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Venus E. Evans-Winters is an associate professor of education at Illinois State University, teaching and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, and specializing in race, class and gender in educational policy and research. Outside of the lecture hall, she has dedicated her life to community service, women’s empowerment, and educational reform.

In the last three years, Evans-Winters has visited Africa four times to share her expertise in educational policy and community development. She has taught English and job readiness skills in South Africa and provided microcredit services to small business owners in Ghana. In 2009, she was selected as a U.S. ambassador of educational research to South Africa by the American Educational Studies Research Association.

Evans-Winters has also committed her talents to local community-based efforts, including the Tri-County Urban League, the Hope Renewed Youth Conference and Unity Community Center. She serves on numerous advisory committees at ISU, cofounded the Urban Girls Program in Normal, and was a developer and co-facilitator of The Circle of Sisterhood Program.

Priding herself on preparing the next generation of students and educators, Evans-Winters has served as a consultant for Whittier Primary School, Peoria Public Library and the Institute for Social and Behavioral Management. She is the author of Teaching Black Girls: Resiliency in Urban Classrooms, as well as several book chapters and articles in academic journals. As a speaker at Tri-County Urban League, she mentors young students seeking doctoral degrees and volunteers with youth across the city.

Among her distinctions, Evans-Winters has won the Romeo B. Garrett Humanitarian Award, Friends of the Grand Army Republic Service Award, and the Young Feminist Award from the National Organization of Women’s Peoria chapter. She has been the keynote speaker at a multitude of conferences and events, and was profiled in the book Role Models: Profiles of Successful African American Professionals in Peoria, Illinois.

Evans-Winters has also taught at the University of Illinois, Illinois Wesleyan, Saint Xavier and Illinois Central College, and is a proud wife and mother of two. iBi

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