Jewel Plummer Cobb Sisters Conference – Still I Rise: The State of Black Women and Girls

Schedule at a Glance

Jewel Plummer Cobb Sisters Conference

Still I Rise: The State of Black Women and Girls

Saturday, March 7, 2026

9:00 am | Registration and Breakfast

10:00 am | Welcome Remarks

President of BAN and Committee Chair, Catherine Sackey

Co-Chairs, Dolores Ijames Bryant ’84 and Chanel Jordan ’19

10:10 am | Acknowledgement of Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb

10:20 am | Morning Panel

Beyond the Buzz: What Technology and AI Really Means for Black Communities

Dolores Ijames Bryant ’84 (Moderator), Miranda Alfonso, Jaime Coleman, Tamara Flemming

11:55 am | Lunch

12:40 pm | Keynote Speech

Natasha Hemmings-Durant, MPA and Chief Executive Officer for the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey (GSHNJ)

1:20 pm | Afternoon Panel

Reimagining Equity: An Economic Action Plan for Black Women and Our Communities

Caprice Jenerson '90 (Moderator), Thelma Ramsey Bryant, Ph.D., Keisha Dabrowski and Sunny Melvin, Esq.

3:00 pm | Conversation Hour

4:00 pm | Conference Concludes

Dated: January 16, 2026

Honoring Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb

The Jewel Plummer Cobb Sisters Conference is a biennial event presenting relevant and important topics which shape how we live, learn and thrive in a complex world together with those who understand and resonate with our shared struggles and achievements.

Hosted by the Black Alumnae Network (BAN) of the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College (AADC), this unique conference was inspired by the prolific life of the late Dr, Jewel Plummer Cobb, who, among her many amazing accomplishments, was the first Black Dean of Douglass College.

This year, we will explore two underlying issues that continue to impact the security of Black women and girls: technology, and employment. Through powerful panel discussions and expert insights, we will consider what we need to prepare for the future and move together beyond conversation to share valuable resources and develop a collective call to action. Our conference will feature panels on artificial intelligence’s impact on Black communities and an economic action plan for Black women and our communities, respectively, along with breakfast, lunch, and networking receptions.

The Black Alumnae Network of the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College (AADC) was established in 1981 to organize events that are of particular interest to African American alumnae.

The AADC is an independent, self-supporting 501(c)(3) organization, with a mission to develop and promote connections among Douglass alumnae by providing programs, services, networks and lifelong learning opportunities that represent the interests and needs of our diverse alumnae. The AADC provides prudent stewardship of the Douglass Fund and other endowed funds held by the AADC for the benefit of Douglass; distributions from these funds contribute financial support to Douglass and her students. 

Dated: January 7, 2026

About Our Keynote

Natasha L. Hemmings, MPA, is the Chief Executive Officer for the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey and is the first African American woman in the council’s history to lead the organization. A long-time advocate of girl empowerment and leadership, she is a Lifetime Member of the Girl Scouts of the USA and served Girl Scouts of Central & Southern New Jersey as their Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for 18 years. As CEO, Natasha holds the most senior leadership role with significant strategic and supervisory responsibilities for the second-largest Girl Scout Council in the state, with an annual budget of over $10M.

Natasha earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Non-Profit Leadership from Rutgers University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications & Theater from Trenton State College. She also holds Executive Non-Profit Leadership and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Certificates from Fairleigh Dickinson and Cornell University.

Natasha was selected to serve on Girl Scouts of the USA's National Convention Action Team for the last 4 National Council Sessions with increasing roles and responsibilities over a 12-year span. She also served as a Delegate representing GSUSA at the 35th World Conference of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. In 2022, Natasha became a Speaker for the United States Department of State, having traveled to Saudi Arabia to deliver training on Girl Leadership, Service, and Women’s Empowerment. Natasha plays a critical role in sharing the inspirational stories of Girl Scouts in the state and worldwide - inspiring girls of every age and families of every culture to join.

Natasha has a deep passion for issues pertaining to women, girls, diversity, equity and inclusivity, and has focused her community service in these areas. She served as a Girl Scout Co-Leader for over ten years in the urban community of Plainfield, serving a multi-level, multi-cultural troop of 32 girls. She led troop meetings, conducted Journey and badge activities, planned programs and special events, and chaperones trips with girls ranging in age from five to fourteen. She is currently the Treasurer and immediate past Vice President of the Barbados-American Charitable Organization of NJ and a proud lifetime member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a public service organization that strives to confront the problems of African-Americans and, hence, all Americans. In this capacity, Natasha has served as past President of the Iota Beta Chapter, Co-Chair for the Arts & Letters Committee, and member of the Fundraising and Mental & Physical Health Committees.

