For African Americans to become involved in seeking employment and/or advancement in their current careers through the networking process.  This involvement will keep our community strong and build an upstanding African American population.

ORGANIZATION  (CODES OF CONDUCT)

*Commitment of individuals

*Strong organizational capabilities

*Consensus among members

*Focused priorities with noticeable impacts

*Pursuit of excellence

*Can Do Attitude

Stephanie is a native from Flint, Michigan and a graduate with a BA in Psychology from Michigan State University and a MA in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix. Stephanie is a Nationally Certified Victim Specialist (CA) and Nationally Certified in Volunteer Administration (CVA).

Stephanie has a career that has spanned over 20 years in case management, victim advocacy, crisis response, program management, volunteer administration and grant writing. Stephanie’s positions have ranged from working with Child Protective Services, Maricopa County Juvenile and Superior Court, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Surprise Fire Department, Peoria Police Department and Phoenix Fire Department.

Stephanie has a passion in seeing people succeed and having established avenues to obtain their goals. As the President of AANA, Stephanie hopes to establish opportunities for people of color in their desired fields of profession.

Donna is co-founder of DRA Consulting Services LLC. She began her mediation and consulting business in 1985 working for nonprofit and state agencies. Throughout her career, Donna has developed and implemented courses and programs that target issues related to high conflict resolution, communication skills building, divorce and family custody matters, workplace/domestic violence for Arizona state and nonprofit agencies, and served as an expert witness in family court.

She earned a master’s degree in agency psychology from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley Colorado, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Regis College, Denver, Colorado. Donna received leadership training certified program from Cornell University. She is a certified practitioner in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the EQ-i2.0 and EQ360, as well as a certified court mediator.

She is a founding member and vice president of African American Network Association (AANA), a 501(c)3 Arizona nonprofit organization. Donna is active in the community and has served as board member with Arizona Foster Care Review, chairwoman for the City of Scottsdale-Human Services Commission and Maricopa Association of Government-Human Services Coordinating Committee, and former board president with Scottsdale Prevention Institute.

Background and Education

Lawton Connelly is originally from Philadelphia, PA. He received a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Management Computer Information Systems, from Norfolk State University in Norfolk, VA in 1994. In 1996 he received a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A) from LaSalle University in Philadelphia, PA. He obtained his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Michigan State University School of Law in 2000.

Experience

Connelly worked as an associate at Gregan and Associates in Mesa, Arizona from 2002-2005, and as a partner from 2005-2017 covering cases involving Family Law and Criminal Defense. In January 2017, Lawton Connelly started his own firm, Connelly Law Office PLLC.