Dr. Zoe Spencer, a beloved Professor at Virginia State University, is also an Emmy Award winning Writer, a highly sought after Speaker, Advisor/Strategist, Master Facilitator, and the CEO of Diverse Relations Group LLC (DRG). She brings a Ph.D. in Sociology with concentrations in Race, Class, and Gender Inequality and Urban Sociology, an M.S.W., and a B.A. from Howard University, as well as a Masterof Legal Studies (M.L.S.) Degree, with a concentration in Constitutional Law, from the distinguished Washington University St. Louis School of Law to the table. She established Diverse Relations Group LLC., a consulting firm that specializes in providing human, civil rights, and DEIJ strategies and advising, consulting, assessment, master facilitation and training around anti-racism, diversity, equity, justice, and inclusion within organizations, institutions, and corporate businesses, in order to expand her reach beyond the halls of academia. In each of her professional roles, she serves by committing her life’s work to addressing all forms of oppression and disparity, no matter the construct or manner in which they present.
In recognition of her commitment, in 2021 VSU’s President received and funded her proposal to establish The VSU Center for Policing Leadership and Social Justice (The Center). Through developing and facilitating immersive workshops, Dr. Spencer has built collaborative relationships between regional Police Chiefs, FBI leaders, the US Attorney’s Office Eastern District, students and award winning Community Leaders and Activists, that challenge and reshape historic perceptions that antagonize conflict between law enforcement and BIPOC communities, against the odds. In her role of CEO of DRG, Dr. Spencer was also appointed to serve as an Equity Advisor for White Men For Racial Justice (WMRJ), an organization of White male BCorp business owners, artists, educators, and other CEO’s, committed to anti-racism and racialjustice work that was created by co-founders Kevin Eppler and Jay Coen, the co-founder of B-Corp and the renowned basketball brand And 1.Her commitment to anti-oppression work is not limited to the classroom or the boardroom. She fearlessly serves as a frequent lecturer and keynote speaker in Level II, III, and IV Correctional facilities, regional jails, and juvenile facilities. She has investigated deaths and advocated for the families of victimsof state sponsored, to include officer-involved homicides and victims of the Castle Doctrine alike. She has also organized direct actions in protest of violations of human and civil rights, one of which is featured in Ava Duvernay’s Award Winning and critically acclaimed Documentary 13th.Her research, critical and creative work centers on providing socio-political analyses of race relations, “neo lynching,” and state sponsored violence in America. These works include, her Emmy Award winning spoken word piece Say Her Name; and her most recent scholarly publications: I Am Not Your Felon: Decoding the Trauma, Resilience, and Recovering Mothering of Formerly Incarcerated Black Women; Sassy Mouths, Unfettered Spirits, and the Neo-Lynching of Korryn Gaines and Sandra Bland:Conceptualizing Post Traumatic Slave Master Syndrome and the Familiar “Policing” of Black Women’s Resistance in Twenty-First-Century America, and Why Welcome Back Jim Crow: Jim Crow, Neo Lynching, and the Criminalization of the Right to Resist in 21st Century America all published in top tier industryjournals in disciplines that range from Criminology to Feminism. The wide range of her work, has afforded her the blessing of becoming a highly sought after presenter and lecturer with hundreds of professional presentations and many honors to her credit.Above all, she is a comrade committed to the Queens and Sistars from all races, identities, and spaces, who stand steady on the front lines of the raging battles against all forms of oppression, exploitation, injustice, and brutality-every day.