Dr. Rogeair Purnell launched RDP Consulting in 2009 to offer nonprofit and philanthropic leaders culturally competent, equity-driven, asset-based research, evaluation, and coaching. 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 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, prevent teen pregnancy and 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 dog, Naya.