About Us - Bridging Equity Gaps

Our Mission

Bridging Equity Gaps is committed to building capacity to improve social and institutional systems for socially disadvantaged, excluded, or marginalized population groups through various strategic opportunities that address equity, leadership, community enrichment, educational enrichment, health, and well-being!

Our Story

Bridging Equity Gaps was founded by Karen Reed, CEO, during the tumultuous year of 2020. During the pandemic, a cadre of highly-skilled, seasoned experts and leaders in their fields expressed interest in providing consulting services to help individuals and organizations improve their abilities to address some long-term equity issues. Our consulting team members are passionate, dedicated, and devoted to providing highly effective services to empower societal changes for individuals, organizations, and communities. Individually Bridging Equity Gaps consultants leverage around 25 plus years of specialized service experience.

Karen Reed, M.A., CDE

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Karen Reed, M.A., CDE is the Founder and CEO of Bridging Equity Gaps LLC, an equity, policy, advocacy, and leadership firm. Ms. Reed is a recognized leader that ushered in Virginia’s health equity movement efforts. She was instrumental in creating an agency-wide plan to introduce health equity and social determinants of health. Further, she authored and co-authored health equity strategic resources and tools and created presentations for various audiences’ government, educational, private for-profit, non—profit, faith-based, and community organizations. Ms. Reed has presented on national award-winning equity initiatives at national, statewide, and local conferences. Ms. Reed is a sought-after, highly effective consultant that provides consulting services in various settings and customizes her content to meet the requesting organization’s needs.

FRANK PENDLETON, M.ED.

Educational Equity Consultant

Mr. Frank Pendleton, affectionately known as “Mr. P,” a preacher & teacher and seasoned expert on creating an inclusive school culture, is an experienced Highly Distinguished Educator and Dean of Students with 30 years of service from the District of Columbia, Public School System. Mr. “P” has received numerous recognitions to include: Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, Brookland School Teacher of the Year, and Outstanding American Teacher. Mr. P is known for engaging students in critical thinking and employing innovative techniques to support student and community learning. His efforts are achieved by engaging students, parents, and collaborative partners through an educational equity lens, focusing on positive reinforcement, modeling, leadership, and acceptance.

During his early years, Mr. P’s love of learning was influenced by a strong family circle of educators! The passion embraced by his mom, an educator of 36 years, encouraged his career interest as a youth. Although he initially embarked on other career interest areas, he quickly returned to his first love, education!

Vanessa Womack, MBA

Equity Consultant

Vanessa Womack is a skilled facilitator in leadership, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), soft skills, strategic planning for boards, and team dynamics. As an experienced course designer, she developed a LinkedIn Learning course, “Managing A Diverse Team,” launched in 2018. The audio course on Listenable, “Practicing DEI Can Improve Organizational Culture,” launched in 2020. Ms. Womack is astute in maximizing training using various remote technologies.

She is a BoardSource Certified Governance Consultant and has conducted governance training in Virginia, D.C., and North Carolina. Vanessa’s community engagement and leadership roles included a former president of the board of directors of Virginia Heroes Incorporated and a former advisory council member for the Virginia Commonwealth University – Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute Minority Political Leadership Institute and Initiatives of Change.

ANDREA COLES ARTHUR, CFRE

Superior Grant Writing, Facilitating, Speaking, Fundraising, Strategic Planning

Currently responsible for managing $2.84 million in federal funding. Tasks include leadership in researching, drafting, and submitting grant proposals. Further work includes serving as project lead for funded projects, ensuring all project deliverables are met and serving as Lead Staff for site visits by funding agencies. Also, previously responsible for raising more than $29 million in federal and state grants/contracts, special events, and corporate sponsorships for various Association projects and initiatives.

REXFORD ANSON-DWAMENA

GIS Epidemiologist

Rexford Anson-Dwamena graduated with Masters in Public Health (MPH) from Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS). Rexford uses Epidemiological methods, procedures, and statistical techniques and research designs to identify High Priority Areas by applying geospatial techniques (GIS software). His expertise essentially lies in predictive modeling, spatial and temporal analysis and data management. He is familiar with a wide range of geo/statistical software and programs.

Rexford has also endowed to help discover the need for assessment methodologies that identify well delimited areas where adverse health outcomes could be effectively and efficiently addressed by developing what has come to be termed Local Area Targeting and Analysis (LATA) concept. Reframing Community Health Related Issues. LATA reframe the discussion of community health concerns by focusing on local concerns that are often overlooked by more global statistical approaches. Health information and analysis often emphasizes similarities across regions of like defined populations, whereas LATA will emphasize differences across regions of neighborhoods and communities.