Fostering Solutions

Award-winning Attorney Frank Walker II is Dr. Foster’s guest on this episode of Fostering Solutions. Born in Institute, West Virginia, Frank received his education in Kanawha County Schools and at West Virginia State University, Marshall University, and West Virginia University, where he earned his law degree. Frank is a sought-after criminal defense attorney in Western Pennsylvania and Northern West Virginia due to his reputation as a fearless defender of the rights afforded to citizens in the Constitution of the United States.

Frank currently serves as a Board Member of West Virginia State University Foundation and President of the Pittsburgh Black Lawyers Alliance. He is a member of the National Top 100 Criminal Defense Lawyers, Super Lawyers – Rising Stars, AVVO Top Rated, National Top 40 Under 40 - Criminal Defense Lawyers. Additionally, Frank frequently serves as faculty for Continuing Legal Education courses focusing on state and Federal Criminal Defense matters and teaches at West Virginia University College of Law. 

Frank was duly initiated in the Xi Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated in 1999 and is an active member of the Iota Phi Chapter in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he serves on the Iota Phi Foundation Board. Frank previously served as a member of the American Inns of Court, Board Member of the Propel Charter Schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is now a member of the American Bar Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Pennsylvania Death Penalty Counsel, CJA Panel Attorney for Northern District of West Virginia and the Western District of Pennsylvania, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. 

As busy as he is, Frank enjoys quality time with his wife, Jennifer, and teenage daughters and is currently completing the requirements for his Ph.D. in Instructional Management and Leadership Studies from Robert Morris University (expected 2023).

Custom MADE Consulting Founder and CEO, Dr. Michelle Easton, has had an extensive career in executive leadership in higher education, most notably having served as Dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia. 

Senior-level executives in premier organizations seek Dr. Easton’s input on such topics as changing workplace culture, developing cultural relevance, and having productive feedback conversations, to name a few.  Throughout her career as a leader, she discovered a new passion and developed her capacity for change management, facilitation, and coaching. 

Dr. Michelle Easton is a Xavier University of Louisiana graduate and resident of New Orleans, Louisiana. With her family and lifelong friends, she continues to make a difference in her hometown. 

Dr. Oneeka Williams, award-winning author, educator, entrepreneur, speaker, storyteller, urologic surgeon, and Positivity Catalyst, is the product of a science teacher mom and journalist father. Born and raised in Guyana and Barbados, she is on a mission to educate, elevate and empower and believes we can use the positive power of our stories to defeat negativity so we can achieve whole health, pursue our dreams, and live a life without limits. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Medical School, she has used her experiences and life philosophy as the catapult to impact the lives of her patients and community. Learn more about Dr. Williams at https://droneekawilliams.com/

Raised in the small coal-mining town of Welch, West Virginia, Dr. T. Ramon Stuart realized at a very young age the transformative impact that education could have on one’s life, one’s family and ultimately one’s community. This realization led him to study engineering and higher education administration. His higher education career started at West Virginia State University where he was a faculty member and administrator. Dr. Stuart was recently named President of Clayton State University in Georgia. According to Dr. Stuart, his humble beginnings in McDowell County taught him how to treat people, “because you couldn't act as though you were better than anyone because everybody was trying to make $1 out of 15 cents. And when you know who you are, you understand that, as Luke once reminded us that to whom much is given much as expected.”

As the first female Mayor of Charleston, West Virginia, Amy Shuler Goodwin never imagined that she would spend most of her first term leading the state’s largest city through a pandemic. However, her careers in journalism, public relations, communications, and state tourism equipped her for leadership in challenging times. Since taking office in January 2019, Mayor Goodwin has prioritized fiscal accountability, efficient processes, fairness and forward-thinking policies, and programming. 

