Rochelle Ford to moderate town hall on diverse voices of Black and White women

The dean of the School of Communications will lead a virtual panel discussion on Monday, Sept. 21, addressing issues and findings outlined in the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated’s new study, “In Our Voices."

Rochelle Ford, dean of the School of Communications, will moderate an upcoming virtual town hall presented by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, an influential women’s service organization. The Monday, Sept. 21, event will feature a panel discussion examining issues outlined in the organization’s new “In Our Voices” study, which represents diverse voices of Black and White women.

A promotional poster for the upcoming virtual town hall presented by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated.

While the study’s findings uncovered that COVID-19 is an important issue for all female groups, thought-provoking discrepancies on other topics were also identified. In fact, according to the report, a majority of Black women believe the country is not moving in the right direction, while White women are four times more likely to believe it is.

The event’s panelists include Leslie Redmond, Minneapolis NAACP president; Melonie Parker, Google’s chief diversity officer; Iva Carruthers, CEO, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference; and Joanne Patterson, psychiatric nurse practitioner. Kendra Hatcher King, the sorority’s national brand director and Publicis Sapient executive, will review the study findings during the event. The report will be available at www.zphib1920.org on Tuesday, Sept. 22, following the town hall.

“This is such a pivotal time in our country. Zeta is working hard to get our communities to the polls and to be counted in the Census, because our voices matter,” said Valerie Hollingsworth Baker, Zeta International “Centennial” president, in a Sept. 17 release. “By arming women with a greater understanding of the issues that matter most, they can select national, state and local candidates who best meet their needs.”

The interactive town hall begins at 9 p.m. EST. Registration is free and open to the public.

About Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated was founded in 1920 on the campus of Howard University and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. Zeta has initiated a diverse membership of more than 125,000 college-educated women with over 950 chapters in North America, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East.