Dr. Ruby Payne will be the keynote speaker at Cleveland State Community College’s summer in-service for all staff on Tuesday, June 19 from 1-4 p.m. in the George R. Johnson Cultural Heritage Center. The community is also invited to attend to hear Dr. Payne speak on “A Framework for Understanding Poverty.”
This seminar is sponsored by both CSCC and a Tennessee Board of Regents Access and Diversity Grant. Dr. Payne spoke at the 2011 faculty in-service at CSCC and was asked to come speak at this year’s CSCC staff in-service, as well.
Dr. Jerry Faulkner, Cleveland State’s former Vice President for Academic Affairs, was responsible for securing Dr. Payne as a speaker at this year’s in-service. According to Dr. Faulkner, “Cleveland State’s service area encompasses some of the poorest areas of our states. Some K-12 schools have free and reduced lunch rates as high as 80 percent. The greatest hope for breaking the cycle of chronic poverty is education. As educators, we need to understand the culture, language, and attitudes that often accompany the economic state. The Understanding Poverty Seminar will draw upon the knowledge of an internationally known author and speaker to help us be better prepared to help those trying to escape poverty.”
Dr. Payne has been a professional educator since1972. She has been everything from high school teacher, principal, central office administrator to an educational consultant. She provided training to hundreds of thousands of professionals since 1996 and has certified 7,000 trainers in “A Framework for Understanding Poverty.” She has written and co-authored more than a dozen books besides the bestselling “A Framework for Understanding Poverty” and “Bridges Out of Poverty.” Most of her books are surrounding issues of poverty in areas of education, social services, business, communities, churches, relationships, and leadership. She has also published more than 125 books and video/DVD products. In 1995, she founded aha! Process, Inc. (formerly RFT Publishing) where she currently serves as the CEO.
In 2011, two of her publications were honored: “Removing the Mask: Giftedness in Poverty” received a Gold Medal from Independent Publishers in the Education category, and “Boys in Poverty: A Framework for Understanding Dropout” (Solution Tree Press) received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers in the Professional Development category. Both titles were coauthored with the late Dr. Paul Slocumb.
Dr. Payne received a bachelor's degree from Goshen College in Goshen, Ind.; a master's degree in English literature from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich.; and doctorate in educational leadership and policy from Loyola University in Chicago, Ill.
For more information on Dr. Payne’s seminar on Understanding Poverty, contact Holly Vincent at 614-8748.