Our President
 Brenda
Dann-Messier, Ed.D
August 1999 to Present
Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier has worked her entire career to expand educational opportunities for low-income adults and youth and has been the President of Dorcas Place in Providence Rhode Island since 1999.
Dr.
Dann-Messier has been the Director of two TRIO
programs, the Rhode Island Educational Opportunity
Center (1987- 1993) and the founding Director of
the Rhode Island Educational Talent Search Program
(1991-1993) of the Community College of Rhode Island.
She
left the Community College to take a position with
the Clinton Administration as the United States
Secretary of Education’s Regional Representative
based in Boston, Mass. Her duties were to
represent the U.S. Secretary (Mr. Richard Riley)
in all official relationships with state and local,
public and private education agencies, schools,
colleges, and state governance organizations in
New England.
She left
the Department of Education in 1996 to work at
the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational
Laboratory at Brown University as Special Projects
Coordinator. At the LAB Dr. Dann-Messier
conducted research on welfare reform, School to
Work initiatives and partnerships between interfaith
religious leaders and public educators until coming
to Dorcas Place in 1999.
Dr. Dann-Messier
received her Ed. D. in Educational Leadership from
Johnson and Wales University. Her dissertation was entitled: Access
to Higher Education for Welfare Recipients: An
Analysis of Welfare Policy Development Designed
by National and State Policymakers.
Dr. Dann-Messier has received numerous awards over the years including the Rosa Parks Good Neighbor Award in 1984, The NAACP Education award in 1991, The Marion Belgrave Howard award presented by the New England Education Association (NEEO) in 1992, The Claiborne Pell award in 1997, and the National Council for Opportunity in Education’s Walter O. Mason Award in 1999.
In
2007 she was honored by the Community College of
Rhode Island as the first Education Champion award
recipient.
In 2006 Dr. Dann-Messier was appointed by Governor Carcieri to serve on the Board
of Governor’s for Higher Education and in 2007 was appointed by Judge Caprio to chair the Academic and Student Affairs subcommittee of the Board.
In 2007 Brenda was appointed by Mayor David Cicilline to serve on the board of the Providence Plan and
is a member of that board’s Executive and Program Committees.
In 2006 Brenda Dann-Messier was appointed chair of the Accountability Workgroup a
subgroup of the Advisory Council to the state’s director of Adult Education. In
2007 she was appointed Chair of the Advisory Council to
the state’s director of Adult Education.
In 2007 the Governor appointed
Brenda to represent the Board of Governors as a
member of the RI Higher Education Assistance
Authority board of directors.
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Education |
Johnson & Wales University, Rhode Island
Ed.D. Educational Leadership, December 2000
Dissertation Title: Access to Higher Education for Welfare Recipients: An Analysis of Welfare Policy Development Designed By National and State Policymakers
Rhode Island College, Rhode Island
M. Ed., June 1974, Major: Instructional Technology
B.A. of Arts, January 1973, Major: Secondary Education-History.
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Certification |
Adult Basic Education Certificate,
Secondary Education- Social Studies Certificate |
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Employment |
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PRESIDENT
Dorcas Place Adult & Family Learning Center
1999-Present |
When Dr. Dann-Messier came to Dorcas Place, the agency annually served 400 women enrolled in a day Adult Basic Education program. In 2008, nearly 1,000 low-income women and men will be enrolled in our day and evening programs. The current budget is 2.8 million with over 47 full and part time staff. Dorcas Place has five major programs: 1.) Functional Literacy Program, 2.) Workforce Literacy, including our Career Academy Job Center, 3.) Family Literacy Program including a federal Even Start Program, 4.) College Preparatory Program in partnership with CCRI and 5.) Learning Resource Center, a community academic drop-in center.
All our programs are supported by case management. |
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Major Accomplishments as President |
Purchased, renovated and equipped a new building expanding our size from 7700 sq. feet to 19,500 sq. feet in order to increase capacity and quality programming.
Successfully concluded a Capital Campaign by exceeding our goal of 2.1 million dollars in less than three years. Paid off of a 5 five year mortgage in four years so the agency is now debt free.
Increased staff diversity from 3% to close to 50% percent. New staff hired with higher degrees and enhanced work qualifications.
Agency now serves over 28% men and growing.
Formed regional, national, and international partnerships with: Nellie Mae Education Foundation, New England Association of Schools & Colleges, Council for Opportunity in Education, National Center for Family Literacy, Jobs for the Future, Making Connections Providence, European Access Network, and University of Liverpool. |
Publications she
has authored or been featured in include:
Building
the Desire, Building the Ability: Community-based
programs play a role in introducing learners
to collge and in helping them persist
with Eva Kampits (National Center for the
Study of Adult Learning and Literacy [NCSALL],
2004).
 Levers
for Change: Educational Opportunity Centers
and Welfare Reform
size: 281KB, requires Acrobat
Reader.
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"School-To-Work &
Higher Education: If Someone Shouts School-To-Work,
Will Anyone in Higher Education Listen?"
with Eva Kampits (New England Association
of Schools and Colleges [NEASC], 1998).
Presented testimony on the
Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act
to Joint U.S. Senate and House Postsecondary
Education Subcommittee, 1991.
Presented testimony to the
U.S. Senate Education Subcommittee on the
Arts, Education, and Humanities, on pending
legislation, 1991.
Presented testimony to the
National Advisory Committee on Student Financial
Assistance on Early Eligibility and Information:
A Federal Strategy, 1992.
"Connections"
Article describing Educational Opportunity
programs written in New England Board of Higher
Education Journal.
 The
Nellie Mae Education Foundation profiled the
innovative Workplace Literacy Program of Dorcas
Place and its ability to address issues raised
in the report, "Rising
to the Literacy Challenge," written
and sponsored by Jobs for the Future.
size: 90 KB, requires Acrobat
Reader.
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 Dorcas
Place was featured in a recent issue of the
RI Kids Count publication, Ideas
that Work,
October 2000: Adult Literacy.
size: 75 KB, requires Acrobat
Reader.
Ideas that Work! is a monthly
series on best practices produced by Rhode
Island KIDS COUNT in partnership with the
THE NORTHEAST AND ISLANDS REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL
LABORATORY: A Program of the Education Alliance
at Brown University.
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Contact
Brenda via email. |
