The 2026 Southern Cohort prioritizes leaders working in states across the Southeast and adjacent regions that share overlapping policy, philanthropic, and movement-building ecosystems. This regional focus is intended to support deeper peer learning and collaboration across places. The states prioritized for this first Southern Cohort are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
- Learn more by reading the Participant Fact Sheet and FAQs
- Funder partnership and sponsorship information can be found here.
REALize Power Leadership Program – 2026 Cohort
The REALize Power Leadership Program is a capacity strengthening program for staff from nonprofits and grassroots organizations to gain insight, skills, and abilities to advance equitable data and evaluation practices, heal past traumas and triggers around data and evaluation, and strengthen emotional wellbeing. The third cohort of the REALize Power Leadership Program engaged leaders from across the south. In the spring – summer of 2026, these 10 REALize Power Leaders participated through virtual sessions and an in-person convening. Through this learning journey, the participants:
- Strengthened knowledge and skills to understand, implement, and advocate for equity-oriented data and evaluation approaches,
- Gained knowledge and skills to better tell their organization’s story of how they are advancing the work of their organization, and
- Discussed how shifting power dynamics through equitable partnerships and grant-making practices can help mitigate structural racism in philanthropy and nonprofits.
More information about the first cohort of the REALize Power Leadership Program can be found here.
The 2026 REALize Power Leaders
With care and intention, we are honored to highlight cohort members who have chosen to share their bios and photos, offering insight into their roles, values, and visions for change.
Ethan Ashley
Ethan Ashley, School Board Partners CEO and Co-Founder, is a nationally recognized leader in school board governance, educational equity, and systems change. A former elected New Orleans school board member and board president, Ethan has spent his career advancing policies that improve student outcomes, strengthen accountability, and expand opportunity for historically underserved communities. Through School Board Partners, he has helped support and develop more than 500 elected school board leaders across 40+ states, representing over 200 districts and impacting more than 8 million students nationwide. Ethan is also an attorney, strategist, and speaker who works at the intersection of democracy, education, and community leadership.
Ashley Bernal
Ashley Bernal is the Director of Research and Impact at ProInspire, where she leads the organization’s research, evaluation, and learning strategy to advance equitable leadership and thriving communities. A Southern sociologist with more than a decade of experience in research, evaluation, policy analysis, and community engagement, Ashley specializes in translating data, lived experience, and community knowledge into actionable insights that strengthen leaders, organizations, and systems.
Her work focuses on leadership development, racial equity, organizational culture, and community wellbeing. She has designed and led research initiatives examining how leaders and organizations build trust, resilience, and long-term impact, with a particular interest in wellbeing as a critical tool for sustainable leadership. Through her work, Ashley has helped develop and evaluate leadership programs that integrate rest, reflection, healing, and community care as strategies for addressing burnout, supporting leader sustainability, and strengthening organizational effectiveness.
Ashley holds a B.A. and M.A. in Sociology from the University of New Orleans and is a Ph.D. candidate in Public and Urban Policy at The New School. Her research examines community preservation, racialized space, and the ways Black communities sustain continuity and belonging under conditions of long-term disruption.
Dr. Shaneil Ealy
Dr. Shaneil Ealy is a connector, a community builder and an advocate for women’s leadership. She is the Executive Director and a founding member of the Women’s Leadership Network (WLN), a nonprofit dedicated to empowering women to lead with authenticity, confidence and purpose. WLN’s mission is to build agency through connection, community and shared resources—so that every woman can own their power. After two decades in higher education—most recently as Associate Vice President in the Division of Outreach and Community Engagement at the University of Central Arkansas—Dr. Ealy stepped boldly into her purpose: creating spaces where women thrive. Through WLN, she now leads innovative, community-driven programs that support women across all life and leadership stages. In 2024, she expanded her impact by launching 4E Impact Consulting, LLC, where she provides speaking, training and strategic consulting focused on leadership development, community engagement and organizational growth. Through her consulting work, Dr. Ealy partners with organizations to turn vision into action and cultivate meaningful, lasting impact. She has been honored with the Outstanding Woman in Nonprofit Award and the CALI Award for community leadership from the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Ealy was recently named one of AY Magazine’s Intriguing Women of 2025. Known for turning vision into impact, Dr. Ealy is committed to mentoring the next generation of women and young leaders by helping them find clarity in their calling. Outside of her work, Shaneil and Taft, her husband of 22 years, are raising two football-loving sons, Henderson and Jase, while running three businesses: two diesel repair shops and H & J Express Towing and Recovery, named after their boys. They also manage cattle farms in Central Arkansas in their spare time. Whether she’s enjoying nature, creating a new recipe, teaching the youth at church or cheering from the bleachers, she brings the same energy to her personal life as she does her professional one—intentional and all in.
