{"id":58190,"date":"2025-02-14T15:40:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T20:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=58190"},"modified":"2025-02-14T15:40:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T20:40:05","slug":"emus-deanna-reed-on-top-50-list-of-women-leaders-in-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emus-deanna-reed-on-top-50-list-of-women-leaders-in-virginia\/","title":{"rendered":"EMU\u2019s Deanna Reed on Top 50 list of Women Leaders in Virginia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Harrisonburg Mayor <strong>Deanna Reed<\/strong>, director of alumni engagement and community connections at EMU, has been named among the Top 50 Women Leaders of Virginia for 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The list of luminaries, published online by Women We Admire on Feb. 10, features leaders who are \u201cinstrumental in shaping the state\u2019s continued growth and success.\u201d Women We Admire is a membership organization comprised of some of the most accomplished women executives and leaders across the U.S. and Canada, its <a href=\"https:\/\/thewomenweadmire.com\/about\/\">website<\/a> states. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read the full list of awardees here (Reed is at No. 49):&nbsp; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thewomenweadmire.com\/2025\/02\/the-top-50-women-leaders-of-virginia-for-2025\/\">thewomenweadmire.com\/2025\/02\/the-top-50-women-leaders-of-virginia-for-2025<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reed said she was honored and humbled to be selected for the list.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s truly amazing to be recognized as number 49 of 50 incredible women across the state who are making a difference and leading with passion and purpose,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m deeply grateful for this recognition and for all the amazing people and colleagues who have supported and inspired me along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The list recognizes Reed for her community service work through Precious Gems Academy, an afterschool mentorship program she cofounded, and her role as program director for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ontheroadcollaborative.com\/\">On The Road Collaborative<\/a>, a nonprofit that connects low-income youth with academic support, career enrichment classes and leadership development.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDriven by her love for her community and its children, she began attending city council meetings and was struck by the absence of female members at the time,\u201d the Top 50 article states. \u201cMotivated to create change, she decided to run for office&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A pioneering political leader, Reed was elected to Harrisonburg City Council in 2016 and was appointed mayor the following year. She is the first Black woman elected to the council and also the first to serve as mayor. In November, she was reelected to a fourth term, from 2025 to 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Harrisonburg native was named in 2018 to <em>Essence<\/em> magazine\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.essence.com\/news\/woke-100-women-2018\/#12276\">Woke 100<\/a>.\u201d She has been recognized by the Virginia Library of Congress as part of the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/edu.lva.virginia.gov\/changemakers\/strong-mw-2019\">Strong Men and Strong Women of Virginia History<\/a>,\u201d and honored with the 2015 Citizen of the Year Award by Harrisonburg-Rockingham County Commonwealth\u2019s Attorney Marsha Garst. She was EMU\u2019s commencement speaker in 2020 and has been an active contributor to campus life, participating in convocations and special events such as EMU\u2019s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations. In 2023, she joined EMU as its regional advancement director.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed, director of alumni engagement and community connections at EMU, has been named among the Top 50 Women Leaders of Virginia for 2025. The list of luminaries, <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emus-deanna-reed-on-top-50-list-of-women-leaders-in-virginia\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about EMU\u2019s Deanna Reed on Top 50 list of Women Leaders in Virginia<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":58191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583,17562,5642],"tags":[17837,17505,17812,18316,18317],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-58190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-digest","category-faculty-and-staff","tag-advancement","tag-alumni-and-parent-engagement","tag-deanna-reed","tag-top-50-women-leaders-of-virginia","tag-women-we-admire","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>EMU\u2019s Deanna Reed on Top 50 list of Women Leaders in Virginia - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emus-deanna-reed-on-top-50-list-of-women-leaders-in-virginia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EMU\u2019s Deanna Reed on Top 50 list of Women Leaders in Virginia - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed, director of alumni engagement and community connections at EMU, has been named among the Top 50 Women Leaders of Virginia for 2025. The list of luminaries,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emus-deanna-reed-on-top-50-list-of-women-leaders-in-virginia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-14T20:40:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-14T20:40:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/02\/14145001\/20231014-Homecoming_Royal-Women_RH-14.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emus-deanna-reed-on-top-50-list-of-women-leaders-in-virginia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emus-deanna-reed-on-top-50-list-of-women-leaders-in-virginia\/\",\"name\":\"EMU\u2019s Deanna Reed on Top 50 list of Women Leaders in Virginia - 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