Featured as one of the career and workforce development experts in the September 2008, April 2009 and August 2009 issues of Essence Magazine, Anita Davis–DeFoe, an educator, researcher, and development specialist has over 20 years of experience motivating, coaching, inspiring and transforming youth, adults and organizations. She has crafted and implemented myriad programs aimed at assisting people of all ages to discover their inner greatness and unique strengths. Dr. DeFoe is the Founder and CEO of international organizational and human development entities called, The Afia Development Corporation and Flight of the Spirit, Inc.
An organization committed to supporting every individual’s search for personal fulfillment and purposeful living, Anita Davis-DeFoe and her team at Afia earnestly seek to demonstrate by word and deed that in spite of life storms that may come our way, that divinely through persistence we can prevail.
Afia provides educational, youth development, quality management, strategic planning, leadership, project development and management services to organizations around the globe. A quality management, change and leadership development expert, Dr. DeFoe provides technical assistance to organizations in the areas of strategic planning, team building, process and change management, training, fund development, as well as the diagnosis and resolution of operational, service delivery and programmatic challenges. She has personally authored over $10 million in grants enabling a host of organizations to support their core missions, and deliver outcome based services to their target populations. A visionary leader, Anita Davis-DeFoe has designed and delivered management training programs for diverse audiences around the globe to include government officials; venture capitalists; corporate executives; educators; quality and process managers; media specialists; workforce, human and economic development professionals.
Weathering her own struggles, Anita Davis-DeFoe has long recognized the power, the transformational magic, the impact words of wisdom can contribute to personal goal achievement. A true believer in sisterhood, the uplifting of women and girls, and the endless possibilities that inspirational collaboration can create, Dr. DeFoe works to foster life change and personal focus all across the United States, the Caribbean and in Africa. Her empathetic caring spirit, her keen understanding of human circumstance, her ability to peer into the soul of others enables her be a catalyst for change uplifting people of all ages and ethnic background. Her dynamic thought provoking presentations have encouraged countless audiences to persist and persevere with hope and renewed hope, as she speaks at conferences, retreat, seminars and special events for women and girls.
Dr. DeFoe spent some ten years in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands teaching high school and college students, and working with personally challenged youth and adults. Her work as a gender expert has led Dr. DeFoe to conducts workshop and seminars for girls and women in homeless shelters, correctional institutions, and for countless organizations who seek to encourage individuals to manifest their divine destinies. From her own life journeys, and multi-faceted life skill work with girls and women came the book, A Woman’s Guide to Soulful Living: Seven Keys to Life and Work Success. Additionally, she developed a rites of passage curriculum for girls called, “Soulful ONE…For Girls As They Journey to Greatness.” She is also the author of a work of fiction called, Tropical Escapes. To be released in January 2009, is Follow Her Lead: Leadership Lessons For Women As They Journey From the Backroom to the Boardroom.
One of 40 contributing authors to “100 Words of Wisdom for Women”, a thirty day workbook and journal for women. Anita Davis-DeFoe is an Editor with the Caribbean Voice Newspaper in South Florida, the host of Soulfully Speaking on the Akeru Global Radio Network and is the publisher of EVOLVE, InPowerment for Women, an online ezine for women and girls. Dr. DeFoe is a transformation columnist for She-Caribbean, a St. Lucian magazine that is sold in 20 islands, New York, Atlanta, New Jersey, South Florida, Canada, South Africa, Ghana, Guyana, Germany and London. Also, she is a columnist for the Center for Women Studies and Intervention in Nigeria; Caribbean Life and Caribbean Belle in Trinidad; writes for a variety of online magazines for women, and has made appearances on radio and television around the globe.
Dr. DeFoe has elevated the performance of organizations in a variety of industries through insightful seminars on quality management, leadership, effective human capital utilization and process improvement. Known for her ability to effectively convey organizational, leadership and personal truths, Anita Davis-DeFoe has earned a reputation as an enlightening motivational teacher and development consultant who arouses the desire to achieve excellence.
Dr. DeFoe is able to effectively engage and capture the attention, spirits and potential of her audiences. Each of her seminars, keynote speeches, or topical presentations is uniquely crafted to offer a transformational message aligned with the vision, mission and core values of the organization.
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PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Seventeen years as a program and human resources development manager, employment and training professional, organization development and quality improvement specialist, researcher and grants writer.
- Ten years of secondary, adult education, and postsecondary instructional experience.
- Trainer and speaker with experience in the design and direction of strategic planning, youth development, dropout prevention, personal development, parental empowerment, management, leadership, educational, career, and vocational programs in the United States, Africa and the Caribbean.
- Additional areas of specialization include crafting research-based positive youth development programs, process and change management, capacity building, curriculum development, organizational assessment, and formulating performance management systems.
- English Editor, The ISLAS Journal.
- Columnist- The DeFoe Report…Addressing Community Affairs, Quality of Life and Social Issues (Florida)
- Columnist- Columnist- Uncover Your Bliss…Mahogany Butterfly.com.
- Columnist-Personal Empowerment…Strategies for Creating Life and Work Success.
- Radio Host, Soulfully Speaking on Akeru Radio.
- Educational Consultant, Creative Minds Academy, Nigeria.
- Certified Global Career Development Facilitator Instructor (GCDFI) and Certified Workforce Development Professional (CWDP).
- Dynamic trainer, facilitator; effective mediator and moderator serving both youth and adults.
- Effective and systematic start-up, development, operation and evaluation of human service, educational support, gender, pre-collegiate, leadership, mentorship, family strengthening, workforce-community and economic development programs.
- Experience in collegiate leadership development, student services, career and academic advisement in community college and university settings.
- Strong project management, supervisory, organizational, verbal and written communication skills.
- Twenty years experience in fundraising, grant writing and fund development.
- Quality Management Examiner and Process Improvement Expert.
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COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AND RECOGNITION
- Board of Directors, Ancestral Legacies, Inc.
- Board of Directors, Changing Directions for Youth and Families, Inc.
- Nationally Certified Global Career Development Facilitator and Instructor
- Nationally Certified Workforce Development Professional
- Member, Association of Public Fundraisers
- Member, Association of Women in International Development
- Member, Kiwanis Club of Lauderdale Lakes and West Sunrise Florida
- Member, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
- Award, Community Service Award 2004 – Broward Workforce Development Board (Florida)
- Advisory Board – The Sisterhood Agenda (New Jersey)
- Advisory Board – The Mother Daughter Bonding Network (Florida)
- Advisory Board – Hiyaah Power EMentoring Program for Girls (Washington, DC)
- Awarded Outstanding Young Women of America
- Awarded President’s Award for Service to TRIO Programs – 2000
- Awarded President’s Award for Service to TRIO Programs – 1999
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AUDIENCES
- Secondary and Postsecondary Institutions
- Faith Based Organizations
- Women’s Centers and Organizations’
- Community Based Organizations
- Leadership and Rites of Passage Programs
- Corporate Organizations
- Youth Organizations
- Industry and Targeted Expositions
- Conferences, Retreats, Seminars, Special Events
Dear Antia Defoe
I am a biographer of Daniel Defoe.
I have discovered a 1681 marriage of Defoe’s in Barbados in 1681. Have you ever wondered whether you might be related to Defoe in some way? And have you conducted research into your own ancestry?