Dr. Venus E. Evans-Winters
SCHOLAR ACTIVIST | AUTHOR | SPEAKER
Dr. Venus E. Evans-Winters is an author, researcher, and policy scholar. She is the Black Girls & Women's Research Initiatives Coordinator at the African American Policy Forum and a Visiting Professor of Education at The Ohio State University in the Department of Educational Studies. She is also the Founder of Planet Venus Institute and creator of The Planet Venus Mental Wealth Academy as well as the Write Like A Scholar program. She has also served as an expert on the state of Black school girls' psychosocial development and mental health on Pushout: A Documentary (Morris, 2019).
​Dr. Evans-Winters researches and teaches in the areas of Black feminist thought, critical race theory, educational policy, and qualitative inquiry.
With years of experience as a psychotherapist (View my profile on Psychology Today!) and a certified clinical trauma professional, Dr. Evans-Winters embraces resilience-building practices throughout her work. She is also a licensed school social worker and youth advocate with experience serving in South Africa and West Africa and participating in critical pedagogue (Paulo Freire) institutes across Europe, including Malta, Greece, and Spain.
Her
Work
As an activist scholar, her life work consists of documenting the lived experiences of girls and women and "bearing witness" to the struggles and resilience of youth of color in the United States and abroad. This President Obama White House invitee to a "Special Convening on Research on Women and Girls", published the second edition of her book "Teaching Black Girls: Resiliency in Urban Classrooms" in 2011, which discusses the intersections of race, class, and gender in educational research, policy, and praxis. Recently, Dr. Evans-Winters was an invited presenter and moderator at the United States of Women (USOW) Summit along with the former first lady Michelle Obama and other women social justice activists. Dr. Evans-Winters has been acknowledged as "100 Black Queens of Chicago" for her philanthropic work, and she was recognized by the Rastafarian Council of Chicago for her international service to women and girls (Hence, the title, Empress Dr. V).
​Dr. Evans-Winters is the author or co-author of several academic articles, book chapters, and books, including "Black Feminism in Qualitative Inquiry: A Mosaic for Writing Our Daughter's Bodies" and "Introduction to Qualitative Research". In her spare time, "Dr. V" enjoys social media, reality television, and pretending to be a runner.
book publications
(Evans-Winters, 2019)
(Jennifer Esposito & Venus Evans-Winters, 2021)
(Editors Venus Evans-Winters & Bettina Love, 2015)
(Editors Lori Patton-Davis, Venus Evans-Winters, & Charlotte Jacobs, 2022)
(Evans-Winters, 2011)
(Editors M. Billye Sankofa Waters, Venus Evans-Winters, & Bettina Love, 2018)
(Evans-Winters, 2005)
(Evans-Winters, 2020)
(Editors Venus Evans-Winters & Magaela Bethune, 2014)