Deena Hayes-Greene '04 is the Co-Founder and Director of the Racial Equity Institute (REI), an alliance of trainers, organizers, and institutional leaders who work to create racial equity within society.
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Deena currently serves as a senior trainer and Managing Director for REI and has worked for over 18 years as a trainer and consultant, focusing on the structure and impacts of race and racism within systems, institutions, and organizations. She has presented keynote speeches, workshops, and seminars across the nation to organizations interested in addressing and eliminating racial and ethnic inequities. She served as a Human Relations Commissioner for the City of Greensboro and board chair for the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. Deena was elected to five terms on the Guilford County School Board, where she is the current chair of the board, and has chaired the Achievement Gap Committee, the Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Advisory Committee, and the School Safety/Gang Education Committee. In September 2019, Deena was honored at the Council of Urban Boards of Education meeting and named the Benjamin E. Mays Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Deena currently serves as a member of the Disproportionate Minority Contact (RED) (Subcommittee) of the North Carolina State Advisory Group on Juvenile Justice (SAG). Recently, Ms. Hayes-Greene testified to the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. The Commission was established in January by President Trump to “better the profession of law enforcement” by hearing from civil rights organizations, civic leaders, defense bar associations, victim’s rights organizations, and other community voices outside of law enforcement. Deena majored in African-American Studies and Community & Justice Studies at Guilford. She received the College's Alumni Excellence Award in 2021.