Christin Harper
Christin Harper has served as the Policy Director for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) since 2024. In this role, she is responsible for developing and implementing AACF’s policy agenda in collaboration with policy staff. She previously worked for the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) for over 15 years, most recently as the Assistant Director for Infrastructure and Specialized Programs. In that role, she oversaw child welfare programs such as policy, professional development, quality assurance, and transitional youth services. Prior to that, Christin worked for the DHS Office of Policy and Planning as the Senior Policy Analyst evaluating social services programs and coordinating initiatives in the areas of childcare and mental health. Christin was born and raised in Arkansas.
Rev. Cassandra A. Henderson
Rev. Cassandra A. Henderson is the Executive Director of the Interfaith Children’s Movement (ICM), a Georgia-based grassroots, multifaith nonprofit that mobilizes diverse faith communities to advance child well-being through advocacy, education, and collective action. Since becoming Executive Director in 2022, she has led ICM’s growth into a statewide movement, bringing together faith communities, educators, advocates, youth leaders, and policymakers to address the systemic issues impacting children and families across Georgia. An ordained American Baptist minister, Rev. Henderson believes lasting change happens when relationships are cultivated across difference and communities most affected by injustice are empowered to help define the solutions.
Rev. Henderson earned a Bachelor of Arts in Drama & Theatre from Spelman College, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from Loyola Marymount University, and a Master of Divinity from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, with a concentration in Leadership in Church and Community and a Certificate in Black Church Studies. She was ordained at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, the congregation that nurtured the ministry of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Her interdisciplinary formation in storytelling, theology, and community leadership shapes her approach to movement building, equitable partnerships, and cultivating spaces where communities can shape their own narratives, strengthen their collective voice, and advance justice together.
Jung Ha Kim, Ph.D.
Jung Ha Kim, Ph.D., is a lifelong learner, community organizer, and scholar-practitioner whose work bridges the academy and grassroots community. She has thirty years of experience in teaching, researching, publishing, mentoring, curriculum development, and experiential learning initiatives in academic contexts. She also has thirty-five years of experience in leading and managing nonprofit organizations with budgets ranging from $1M to $15M. She works with diverse groups and institutions and is especially committed to addressing racial and gender disparities in immigrant and refugee communities. A wide array of research and project experiences that local, state, and national governments, foundations, and academic institutions funded. Today, she is the Founder-President of Community Resource Corp. (CRC), which advocates equity, self-determination, and communal justice by uplifting the experiential knowledge of the marginalized communities and sharing resources.
LeKesha Perry
LeKesha Perry is an education strategist, evaluator, and researcher specializing in evaluation, education research, and systems change across the Mississippi Delta and the broader South. As a member of SHARED Strategy Group, LLC, her work focuses on postsecondary access, equity-centered evaluation, organizational learning, and community-centered research in partnership with schools, nonprofits, and philanthropic organizations. Perry’s work centers on advancing equitable outcomes through strategic planning, technical assistance, data-informed decision-making, and cross-sector collaboration.
Pamela L. Ross
Pamela L. Ross is the CEO of PamperMeBeautiful, LLC (non-profit) and Educational Consultant/Trainer for PLR Educational Consultants and United Way of Greater Atlanta/Partners Advancing Childhood Education (PACE). Mrs. Ross has been a part of the early learning/family support community for over 28 years. She has held various positions in the field of Early Learning, Family Support, School Readiness and Home Visitation from Project Director/Manager/Coordinator of several State and National Initiatives. She has served as Executive Director of a Child Development Center, Educational Chairperson for the Jimmy Carter Foundation -Atlanta Project, and Trainer/Technical Assistance; Consultant on several quality improvements grants to help Early Learning Centers and Family Child Care programs reach National Accreditation and high-quality programming. Mrs. Ross also serves as a certified National High/Scope Trainer where she provides training and technical assistance to early education program; elementary schools throughout the United States. She is also a National Trainer in family support through the Parent Services Project, Inc. She is an active advocate for children and families which is shown through her previous participation on various boards such as Advisory Board for Atlanta Technical College (Early Education Department), Georgia Association of Young Children Board of Directors (Chairperson, Week of the Young Child), Georgia Prevention Network Board of Directors (Vice-President- Membership) and the state Georgia Parents As Teachers Network. She is currently the chairperson for the DeKalb Partners for Early Learning (DPEL) Collaborative whose vision is to “Ensure that all children in DeKalb County enter school ready and prepared”. She lives by the motto in her work to “To always keep children and families first!” She believes that each of us has a part to play in making this happen as we work in our various communities.
Acknowledging All Participants with Care and Respect
The full REALize Power Cohort 3 includes additional leaders who are part of this shared learning and leadership experience. In recognition of each person’s preferences around public visibility, we’re acknowledging their participation and presence below in a way that respects their privacy.
- Shameka Reed
- Rev. Anika T. Whitfield, DPM
This page will be updated on a rolling basis as more information is shared or preferences evolve.