Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies

Rheneisha Robertson, MPH- Executive Director

Rheneisha Robertson joined IWES as the Director of Programs after Hurricane Katrina in December 2005 and became the Executive Director of the organization in 2007. Prior to this, she served as Director of Care Services for a local HIV/AIDS serving non-profit organization, providing oversight of HIV/AIDS primary medical care and case management services, and as lead counselor with the Teen Parent Services program, an Illinois Department of Health program to assist teen parents through the provision of social services and support. Mrs. Robertson has prior experience with IWES, serving as Program Coordinator of Adolescent Health Programs (2000-2002). She received a Master of Public Health in Health Education/ Communication and Maternal Child Health from Tulane University School of Public Health (2001) and her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Xavier University of LA (1999). Rheneisha returned to New Orleans post-Katrina with a commitment to engage in community-centered and driven recovery efforts that reflect and address issues impacting women and youth, particularly among women and youth of color and disenfranchised communities.  She is a proud native of New Orleans and mother of two.

Lisa Richardson, PhD- Director of Research and Development

Dr. Richardson joined the Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies as the interim Executive Director during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and currently serves as the Director of Research & Development. During her graduate studies, Dr. Richardson worked with IWES as a consultant, evaluator and Adolescent Advisory Board member while completing her doctorate from the University of New Orleans in Urban Studies and co-Directing a school-based program, Students at the Center. In 2002 Dr. Richardson was invited to serve as a Visiting Professor at Florida State University in the Urban and Regional Planning Department, and went on to an Assistant Professorship at California State University Northridge. While an Assistant Professor she was dually appointed in Pan-African Studies Department and the Urban Studies Department where she taught and array of courses, including Social Policy and Environmental Justice, Black Child Development, and Equity and Diversity in Schools. Dr. Richardson’s research interests emphasize community development, urban education, social justice movements, and public health disparities, particularly HIV infection in the African American community.

Jennifer L Glick, MPH- Program Director

As Director of Programs, working primarily with the MAP program, Jennifer takes the lead in program design, evaluation and reporting.  Born and raised in the Philadelphia suburbs, Jennifer moved to New Orleans in 2004 after time spent living in New York City, East Africa, and Western Washington State.  Jennifer received her MPH from Tulane University and her BA from NYU.  Jennifer believes that sexuality can be a major source of liberation or oppression for individuals and communities and strives to facilitate the liberation.

Maisha B. Joshua- Chief Financial Officer

Maisha Joshua joined IWES as the Chief Financial Officer in August of 2007. Prior to that, she worked as a financial consultant for IWES and other non-profit and for profit organizations. Ms. Joshua is in the process of attaining a Masters of Business Administration, focusing on Management Information Systems, at University of New Orleans. Her educational background is a Degree in Communications/Advertising at Loyola University of New Orleans. Prior to Ms. Joshua’s work with IWES, she spent a lot of her career engaged in a family retail coffee business in her community (2000 – 2005). She also worked with Leadership, Education, and Athletics in Partnership in New Haven, CT working as a Program Coordinator of a Computer Center.  Her commitments are focused on achieving positive academic and social outcomes with children living in high poverty urban neighborhoods using multimedia devices and techniques to interact with people that the urban youth would not normally come in contact with, resulting in bridging gaps that exists within communities which are sometimes divided.

Michele Jean-Pierre M.P.H.-Program Coordinator

Michele is a Consultant in the areas of Management and Public Health.  She is an innovative professional with 25 years of administrative and management experience including the recruitment of personnel, fiscal monitoring, program and budget development. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES), Public Health Leadership Institute (Class 12), and has received certification from the Community Health Systems Development Institute of the University of Georgia (2004). Her professional career included: serving as Statewide Program and Implementation Manager for the Louisiana State University Health Science Center: School of Public Health Tobacco Control Initiative; Program Director for the Center for Community Capacity of the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI); Program Director of the Louisiana Turning Point Partnership, a Robert Wood Johnson nationally funded initiative, whose mission was to transform and strengthen the public health system in the United States by making it more community-based and collaborative. Other professional endeavors included Program Evaluator for the LSU Health Science Center Juvenile Corrections Program, Community Outreach Coordinator for the National Cancer Institute, and New Orleans Coordinator for the Southeastern & Southwest Louisiana Area Health Education Center.

S. Mandisa Moore- AED/New Voices Gulf Coast Fellow

S. Mandisa Moore is a 23 year old black radical feminist and black lesbian.  She has lived in New Orleans for more than thirteen years, but was born in the Bronx. S. Mandisa is IWES’ New Voices Gulf Coast Fellow. Her part-time work includes community organizing support and outreach assistance for IWES’s programs, particularly coordination for the YOC Taskforce; facilitation for the School-Based Health Clinic project; sexual health literacy conversations and education provision;  and youth organizing and leadership development support. S. Mandisa is also an active member of community-based groups such as INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence; the New Orleans Women’s Health & Justice Initiative (of which she is also a part-time Fellow), the Fyre Youth Squad;  and the New Orleans Tenant’s Rights Union.  In 2006,  she completed her undergraduate degree in History at Loyola University. She is interested in addressing intersectional forms of oppression and ways to collectively fight them, actively choosing not to engage her time and energy in fighting monocausal strategies to end oppression.

Kandice Doley- Program Coordinator

After graduating from the University of Miami in 2006 with a BS in Marketing, Kandice spent time traveling in South Africa, then moved to New York City to work in public relations and marketing. She is a native of New Orleans, born and bred in the uptown area. Kandice returned to New Orleans and joined IWES in May 2008 as the Administrative Assistant in an effort to serve and help rebuild the community she calls home. She is now the program coordinator for the Sexual & Reproductive Health Advocacy Project, working to empower marginalized and underserved women, their families and their communities. Kandice plans to attend law school in the fall of 2009.

Iman Shervington- Media Consultant

Iman Shervington is a graduate film student at Columbia University pursuing her Masters of Fine Arts. Although her ultimate desire is to be a director/screenwriter of narrative and non-narrative films, she also shoots, designs, and edits her own work. While developing her graduate thesis, she is concurrently a Media Consultant for IWES MAP program working with local high school youth to develop media projects to advocate for the prevention of HIV/AIDS within their communities. She is also a videographer/editor for IWES projects and events.

Gabrielle Freels- Youth Coordinator

Gabrielle “Gabby” Freels is the Youth Coordinator of the MAP program. After being a member of the Map program for three years, Gabby has taken on new roles with IWES and MAP. She is also very involved in school and the community. She is the Southern Region Vice-President of the Louisiana State DECA, and was the President of the local DECA chapter at McDonogh 35. In her community she is part of the St. Peter Claver youth ministry and a member of the council. She shows her talent by singing in the young adult choir at the church. Gabby is a leader and a youth mentor who loves to serve her community and peers. Gabrielle will be attending Xavier University as a freshman in the Fall.