Jan 21, 2021
Are you really good at setting goals but sometimes don't do so great on the achieving end?
Join master leadership coach Dr. Geneva on her 100th Ignite2Impact podcast as she shares the 4 top secrets to achieving success thru goal setting.
Award-winning executive Geneva Jones Williams (Dr. Geneva) is a speaker, author, and leadership strategist for business executives, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit leaders. She is the founder and CEO of Dr. Geneva Speaks, LLC whose mission is to educate and inspire leaders for greater impact. Dr. Geneva also serves as Director for the Live6 Alliance, a nonprofit planning and development organization to enhance Detroit’s quality of life and economic opportunity.
Dr. Geneva led the United Way, founded an innovative multi-sector national partnership model, launched a new leadership development initiative for girls, and developed models of community engagement and strategic planning for nonprofits. She raised millions for community change initiatives and served as an education leader. Dr. Geneva recently was appointed to the Women’s Commission by Michigan’s governor and chairs its Visible Authentic Leadership Committee.
Dr. Geneva hosts the Ignite2Impact Podcast on Apple Podcasts and iHeart Radio featuring influencers who are making a difference in business, nonprofits, government, and the arts. Her blogs inspire and educate women on aging vibrantly, everyday leadership, and philanthropy. Dr. Geneva consults with nonprofits like Detroit Future City and The Kresge Foundation. Crain’s Detroit Business cites her as one of Detroit’s most influential women, she is a Michigan Chronicle Woman of Excellence and was named the National Association of Business Women Owners (NAWBO) Top 10 Michigan Business Woman.
For a significant portion of her career, Dr. Geneva was a guiding force for the United Way in the Detroit area. She was the first female president and chief executive officer of United Community Services of Metropolitan Detroit, a $15 million United Way, where she developed and led a three-year strategic plan, resulting in staff retraining and organizational reengineering to meet future challenges.
Dr. Geneva also led the merger between two United Ways where she became the first female Executive Vice President and COO, overseeing $42 million annually in agency allocations. She developed the strategic planning process that transformed the agency’s fund distribution system, resulting in new outcome-based measurement systems for over 120 regional health and human services agencies. While at United Way, Geneva attended Harvard Business School and taught at the United Way of America’s Academy of Volunteerism.
Dr. Geneva was tapped by foundations and city officials to launch City Connect Detroit, an innovative national model to create and leverage public-private partnerships for increased funding for community needs. Dr. Geneva led the successful strategic planning process implementation, and secured over $100 million for youth employment, education reform, access to fresh food, community development, and urban health.
A frequent guest lecturer and panelist at regional, national and international conferences, Dr. Geneva served as chair of the Western Michigan University Trustee board, a member of the First Independence National Bank board, chair of several public school management companies, and vice president of the Detroit NAACP. She has been the recipient of many awards for her work, including the Bank of America’s Local Hero Award, Ford Motor Company’s Heritage Award, the Michigan Business & Professional Association’s Women and Leadership in the Workplace Award, and the National Association for Community Leadership’s Distinguished Leadership Award.
Through her company, Dr. Geneva Speaks, she consults, coaches, speaks locally and nationally on strategic planning, collaboration, leadership and personal development, work-life balance, and philanthropy. Dr. Geneva won the prestigious title of Ms. Black Fit and Fine, a beauty pageant encouraging healthy lifestyles for women over 50. She’s an alumna of Morgan State University where she serves on Morgan’s Foundation board. Dr. Geneva is an alumna of the Greater Wayne County Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, and she earned a doctorate in education leadership from Wayne State University, She received her master’s degree with a concentration in Community Organization and Social Planning from the Bryn Mawr School of Social Work and Research.
Recently, Dr. Geneva was honored as a Golden Soror of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She is an author, amazon.com/author/genevawilliams, and her new book, Justice on the Jersey Shore, about her father’s transformational leadership while fighting social injustice during the Civil Rights Movement, launched as an Amazon bestseller. To learn more, visit drgenevaspeaks.com