“I was awakened to social justice work shortly after I received my graduate degree in Library Services from the University of Maryland. I went to work in the outreach department of a public library system where we had mini-libraries and a bookmobile serving children in low income communities. Our premise was that before children could develop a love for books, they first had to have their basic needs met—food, clothing, shelter—so we attended to those needs. This is where I learned that I had a deep concern and passion for social justice work. A few years later, I went on to become Executive Director of an agency that helped address isms adversely affecting women in the workplace. That was almost thirty years ago; I have advocated for social, economic, environmental justice ever since.”

Dothula Baron has a B.A. degree in English from North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC, an M.S. in Library and Information and Information Services from the University of Maryland College Park, and an M.A. in Conflict Resolution from Columbia College in South Carolina.

She has worked in communities for over thirty years to empower individuals and families socially, economically and environmentally. Her primary focus has been on working with families to improve the quality of their lives and develop tools for overcoming life’s constant challenges. Dothula’s experience includes Executive Director and Founder of the Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help (REACH), Warsaw, NC; Executive Director of The Dispute Settlement Center, Kenansville, NC; and Executive Director of Women in the Work Force, High Point, NC. She served as Program Director for MBA, a nonprofit that addresses health disparities among Native Americans and other people of color, and recently initiated a social change effort in eastern North Carolina called Blacks and Browns United for Change to bring together African Americans and Latinos to empower people of color to become visible and powerful the political, social and economic construct of their lives.

Dothula’s specific areas of expertise include: grants writing, Special Fundraising Events, and Donor Campaigns; Public Relations and Community Relations; Conflict Resolution, Community Problem Solving, Mediation, Group Facilitation and Bias Awareness Training; Board Development and Strategic Planning; Staff and Leadership Development; and Community Organizing. She has taught classes and presented workshops on grantswriting, financial management, communication, esteem-building, decision-making, life coping, job seeking, team building, conflict resolution, diversity, and bias awareness, as well as training for nonprofit board and staff development. She is a trained mediator/facilitator.

Dothula lives in North Carolina where her two adults sons and two-and-a-half year old twin grandsons also reside.