Gwendolyn Reese is the President and CEO of Peaten Reese Peaten Consulting, Inc., providing professional development and consultation services to individuals and organizations in Florida and beyond. She is a contracted consultant with Federation Of Childcare Centers of Alabama (FOCAL)/Alabama Institute of Social Justice (AISJ) and the Healthy Start Federal Project at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in her hometown of St. Petersburg, FL.
Ms. Reese has considerable experience in conference planning and workshop facilitation spanning a period of more than thirty years. She designs, develops and currently facilitates workshops in the areas of Internalized Oppression Individual and Institutional Racism, Cultural Competence, Implicit Bias, Valuing Diversity, Diversity Management, Community Mobilization and Engagement, Intent vs. Impact, Leadership, Staff Development, Board Recruitment and Development, Team Building, Strategic Planning, Sustainability Planning and other related topics. She has facilitated workshops, participated in panel discussions and delivered keynote addresses throughout the Southeast.
Ms. Reese serves on the Community Preservation & Planning Commission, Chairs the City Hall Mural Committee, is President of the African American Heritage Association of St. Petersburg, FL, Inc., The Heritage Association recently completed Phase I of the African American Heritage Trails along 22nd Street and 9th Avenue in South St. Petersburg. She serves as President of the Gibbs High School Class of 1966 and is a former member of the Board of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum. She is a graduate of Leadership St. Pete Class of 1991and a charter member of the St. Petersburg Midtown Rotary. She has more than 40 years of community activism.
Ms. Reese was a primary organizer and facilitator for Agenda 2010, a historically significant political action and education project to increase black voter participation and candidate accountability during the 2009 City elections. She was co-founder with Gypsy Gallardo of the PACT, Agenda 2010 & Beyond and the Southside 2020 Project.
In 2015, Ms. Reese was the recipient of the 2015 MLK Leadership Award presented by the National Council of Negro Women and was recognized by Congresswoman Kathy Castor for her more than 40 years of community activism and leadership. The Congressional Recognition included a U.S. flag which was flown over the United States Capitol on January 13, 2015 and a Statement for Congressional Record which was filed in the Library of Congress. In February, she was named one of the Pinellas County Urban League’s 2016 “Champions of Justice”.