 Educator, Entrepreneur, Author, & Speaker “Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once.” -Lillian Dickson Margaret Meade once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”. Dr. Melissa Chester is a part of that small group of thoughtful people, committed to serving and impacting the lives of those in our community. Dr. Melissa Noland Chester is a former professor who taught on the collegiate level for approximately fifteen years. She is committed to serving and impacting the lives of others by improving the situations of others through consulting, facilitation, and motivational speaking. Her dedication and passion to assist individuals and organizations is evident in the many seminars, workshops, andprograms she has participated in and implemented with local, regional, and national nonprofit organizations, and businesses. Dr. Melissa Chester is the Co-Founder and CEO of Black Educators Rock, Inc., a national nonprofit which boasts over 155,000 minority educators its Facebook group. BER, Inc.’s goal is to further the academic success of our nation’s minority students by closing the “attitude gap” that exists among educators and students. It accomplishes this goal through its local chapters, partnerships, and collaborations with other local, regional, and national nonprofits and their flagship event, the ROCK Conference. The ROCK Conference is a summer professional development conference and hosts the top educational consultants and educators in the country. BER, Inc. Dr. Chester also runs the Black Educators Rock Network and its three Internet and talk radio stations, Enlighten Media, Elevate Media, and EmpoWEr Media. She hosts a weekly show on EmpoWEr Media entitled Doc’s Success Formula: Solutions to Personal, Professional, & Relationship Puzzles. BER, Inc. is also in the process of creating BER Publishing, a platform to create educational materials that correctly reflects today’s society. Dr. Chester attained her B.S. & Master’s degrees from Florida A&M University (FAMU) in Secondary Physical Education and Sport Management. She attained her Ph.D. in Sport Management from Florida State University (FSU). She has taught at several universities, including Florida A&M University, Florida State University, Grambling State University, University of North Florida, and online at Southern New Hampshire University. While residing and obtaining her degrees in Tallahassee, she was very active in the community. Some of her community outreach includes co-creating the grassroots program Positive Proof Mentoring at Raa Middle School, serving as event coordinator for the 1000 Men Rally, and working with the City of Tallahassee Parks & Recreation to create and present numerous programs, seminars, and workshops. Her volunteerism also includes The Black History Program at Dade Street Community Center (planning committee), The March on Wellness and Obesity Health Seminar (planning committee), Youth Teen Summit (presenter), YouthTalent Show (planning committee), and mentoring and tutoring preteen and teenage and college young ladies. She also owned and operated a convenience store & takeout restaurant near FAMU called the One Stop Shop. Dr. Chester currently resides in Jacksonville and is actively involved with many organizations and her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She also serves as the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) local board president for Jacksonville. Dr. Chester is also a board member of the nonprofit, The Center One Foundation, board member of Georgia Association of Alternative education (GAAE), board member of the Florida Recovery School of Jacksonville, Urban Education Symposium (UES) steering committee, and is a certified instructor for the national initiative known as Adult Mental Health First Aid (AMHFA). She has also served as the Assistant Program Manager for the Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program (a program that employed hundreds of youth), was a member of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund’s (JPEF) Community Advisory Team (CAT), served on theplanning committee for Operation Save Our Sons (a nonprofit for at-risk males), and assisted former Jacksonville Jaguar Donovin Darrius create and run his non-profit organization from 2011 to 2017. Dr. Melissa Chester is an Amazon 3x best selling co-author and has presented many seminars and workshops at numerous universities, businesses, nonprofit organizations, K-12 schools, including but not limited to the Urban League National Conference, the National Association of Black School Educators (NABSE) National Conference, the Working to extend anti-racist education (WE ARE) Conference, South Carolina State University, Communities in Schools, Duval Public Schools, and Bay County Public Schools. The topics she has spoken on include Poverty Mindset, Character Development, Increasing Self-Esteem, Mental Health Awareness, Personality Assessment, Communication & Conflict Resolution, Health and Physical Fitness, Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, and High school graduation/college preparation. Dr. Chester is currently a real estate broker and the Director of Training and Education at Premier Coast Realty, LLC and the Lead Instructor at Premier Coast Real Estate School, LLC. She is married to Dr. Albert Chester II and they have two sons, Aiden & Alex. Conference Website: www.rockconference.org 2019 ROCK Conference Recap:https://youtu.be/i8gfh7snqjc 2019 ROCK Conference Sessions Recap: https://youtu.be/SCRgrn9ICAg 2018 ROCK Conference Recap: https://youtu.be/4UsF83XSTqg Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlackEdRocks Instagram https://www.instagram.com/blackeducatorsrock/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/blackeducatorsrockinc/ Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/blackeducatorsrockinc.com
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