.

She is married to Reverend Eduardo K. Curry, Esquire, the managing partner of The Curry Law Firm, LLC. She is also the proud mother of three children, Eduardo II, Morgan, and Xavier, and grandmother to Olivia Jade, Cora Jane, and Melody Elizabeth.

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RADIA BAXTER
YWCA.GC Board Member

A board member since 2016, Radia is the director of education and programs at the Charleston County Detention Center, where she is responsible for the development and implementation of programs to empower and prepare adult and juvenile residents for workforce development and successful re-entry into society.

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​Radia holds a bachelor of arts degree in business administration from the College of Charleston. 

​In addition to having served as chair of the YWCA.GC Program Committee, Radia is a board member of the Royal Foundation, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, and Project Man Up, as well as first vice chair of the Charleston County Democratic Party.

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NATASHA CHISOLM
YWCA.GC Board Member

A board member since 2019 and an attorney who specializes in helping families navigate legal problems, Natasha is currently a sole practitioner at The Chisolm Law Firm, and previously served as an assistant solicitor in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office, where she prosecuted a wide range of misdemeanor and felony cases in Charleston County. 

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She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina and a juris doctorate degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where she also received a certificate in family law. 

Natasha is licensed to practice law in both South Carolina and federal courts. She is a member of the South Carolina Bar Association, South Carolina Black Lawyers Association, the Charleston County Bar Association, Royal Missionary Baptist Church, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. 

She has previously served as president of the Zonta Club of Charleston, an organization focusing on the elimination of domestic violence and human trafficking, and president of the Charleston Trident Urban League’s Young Professionals Network. She has served as a mentor for Meeting Street Academy and volunteered with the Junior Girls Day Out Community Project.

She currently serves on the board of Art Forms and Theatre Concepts, Charleston's premier African American theatre company, and is both a notary public and a certified guardian ad litem representing and advocating for children in contested custody disputes. 

ARDMEASE CUNNINGHAM
YWCA.GC Board Member

A board member since 2016, Ardmease is a parent advocate and outreach professional with Charleston Development Academy, a public charter school in downtown Charleston. She serves as a liaison between the school and home, encourages parental involvement and participation in school programs, and provides assistance to students’ families in areas of school-related concerns for the school's 4th to 8th grades.  

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Ardmease holds master of arts degrees in both human resource development and counseling from Webster University.

​She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the Charleston Chapter of Jack & Jill of America, and the Charleston Chapter of the Links, Inc.

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JENNIFER CURRY
YWCA.GC Board Member

A board member since 2019 and a guardianship and conservatorship clerk for the Charleston County Probate Court, Jennifer specializes in the well-being of vulnerable adults, including monitoring guardianships, preparing senior wellness events, visiting senior living centers, auditing yearly accounts, and collaborating with judges. 

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Prior to entering public service, she enjoyed a career in event planning. After earning bachelor's degrees in both business administration and hospitality and tourism management from the College of Charleston, she assisted the Cooper River Bridge Run with its Taste of the Bridge Run and Bridge Run Sponsor After Party events and worked as a special events aide for Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission. There she organized events from its Latin American Festival and Wine Down Wednesdays to its Reggae Nights Summer Concerts and Moonlight Mixer. 

Jennifer and her husband Eduardo Curry, II, are the proud parents of two daughters, Olivia and Cora Jane, and enjoy spending time outdoors with their family. 

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SHAWN EDWARDS, MBA, SPHA, SHRM-SCP
YWCA.GC Board Member

A board member since 2017, Shawn, a diversity, equity and inclusion, human resources and management professional and professor, is the chief inclusive excellence officer for the military college The Citadel, where she is responsible for leading the versify, equity, and inclusion strategy for the institution. She is also the CEO and principal consultant of Solutions by Shawn Edwards, LLC, a consulting practice focused on providing diversity, equity, inclusion, culture alignment strategies and human resources services to its clients. 

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She also serves as adjunct faculty at the College of Charleston.

In addition to her service on the YWCA.GC board, Shawn serves as a board member for Together SC and as an advisory board member for the Palmetto Warrior Connection. She is also a member of the Diversity Council for the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, a member of Explore Charleston's Heart for Hospitality Advisory Board, and chair of Temple University's DBA Alumni Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Board.

Dr. Edwards is a former board member of the South Carolina Society for Human Resource Management (SC SHRM) and Palmetto SHRM (formerly the Tri County Human Resource Management Association) and a former honorary commander for Joint Base Charleston.

She holds the designation of Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), certified by the Human Resources Certification Institute, and is a 
SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).

Shawn is a mentor to many and has served as a volunteer for several organizations in the Charleston area. She has spoken at various schools, career fairs, and organizations on a range of topics including diversity and inclusion, mentoring, leadership, nonprofit board diversity, and many others.

She earned her doctor of business administration from Temple University, an MBA degree with a human resource management concentration and a graduate certificate in college teaching from Walden University, a bachelor of arts degree in management from Webster University, and an associate of arts degree in fashion merchandising from Bauder College. 

​Her research interests include nonprofit management and governance, organizational diversity, equity and inclusion, human resource management, strategic management, and organizational culture. 

Shawn has been awarded the Innovator Under 35 Award by the Bethune-Leonard Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc., along with Student of the Year and Young alumni awards from Webster University's Charleston campus. She was also inducted into the national Honor Society for Business Schools, Delta Mu Delta, and Beta Gamma Sigma, the International Business School Honor Society.