Active in multiple charitable organizations and committees, Natasha served on GSUSA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Racial Justice Steering Committee, and National Marketing & Communications Advisory Committees. She was elected to the Plainfield Area YMCA Branch Board and serves on the Syneos Health Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council. She is a proud 2019 Lead NJ Alum. In addition to serving her alma mater as a member of the School of Public Affairs and Administration Alumni Advisory Board, Natasha is also a Professor at Rutgers University in Newark. Most recently, Natasha accepted a teaching position with St. Francis College in Brooklyn.

Natasha was inducted into Rutgers African American Alliance Hall of Fame in 2021 and selected as one of the top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs in New Jersey. She also made the ROI-NJ 2020 Influencers: People of Color list. In 2018 she was named one of South Jersey Biz’s Women to Watch and was recognized by Citrin Cooperman at their Women at the Wheel event with a Leadership Excellence Award. Natasha was inducted into Pi Alpha Alpha, the National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration on in 2016 for demonstrating academic achievement and outstanding public service.

She is an entrepreneur who owns two businesses; 3KeyEvents, a wedding and special event planning company, and Home Drum LLC, a company designed to reconnect Barbadian descendants for the purpose of investing in the island nation. She is a dual citizen to both Barbados and the United States.

Panelists

Jaime Coleman serves as the Managing Director of Conscious Venture Lab - Trenton, a first-of-its-kind social impact business accelerator to take place in NJ's capital city, her home area. She has a personal and professional mission of elevating Trenton's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Prior to this impactful role which combines her experiences across education, business, and community engagement, Jaime was the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Strategist in local government. Named a 2024 Emerging Leader in Government, she found herself unemployed after DEI was deprioritized.

Jaime’s career started in Higher Education. Priding herself on being well-read and well-researched, Jaime believes that knowledge, open-mindedness, and understanding are essential tools to address many social ills. With years of experience as an Adjunct, she uses her facilitation skills to deliver interactive workshops that create openness, and equip and inspire the audience to take meaningful action. Jaime's service extends to several boards and leading community events that center civic engagement and democracy.

Keisha Dabrowski is a senior business, communications, and strategy leader with nearly two decades of experience helping organizations navigate periods of complexity and change with clarity and intention. She is the Founder and Chief Strategist of Scarlet Ibis Consulting, where she partners with executives and leadership teams to align strategy, culture, and narrative during transformation. Her career spans Fortune 500 healthcare, higher education, and public–private work, including senior leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson, Kenvue, Novo Nordisk, and Rutgers University–New Brunswick. She has advised C-suite leaders and boards on executive communications, organizational alignment, employee experience, and large-scale change, often in environments shaped by rapid transformation, economic pressure, and heightened stakeholder expectations.

What distinguishes Keisha’s work is her ability to hold both the business and the human dimensions of leadership at the same time. She is known for translating complex challenges into clear, actionable strategies, bringing judgment, perspective, and steadiness to high-stakes situations. Her work is grounded in the belief that strong leadership, sustainable performance, and long-term impact are deeply interconnected.

Sunny Melvin, Esq.,  is a corporate litigation attorney from East Orange, New Jersey. Her path to the legal profession is nontraditional: after leaving high school in the eleventh grade, Sunny later returned to education as an adult learner, earning her GED and graduating summa cum laude from Rutgers University–New Brunswick. She went on to receive her Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University Law School.

Her professional work is deeply informed by her lived experience navigating educational and institutional systems. In 2023, she founded Dropped Along the Way, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting adult learners who left school prior to graduation and are seeking to earn their GED as a gateway to higher education and long-term economic mobility. The organization works to dismantle stigma around nontraditional educational paths and address the lasting effects of school pushout. In addition to her legal practice and nonprofit leadership, Sunny serves on the Board of Directors of UTCAO, further advancing her commitment to educational access, community advocacy, and systems-level change.

Thelma Ramsey-Bryant, Ph.D., was born in Newark, NJ and raised in East Orange, NJ. The daughter of educators, her career goals were shaped by their legacy. Dr. Bryant attended Talladega College, Talladega, Alabama (the oldest historically Black college in Alabama) where she majored in Deaf Rehabilitation with a minor in Early Childhood education for the Handicapped. Upon graduation, she attended the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign on the Patricia Roberts Harris fellowship. She received her Master of Arts degree in Speech Pathology. She returned to New Jersey and worked as a speech pathologist in various healthcare settings until transitioning to working in schools. Dr. Ramsey Bryant completed her doctorate in education leadership at Arkansas State University. Her research focus is trauma and its impact on literacy in Black children, specifically Black boys. She has worked in various capacities in education, assistant director of special education, assistant principal at the secondary level and principal at all grade levels pre-k through 12th. She currently serves as principal of a 7th and 8th grade middle school with just over 300 students. She is a volunteer reading tutor. She is a member of the Montclair Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, National Council of Negro Women-Central Jersey Chapter and Charter member of the Greater Newark chapter of the Moles. She is also a DJ, and plays at various events around New Jersey, and a stand-up comedienne, and an education podcast host.

Please note, additional bios about our Moderators and Panelists will be added.

Dated: January 16, 2026