Professor Monique C. Atherley shines her rare light to illuminate workplace culture that still has dark practices. She is a dynamic, impactful, and vision-based leader who works to diligently to offer underrepresented populations opportunities to succeed. Monique focuses her praxis and pedagogy on empowering, informing, exposing, and preparing both clients and students for the realities and opportunities that will help revolutionize their existence. A child of immigrants, she’s committed to the protection and joy of black and brown bodies; and positions herself in spaces that support them thriving, not just surviving. Monique is a scholar-practitioner, servant leader, capacity builder, and trainer with over 15 years of experience across K through 12, Community Based Organizations, and Higher Education, with specific focus on public, urban educational offerings and college access. On her journey, Professor Atherley has built an Award-Winning Residential Student Leadership system, served as a Charter member for two honor society chapters as well as a Model United Nations Conference, and has also served as the Inaugural Advisor for identity-based groups. Professor Atherley is also a former staff member/current volunteer for the New York Urban League and has served as President of the Pan African Network of ACPA – an affinity space in Higher Education creating room and visibility for those from or in support of the African diaspora.

Prof. Atherley provides depth, insight, heart, strategy, and challenge to growth in every space she enters. Her efforts have promoted the connectedness needed in communities to support individual and organizational growth. She has received numerous awards in recognition of her advocacy and recently was recognized as the 2021 Awardee of the Promising Practices in Social Justice at Two-Year College from the ACPA Commission for Two-Year Colleges. She is an up and coming generational and engagement researcher, who is focuses on the impacts of (mis)perceptions on workplace operations. She is currently focusing her dissertation research on how organizations can bridge the gap of talent at the table through belonging. As a culmination and next step in her life’s work – Monique is the Founder and CEO of The Atherley POWER Group: An organization by a Millennial committed to cultivating the next generation of leaders; and purposed to support clientele with harnessing and maximizing their power to be able to attain their greatest potential.