She is a certified trainer with certifications in Polarity Thinking, BRIDGES to Success, and DISC, and is a certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. She was also a facilitator with the Charleston Illumination Project, a 2013 fellow of Furman University’s Riley Institute Diversity Leaders Initiative, and was recognized as one of the Charleston Regional Business Journal’s 2015 Forty Under 40. She is a 2006 graduate of Leadership Charleston, a 2016 graduate of Leadership South Carolina, and the recipient of the Fall 2017 Spirit of The Citadel Presidential Award.

Shawn is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc,, and a longtime member of Christian Praise & Worship Center Church, located int he Accabee section of North Charleston. Under the leadership of Lonnie M. Palmer, Shawn is an active member serving in many capacities including as a member of the ministerial staff.  

Originally from Jersey. City, NJ, Shawn is married to Derrick J. Edwards; together they have five children and one grandchild. 

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BELITA M. GREEN
YWCA.GC Board Member

A board member since 2015 and our previous board treasurer, Belita has 20+ years of HR and banking experience. She is a graduate of Charleston Southern University, where she earned her bachelor of arts degree in English, and a member of the Charleston (SC) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.

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Belita and her husband Leonard are the proud parents of two daughters, Kirsten and Kayla.  

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SHARON MIDDLETON MCGHEE
YWCA.GC Board Member

A board member since 2019, Sharon is the president and founder of SLMM Enterprises, LLC, a Human Resources, coaching, and small business consulting agency. She is also an adjunct professor at the College of Charleston. She is a graduate of Coastal Carolina University, with a bachelor's degree in business administration, and Liberty University, with a master's degree in management and leadership.

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She previously served as the Charleston County Aviation Authority's minority and women small business administration coordinator, where she built partnerships with minority- and women-owned businesses and other organizations. Prior to that, she was the director of human resources for the Aviation Authority for 17 years, and holds the designations of Professional in Human Resources® from the HR Certification Institute and Certified Professional from the Society for Human Resource Management.
 
Sharon is a graduate of Furman University's Diversity Leadership Initiative, the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Charleston program, and Leadership South Carolina.
 
She currently serves on the boards of the Lowcountry Housing and Economic Development Foundation and the Net Economic Community Development Corporation, the business diversity committee of Airports Council International: North America, and the advisory council of the National Association of Minority Contractors.
 
She is both a facilitator for the Charleston Illumination Project and a founding member of the South Carolina Airports Coalition.
 
She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, the American Association of Airport Executives, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Her hobbies include reading, traveling, and genealogy. 

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DIANA SAILLANT
YWCA.GC Board Member

A board member since 2016, Diana is founder and CEO of Saillant Language Consulting, LLC, connecting private organizations, social service and government agencies, and schools to Hispanic businesses and the community. Her firm also provides certified language translation and interpretation, training to become a nationally certified healthcare interpreter, and continuing education needed to maintain requirements for medical interpreters.

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Her passion is to help increase awareness, understanding, and communication. 

Diana has served as president and is a founder of the Hispanic Business Association, a nonprofit created to advocate, promote, and support Hispanic entrepreneurs and business owners. She is a founding member of the College of Charleston's Hispanic Studies Advisory Board, an advisory board member of the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs of the Governor's Office, and serves on the MUSC Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council, providing advice and insight to the Board of Trustees and president on cultural outreach matters. She also serves on The Citadel's Diversity Advisory Board, the Palmetto Excel Center, and on committees supporting the United Way, the Coastal Community Foundation, the Tri-County Cradle to Career Collaborative, and TEDxCharleston. 

She is a CCHI Certified Healthcare Interpreter and holds an MBA and a bachelors of management arts degree from Charleston Southern University. She currently instructs at Charleston Southern University and Trident Technical College, preparing bilinguals to become Certified Healthcare Interpreters. 

A native of New York City, Diana has lived in Charleston for the past 20 years. 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Interested in serving?

We elect our board of directors from a diverse community representative of our members. All board members are eligible to serve for two 3-year terms.

Elections are held annually... and we're always interested in talking with qualified individuals interested in eliminating racism and empowering women! 

For more information about becoming a YWCA.GC board member, please contact our executive director.  

ABOUT YWCA.GC

For 113 years, YWCA Greater Charleston has worked to eliminate racism and empower women in South. Carolina's Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester Counties. 

A historic local association of YWCA USA, one of the oldest and largest multicultural women’s organizations in America, YWGA.GC seeks to create opportunities for personal growth, leadership, and economic development for women, girls, and people of color.

Its annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration is one of Charleston’s longest running events, predating Spoleto Festival USA and other events. One of the first MLK tributes in the nation, today it attracts an estimated 30,000 celebrants each year. 

YWGA.GC also works to eliminate racism with its annual Stand Against Racism. 

In 2016 it brought the first Girls Who Code club for middle school girls to Charleston; its subsequent Y Girls Code program has since expanded to female students of all ages. 

In 2017, it brought the Racial Equity Institute, an ongoing program, to Charleston to help local leaders understand and address racism in the community, along with Own the Room annual public speaking workshops to empower women’s business success by improving their public speaking skills. 

In 2018, it introduced What Women Bring, an annual power lunch attended by hundreds to celebrate and empower South Carolina’s women in business, community, and culture. 

In 2019, it brought the SheStrong program into its fold to empower high school girls to develop as leaders and changemakers, and launched its Choose Well program, designed to reduce unintended pregnancies in girls and women. 

In 2020, it introduced WE 360, a multi-week program designed to help women of color overcome barriers in entrepreneurship.

Please follow us online as we announce new programs and events!

Instagram | @ywca_gc 
Facebook | @YWCAGreaterCharleston 
Twitter | @YWCAChasSC

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