A “born here” Oregonian, Dr. LM Alaiyo “Dr. A” Foster, EdD, NCC, QMHP, CCHW (she/they) fell in love with philanthropy when she was a child. Inspired by her parents’ insistence on volunteerism at an early age, she quickly developed a deep passion for charitable work, education, and justice work. Dr. A, or “Prof. Dr. A” as her students have come to call her, considers it a blessing to come full circle to visionary executive leadership, including spreading her wings into entrepreneurship as “theghostexec”. Working as an Adjunct Professor at PSU in Black Studies is among those life circumstances she considers an honor, particularly as one of the first 6 to graduate in 2004 from PSU with that degree.
An earned BA in Black Studies with a focus in Community Development from Portland State University, along with a second BS in Sociology, and graduate degrees in Education & Community Counseling (PSU), Nonprofit Management and Development (Capella University) and a doctorate in Leadership along with Administration credentials from Lewis and Clark College Graduate School of Education & Counseling makes Dr. A both astute at working with students but also holding them accountable. Exploring their affinity for peer-based education models, Dr. Foster’s 30-year career has afforded experiences locally and nationally in educational leadership & program development and executive leadership in the public health and philanthropic sectors.
Research Interests
Doctoral dissertation: Dreaming Bititi’s Harvest®: An exploratory study of Afrocentric rites of passage as a means of mitigating HIV transmission among metropolitan, African American, adolescent females available at Dreaming Bititi's Harvest®: An exploratory study of Afrocentric rites of passage as a means of mitigating HIV transmission among metropolitan, African American, adolescent females - ProQuest
Other topics: History of African American Education in the U.S., Black female leadership, Black girlhood and womanhood, Black educational achievement, Afrocentric Rites of passage, HIV prevention