Donna Beegle, Ed.D, National Poverty Expert and Author,

Donna M. Beegle , Ed.D. is a nationally recognized public speaker, discussion leader, trainer, and author providing insights and strategies for working with people from poverty backgrounds.

Donna Beegle's inspiring story and work on ending poverty have been featured in newspapers around the nation, on local TV and on national broadcasts such as PBS. Her research with people from three generations of poverty, "Ending the Silence of Generational Poverty," is published in the Fall 2003 issue of the Talking Points Journal.

She is currently president of Communication Across Barriers, a consulting firm devoted to improving relationships and opportunities for all those devoted to success for people from poverty backgrounds.

Donna's personal history and her studies of communication, poverty, gender, and education were shared with several hundred people during her first visit to the Grand Traverse region, hosted in November 2006 by the Poverty Reduction Initiative. PRI was delighted to again host Donna during her return in May 2007, where she led a special "Secrets of Success" Opportunities Conference for more than 225 area friends and neighbors in poverty, and also hosted helping profession meetings with groups of health care, education, law and justice, and human service providers.

Dr. Beegle returns on Saturday May 31, 2008 to lead the 2nd annual "Secrets of Success" Opportunities Conference and a reunion breakfast for 2007 Opportunities Conference alumni. On Monday, June 2, Donna Beegle hosts a day-long PRI "Mentors + Navigators" outreach workshop for linking volunteer helpers with area individuals and families experiencing the hardships of poverty in Northwest Michigan.  She is planning a return visit in August 2008 as well.

Click here to learn more about Donna Beegle, her work, publications and Communication Across Barriers.