The Honorable Regina Ashford Barrow
Senator, Louisiana State Senate
The Honorable Regina Ashford Barrow
In 2005, Soror Regina Ashford Barrow was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives as the Louisiana State Representative for District 29 and then re-elected to serve her third consecutive term as the State Representative for District 29 in 2011. As a Representative, Senator Barrow passed several timely pieces of legislation, including ACT 264, which provides National Guard members who re-enlist the opportunity to receive free college tuition up to a doctoral degree. She also ushered through ACT 98, which created a new economic development district for the North Baton Rouge area. In 2015, she was elected to the Louisiana State Senate.
Senator Barrow is a graduate and Fellow of the Flemming Fellow Leadership Institute and the Council of State Government-Center for Advancement of Leadership. She is the state director for Women in Government and Women in Legislature Lobby and the regional chair for the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.
Rhona Bennett
Singer/Songwrite, Actress, Author & Life Coach
Rhona Bennett
Soror Rhona Bennett is an acclaimed member of En Vogue and known by some as “Miss R&B". She is a Chicago, IL native. Bennett embraces a 21st-century approach to the fusion of her two passions: entertainment and "Personal Power" life coaching. She is the creator of the original web-based broadcast Perspective's Corner with Rhona 'Rho’ Bennett and co-hosts the podcast Music Wise with Bindu DeKnock. Soror Bennett also owns the product and service companies Butterfly In Flight, Incorporated, and Operation 11, LLC, and the online coaching school Personal Power University.
Dr. Laurie Jean Carter
Educator, Author, Army Veteran & Activist
Dr. Laurie Jean Carter
Soror Laurie Jean Carter enlisted in the U.S. Army soon after high school and settled in Fort Campbell, KY, after receiving an honorable discharge. She earned a B.A. and M.A. in Languages and Literature at Austin Peay State University and a Doctorate of Philosophy at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She also completed an MFA in Creative Writing CNF at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She was the Mellon Foundation Endowed Chair of English and Foreign Languages at Hampton University.
Dr. Carter has published several personal essays and articles in anthologies and journals. Her memoir Crave: Sojourn of a Hungry Soul was published with Etruscan Press in November 2015, and her latest book, Other Than Honorable: A Soldier's Confession, was released in May of 2022.
Dr. Carter is also a motivational speaker and has given keynote addresses on women's issues, women in the military, domestic violence, and turning personal pain into narrative. Most recently, she presented at West Point to address sexual harassment and assault in the military.
Edna Cummings
Retired U.S. Army Colonel and Army Reserve Ambassador
Edna Cummings
Soror Edna Cummings had a 25-year military extensive career leading her to senior-level positions at Georgetown University, the Pentagon, and NORAD/USNORTHCOM in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She worked to bring recognition to the all-black WWII Women's Army Corps unit, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, also known as the Six Triple Eight. As a citizen advocate, she raised funds for the 6888th monument and co-produced an award-winning documentary about the unit. She championed the effort with Congress to enact passage of the Six Triple Eight Congressional Gold Medal Act. On March 14, 2022, President Biden signed the legislation, awarding the 6888th the nation's highest civilian honor. Among the many other military and civic recognitions she has earned, in March 2020, Col. Cummings was inducted into the Army Women's Foundation Hall of Fame, and the Military Officers Association of America selected her as one of its national Changemakers MOAA – Edna Cummings – MOAA Changemaker. In July 2022, she received the NAACP's Jesse Brown Leadership Award.
Col. Cummings is a former member of ASU's Foundation Board of Directors, wherein she established the Warrior Fund for veterans and their children. She is a current member of the Military Advisory Board of the History Makers, the nation's largest African American video oral history archive. She is also an Army Reserve Ambassador for Maryland, a volunteer special government employee designation equivalent to a Major General (two-star) in the Armed Forces. In this capacity, she advances Army ROTC scholarships for reserve duty opportunities and promotes awareness of the Army Reserve, its goals, and objectives.