As a 21-year-old college senior at Concord University, Christy L. Elliott had the audacity to ask a CEO about a job at his bank, one of the largest in the country. In less than a week, she had an interview with the Market President and a job offer from BB&T Bank, now Truist. Since joining BB&T in 2004, Christy has served as a Financial Wellness Consultant, Merchant Sales Consultant, and Commercial Banker before being named Market President in May 2017. In her current role, she manages the market franchise and is responsible for BB&T’s banking operations in seven West Virginia counties. 

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Dr. Foster’s guest on this episode of Fostering Solutions is Mr. Charles Patton. Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Charles is an accomplished leader who has not lost the common touch. Dr. Foster remembers him from her days at the Kanawha Institute for Social Research & Action (KISRA) when he was then serving as Chief Operating Officer at the Appalachian Power Company. Instead of simply mailing a grant award check, Charles took time to tour KISRA and encourage the staff, by sharing anecdotes from his humble beginnings. 

He is currently the Executive Vice President, External Affairs for American Electric Power (AEP) and is based in Columbus, Ohio. In this role, Charles leads AEP’s customer services, communications, regulatory, federal public policy and corporate sustainability organizations. A publicly traded company, AEP is an electric utility that delivers electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states and provides energy services in 27 states. This conversation is chockfull of leadership wisdom from a distinguished leader.

Mr. Donteako Wilson is Dr. Foster’s guest on this episode of Fostering Solutions. A native West Virginian, Don is the Managing Partner of Capital Insurance Group (CIG) and runs their Charleston, West Virginia and Columbus, Ohio offices. CIG is a fast-growing business which, after being in existence for less than five years, now has 15 offices in 12 states. Don has entrepreneurship in his genes. He started his first business venture at a mere 21 years of age, having been inspired by his mom. Undoubtedly, Don has achieved tremendous business success and is a role model. Click the link below and listen to this episode of Fostering Solutions to learn about Donteako Wilson’s keys to leadership.

Mr. Mark Dalgety is Dr. Foster’s guest on this episode of Fostering Solutions, a part of the Keys to Leadership Series. Mark is the founder of Dalgety Teas, the largest tea company owned by someone of Caribbean descent in Europe. Twenty-five years ago, Mark started drying Corilla (Cerassie) bush at his home in Georgetown, Guyana, and packaging it for sale in the United Kingdom. Then, using his chemical engineering skills and creativity, buoyed by his entrepreneurial spirit, Mark applied tea-bagging technology to what West Indians call “bush tea.” Today, Dalgety Teas has over 30 variants of herbal teas, which are sold in the UK’s top supermarket chains, including Tesco, Sainsbury, and Asda. Mark also exports his delicious teas to numerous European countries, South Korea, and China. His latest venture, which hit the global market in 2020-21, was the commissioning of Dalgety Ghana Ltd, which has begun market penetration of the African continent with its 1.5 billion inhabitants. Check out www.dalgety.co for more information about Dalgety Teas.

Dr. Afrin Naz is Dr. Foster’s guest on this episode of Fostering Solutions. Dr. Naz is an Associate Professor at the Computer Science and Information Systems department at West Virginia University, Beckley campus. She is also the regional co-director of WVU Center for Excellence in STEM Education. She received her PhD degree in Computer Science from the University of North Texas. She received more than 26 grants and authored numerous conference and journal papers. Dr. Naz is the Google Ambassador in West Virginia and arranged 6 face to face and online Computer Science workshops for k12 teachers at West Virginia. She is the founding Director of STEM Summer Academy in West Virginia and has also organized more than 12 workshops and camps for K-12 teachers and students. She serves as the Division Chair of the Computers in Education division of American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). She served on the Strategic Committee of West Virginia Department of Education. She is the director of West Virginia affiliate of NCWIT (National Center of Women and Information Technology), an ABET IDEAL scholar and West Virginia TECH Golden Bear Scholar. Dr. Naz is also the founding director of EMPOWERS (Establishing Mentoring Pipeline of Women through Education and Research in STEM).