RDP CONSULTING
INFORM • INFLUENCE • INCITE
About RDP
Dr. Rogéair Purnell (Oakland, CA), November 2021. Photo by Bryon Malik.
Dr. Rogéair D. Purnell, President and CEO of RDP Consulting, is a researcher, evaluator, facilitator, and former grantmaker. She has designed, led and consulted on numerous high profile studies and projects focused on advancing opportunity, promoting success, and catalyzing change. She is leveraged for her ability to navigate diverse communities, boards, businesses, and industries, including K-16 education, philanthropic foundations, and governmental agencies. And her intellectual commitment to unbiased analyses strengthens partnerships and equips organizations with sound insights for establishing and achieving significant milestones. Prior to becoming a consultant, she worked for non- and for-profit organizations where she effectively managed difficult conversations and built consensus. She thrives when collaborating with her client partners to ensure justice.
Dr. Rogéair Purnell launched RDP Consulting in 2009 to offer culturally competent, equity driven, and asset-based research, evaluation, and coaching to nonprofit and philanthropic leaders. She brings over twenty-five years of professional experience as a program director, grantmaker, researcher, evaluator, and facilitator. As a director, she coordinated a program for 16 to 20-year-olds who had left high school to complete community college courses to earn both college credit and a high school diploma. As a program officer, she supported efforts to improve high school completion rates and postsecondary opportunities for low-income youth. As a research associate with both for- and non-profit research organizations, Dr. Purnell helped design and implement research on and evaluation of initiatives to improve employment and health, to prevent teen pregnancy, and to increase completion rates for community college students.
Dr. Purnell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Stanford University, as well as a master’s degree in social work and a doctoral degree in social work and social psychology from the University of Michigan. In 2008, she was selected as one of the 45 Faces of A Better Chance, an organization dedicated to substantially increasing the number of people of color who are capable of assuming positions of responsibility and leadership in U.S. society.
She is originally from Third Ward in Houston, Texas and has lived in Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington State, as well as Barcelona, Spain and Yokohama, Japan. She currently resides in Hayward, CA—the heart of the Bay—with her cat, Twinkle, and dog, Naya.
Dr. Purnell's Curriculum Vitae may be seen in PDF format here.
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Dr. Purnell is from Third Ward, Houston TX
Twinkle and Naya
Delta College Student Services Council Retreat, 2019
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Post-evaluation presentation at the Umoja XV Conference, 2019
Dual Enrollment Advisory Committee with co-facilitator, Dr. Naomi Castro, Director at Career Ladders Project (third from left), March 3, 2016