Forty-five Midlands Leaders join diversity Leaders Initiative
February 3, 2025
An award-winning program with over 2,800 graduates across South Carolina, the Diversity Leaders Initiative leverages diversity to drive progress.
Forty-five leaders from across the Midlands have been selected to participate in the Riley Institute’s intensive 5-month Diversity Leaders Initiative (DLI). For over 20 years, DLI has brought together community stakeholders and equipped them with the skills and perspectives necessary to leverage diversity in their organizations in ways that drive social and economic progress in South Carolina.
Participants are selected following nomination by a DLI graduate and a thorough application and interview process. Each class includes leaders who represent the varied demographics in our state and who work with a wide variety of communities and organizations.
Juan Johnson, the designer and facilitator of the program, has crafted a curriculum that includes interactive case studies, scenario analyses, and experiential learning tools. With five meetings over the course of five months, this program will explore modules related to how diverse teams can better support organizations’ missions and goals and better serve their stakeholders and constituents.
Among the topics explored in these discussions are the differences between bias and discrimination, the role of context, differences in mental and physical abilities, generational differences, and other leadership frameworks.
The DLI program concludes with groups undertaking community action projects. With these capstone projects, this new class of DLI participants will identify challenges in their communities and will work together to address them. Many of our DLI graduates have developed projects that continue to produce tremendous good within their communities.
Graduates of DLI become Riley Fellows and join a community of changemakers in South Carolina.
Listed below are the participants of the spring 2025 Midlands DLI class.
Sara Ballard
Terrance Barr
Pamela Benjamin
Jenifer Blair
Marie Boyd
Connie Breeden
Leonardo Brown
John Cadena
Savannah Crosby
Nicholas Davidson
Cynthia Davis
Joette Dukes
Dean Faile
Raven Favor
Raashad Fitzpatrick
Matthew Fowler
Robin Free
Chantal Fryer
Jason Giulietti
John Gordon
Dylan Gunnels
Justin Hancock
Lakesha Jeffries
Jermaine Johnson
Olivia Jones
Amalia Luxardo
Joshua Malkin
Fred Manning
Melanie Matney
Jennifer McQuesten
Perry Mills
Murphy Monk
Stacey Moore
Quincie Moore
Jean Popowski
Brandy Price
Bob Ruff
Darci Rush
Nicholas Sambenedetto
Eric Shytle
Jesse Smith
Sara Svedberg
Tony Tam
Will Williams
Cliff Wilson
About the Riley Institute at Furman University
The Riley Institute empowers emerging and established leaders—across sectors and throughout society—with the knowledge and tools to advance equity and drive social and economic progress in South Carolina and beyond. We work to strengthen public education; promote the power of diversity to help teams, organizations, and communities thrive; and elevate informed, evidence-based approaches to critical public issues. In all it does, the institute is committed to nonpartisanship and a bias-free path to change.
