YWCA of Greater Charleston announces incoming board
June 2, 2017
The YWCA of Greater Charleston has welcomed its incoming board of directors.
Elonda Fair O’Neill, Esquire (pictured), a board member since 2010, has been elected board chair of the YWCA of Greater Charleston. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in early childhood education from the University of South Carolina in 1992 and her Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the University of South Carolina School of Law, Class of 1998. She was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1998 and the State Bar of California in 2000.
She has been a partner in the law firm of O’Neill & Fair, LLC in Charleston since 2004, where her primary area of practice is family law including but not limited to dissolution of marriage, child custody, adoption, child support, visitation, DSS abuse and neglect, and juvenile criminal defense. In addition to the state courts of South Carolina and California, she is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, the U.S. District Court-Central District of California and the United States Supreme Court.
Since her original election to the YWCA of Greater Charleston board in 2010, she has served on the board’s building committee, where she was instrumental in leading the association in the sale of its historic Coming Street headquarters. She also served as vice president, chaired the board’s bylaws committee and drafted the current bylaws, chaired the governance committee, and served on the personnel and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Business & Professional Breakfast committees.
O’Neill has also served as vice president of the Thurgood Marshall Legal Society and secretary of the South Carolina Black Lawyers Association, in addition to her memberships in other professional organizations including the Charleston County Bar Association and South Carolina Women Lawyers Association. She has held memberships in civic organizations as well, including The Charleston (SC) Chapter of the Links, Incorporated, League of Women Voters, the NAACP, and Jack & Jill of America.
“We are thrilled to welcome Elonda in her new role as board chair,” says LaVanda Brown, executive director of the YWCA of Greater Charleston. “Her work on the building, bylaws, governance, and MLK Breakfast committees was highly respected and enormously helpful. Our board, staff, volunteers, members, and supporters are in very capable hands as she takes on the leadership of our mission to empower women and eliminate racism across the Charleston region.”
Other members of the incoming board include Danielle Hardee-Richardson of Trident Technical College, vice chair; Belita M. Green of Heritage Trust Federal Credit Union, treasurer; Kendra Snipe of Ken Snipe Enterprise LLC, secretary; and board members Katie Catalon of National Beauty Culturists’ League, Ardmease Cunningham of Charleston Development Academy, Stacy Davis of Blackbaud, Elise Davis-McFarland, PhD, of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association, Jennifer Dunlap, Esquire, of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Shawn Spann Edwards of The Citadel, Kerri Forrest of the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation (immediate past chair), Radia Heyward of Charleston Promise Neighborhood, Diana Saillant of Saillant Language Consulting LLC, Adrienne Troy-Frazier of Berkeley County First Steps, and the Honorable Tamara C. Curry, Charleston County Associate Probate Judge.
YWCA of Greater Charleston
For 110 years, the YWCA of Greater Charleston has served women, children, and families in Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester Counties in its mission to empower women and eliminate racism. By engaging area residents and organizations, it seeks to create opportunities for the personal growth, leadership, and economic development of women and people of color in order to attain justice, freedom, and dignity for all people. It is a longstanding local association of YWCA USA, one of the oldest and largest multicultural women’s organizations in the United States. For over 150 years, the YWCA has been at the forefront of most social movements—from civil rights, affordable housing, and pay equity to domestic violence prevention and healthcare reform. For more information, visit ywca-charlestonsc.org.
