Our Founder

Leah Dozier Walker (She|Her)

Leader, strategist, speaker, and DEI practitioner, Leah Dozier Walker possesses a relentless drive to deliver organizational advancement and operational excellence. With a personal and professional dedication to impactful and inclusive results, Leah possesses more than twenty years of leadership experience across the human services portfolio.

A Record of Exceptional Public Service

A strategic change management leader, Leah served as Executive Vice President at Waterford.org, a national early education nonprofit reaching over 300,000 children across 43 states each year. There, she spearheaded the organization’s Strategy & Inclusion efforts, driving impactful initiatives to expand access and equity in early learning.

Leah previously served as the inaugural Director of Equity and Community Engagement at the Virginia Department of Education where she led education policy development and professional learning initiatives to advance culturally responsive educator practices.

Professional Expertise

As a sought after thought partner and public speaker, Leah is recognized for her communication savvy, impact driven leadership, community relations expertise and steadfast commitment to excellence. A transformational leader, she has successfully led strategic planning, managed cross functional teams, pioneered responsive engagement strategies, and amplified discourse on signature initiatives and programs across the non-profit, human services and education ecosystems.

Professional Bio

Leah Dozier Walker, Founder & Principal Consultant

Driven by purpose and grounded in practice, Leah Dozier Walker is the principal consultant and founder of Modern Impact Solutions, a strategic advising practice that provides tailored support to small and mid-sized mission-driven organizations, while also advising larger institutions on strategy, capacity-building, and leadership development.

As principal consultant, Leah has developed a culturally responsive messaging toolkit for wealth advisors at a major commercial bank, supported the launch of a national literacy initiative in partnership with BET, guided strategic planning and implementation for a local Boys & Girls Club, and provided executive coaching to nonprofit leaders and corporate executives alike.

Before founding her consultancy, Leah served as the inaugural Director of Equity and Community Engagement at the Virginia Department of Education, where she shaped education policy and professional learning to promote culturally responsive teaching. She later served as Executive Vice President at Waterford.org, a national early education nonprofit reaching more than 300,000 children across 43 states each year, where she led Strategy & Inclusion and spearheaded initiatives to expand access and equity in early learning.

A transformational leader, Leah has successfully driven strategic planning, managed cross-functional teams, pioneered responsive engagement strategies, and elevated public discourse around signature initiatives and programs. With more than twenty years of leadership across the human services portfolio, she has also served as a program administrator and policy advisor in the administrations of Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine, Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones, and Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, Ranking Member of the Education and Workforce Committee.

Leah is deeply committed to education and community leadership, serving as Trustee and Vice Chair for the Virginia Commonwealth University Foundation and on multiple advisory committees in education and human services. She has been recognized for her influence and leadership by Style Weekly and Virginia Commonwealth University, both of which named her to their annual “Power Lists.”

A proud HBCU graduate, Leah is a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE) and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Hampton University and a Master of Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. She resides in central Virginia with her two daughters and one feisty chihuahua.

Professional Committees

Trustee & Vice Chair: Virginia Commonwealth University Foundation
Expert Advisor: Equity in Virginia’s Public Education System: A Longitudinal Examination Spanning the Covid-19 Shutdown
National Stakeholder Committee Member: KnowledgeWorks - REMIQS (Robust & Equitable Measures to Inspire Quality Schools)
State Advisor: Intercultural Developmental Research Association's Equity Assistance Center (EAC)
Member: Strategic Engagement Advisory Council, School of Education - Virginia Commonwealth University
Member: Commonwealth Learning Partnership
Past Vice Chair: Governor’s Advisory Board for Service and Volunteerism
Past Member (ex-officio): Virginia Indian Advisory Board
Founder & Member: African American Superintendent's Advisory Council (Virginia)
Member: Virginia Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Education Practices Advisory Committee
Staff Lead & Report Co-Author: African American History Education Commission
Staff Lead & Member: Taskforce on Diversifying Virginia's Educator Pipeline.