South Georgia Technical College will be hosting a FREE Professional Development Workshop featuring author, speaker and poverty expert Dr. Donna M. Beegle on Tuesday, February 18th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the John M. Pope Center on the Americus campus. The public is invited to attend this free event.
Dr. Donna Beagle inspires and educates individuals, organizations, politicians and entire communities with proven models to better outcomes for people in poverty. Born into a migrant labor family and married at 15, Dr. Beegle is the only member of her family who has not been incarcerated.
By age 26, she earned her GED and then, within 10 years received her doctorate in Educational Leadership. She is an authentic voice from poverty that speaks, writes, and trains across the nation to break the iron cage of poverty for others through services provided by her company, “Communication Across Barriers (CAB).
Dr. Beegle’s inspiring story of moving from 28 years of homelessness to achieving a doctorate and her groundbreaking work assisting people to move out of poverty has been featured extensively in traditional and social media.
“I believe that we should fight poverty, not the people who live in it,” said Dr. Beegle. She will be talking with educators, community leaders, faculty, staff, and students about different way to “break the cycle of poverty.”
In reflecting on the work of Dr. Beegle, former Secretary of U.S. Department of Housing, Henry Cisneros stated, “My rational side was awed by your command of economic facts and social science dynamics; my political and emotional side was moved by your compelling personal narrative and human examples. I have never seen done what you did; never seen anyone be so persuasive, genuine, credible and effective on the subject of poverty. Your message needs to be heard across this nation in forums of activists, business chiefs, non-profits, journalists, public officials and community leaders.”
South Georgia Technical College was able to host this community and professional development workshop at no cost to the public through a U.S. Department of Education grant. Individuals who would like to attend are encouraged to contact Nancy Fitzgerald at South Georgia Technical College at 229-931-2508 or nfitzgerald@southgatech.edu. Reservations are not needed but will be helpful.