The Women of Color Luncheon is one of several events during WVU’s annual Diversity Week, held this year Sept. 1 – Oct. 6, and sponsored by the Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
The luncheon is now a sold-out event and will welcome WVU alumna Ifeoma Ike as the keynote speaker Oct. 3 at 11:30 a.m. in the WVU Mountainlair Ballrooms.
Ifeoma Ike, Esq. is a co-founding Principal of Think Rubix, a social impact strategy firm transforming lives through creative problem-solving, policymaking and political strategies. Her professional resume includes serving as Deputy Executive Director of NYC Mayor's Office Young Men's Initiative; Senior Policy Advocate for the Innocence Project; and Civil Rights Counsel on the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. Ms. Ike has championed several equity strategies to improve the lives of those on the margins, including co-drafting the City of New York's Mental Health Council Executive Order; creating NYC Men Teach--a leading national effort aimed at increasing the presence of male teachers of color; serving as a movement lawyer during the Ferguson uprising; authoring and successfully advocating for the passage of improved law enforcement practices in West Virginia; advocating for youth of color who also experience gender, LGBTQ and ability bias as liaison for the nation's first-ever Young Women's Initiative; and facilitating the creation of both the Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys in response to the tragic murder of Trayvon Martin and the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls in response to the death of Sandra Bland.
Ms. Ike takes the term "change agent" seriously. She was selected by the American Bar Association to research statewide collateral consequences of incarceration--one of the databases former Attorney General Eric Holder utilized to create the Obama Administration's criminal justice platform. In response to the Haiti earthquake and cholera crisis, Ms. Ike convened electeds from the US and Haiti with medical experts to devise a strategy which included delivering a water filtration system, saving millions of lives. Ms. Ike co-created Black and Brown People Vote and launched a national voter education media campaign, in partnership with RadioOne--the number one entertainment platform for communities of color. Of all of her achievement, her most memorable was leading the communications and engagement strategy for both the 95th birthday and formal US farewell to global leader, former South African President Nelson Mandela.
Currently, Ike is organizing with communities in Michigan to address civic engagement and the Flint water crisis, and is the designer and lead strategist for New York City's African-American mental health equity strategy. Ike also co-launched #WeBelongHere with Ohio State Rep. Emilia Sykes to address the hostile work environments Black women public servants experience, and create solutions in time for the next generation of fierce Black women government leaders. She was recently selected to serve as a board member of the Women's Prison Association--the nation's oldest organization serving justice-involved women and their families. Ike has been recognized as a rising leaders by the American Bar Association, National Black Law Students Association, Huffington Post, and as an Outstanding Alumni by West Virginia University. Ike is a professor at Lehman College and is also an accomplished writer and award-winning playwright.
Ike received her B.A. and M.A. in Communications Theory and Research at West Virginia University; J.D. from CUNY School of Law; and LL.M. from George Washington University Law School. She is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., joining the undergraduate chapter of Eta Omicron at WVU, and is a graduate chapter charter founding member of Tau Iota Zeta in Morgantown, WV. Originally from Trenton, NJ, she currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
The Council for Women’s Concerns’ mission promotes equality and empowers women in all areas of the University and local community by facilitating a dialogue on women’s issues and serving as a resource for women and girls.