BALTIMORE, MD —More than 600 guests gathered Saturday for the Inaugural Regional Director’s Reception celebrating Dr. Tonja L. Ringgold, the newly installed 36th North Atlantic Regional Director of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®, and to hear her vision for the historic region she will lead.
Ringgold used the inaugural reception to introduce members of her R.I.S.E. Administration (“raising impact through service”) and outline priorities for the North Atlantic Region, which stretches from Maryland and Washington, D.C., through New England.
The new role is the latest chapter in a life and career deeply connected to Maryland. A Charles County native, Ringgold came to Baltimore to attend Morgan State University and has since made Baltimore City’s 45th Legislative District her home. She was initiated into the Alpha Delta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha in 1982 and earned both her bachelor’s degree in psychology and doctorate in urban educational leadership and social policy analysis from Morgan, along with graduate degrees from the University of Baltimore and University of Maryland Global Campus.
Her Alpha Delta roots span four generations of her family. Her cousin, Mary Anita Short Wheatley, was a charter member of the chapter; her mother, Mary Jane Briscoe Short, was initiated in 1959; and Ringgold’s daughter, Ashley R. Davy, followed in 2011.
Ringgold went on to build more than three decades of leadership in higher education, including service as Assistant Secretary for Higher Education for the State of Maryland, vice president for academic affairs, vice president for student affairs and campus dean. She later served as president of Baltimore’s Epsilon Omega Chapter, the first graduate chapter in the North Atlantic Region.
In July, more than four decades after her own initiation at Morgan State, Ringgold was installed as the 36th North Atlantic Regional Director during the sorority’s 72nd Biennial International Convention in Las Vegas.
A R.I.S.E. Administration
Saturday’s reception offered a look at how Ringgold plans to use that leadership.
During the program, she announced members of her regional leadership team who will serve as part of the R.I.S.E. Administration and outlined several areas of focus for her tenure, under a broader vision of “Champions Rise.”
Civic engagement will be among those priorities. Ringgold challenged members to register at least eight people to vote, take at least eight people to the polls and encourage others to participate in the electoral process—turning the region’s collective reach into direct civic action.
Maryland Leaders Join the Celebration
The more than 600 guests included a cross-section of Maryland’s political, civic and community leadership, as well as eight former North Atlantic Regional Directors, known as the region’s “Living Legends.”
Among those in attendance were Vanessa Atterbeary, Democratic nominee for Howard County Executive; former Maryland State Sen. Delores Kelley; former Baltimore City Comptroller Joan Pratt; and Shani Moore, sister of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore—all members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®.
Howard County Executive Calvin Ball and Ryan Turner, Democratic nominee for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 41, both members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated®, were also in attendance, along with Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland Chair Del. N. Scott Phillips and Del. Malcolm P. Ruff, Esq., both members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated®.
More Than $100,000 Raised for Education
The celebration also generated a significant philanthropic investment, raising more than $100,000 for the R.I.S.E. Leadership Development Legacy Endowment through the North Atlantic Region Educational Advancement Foundation (NAR EAF) to support leadership development and educational advancement.
For the hundreds gathered Saturday, the reception celebrated Ringgold’s journey to regional leadership. But it also offered a first look at what comes next.
With her R.I.S.E. leadership team introduced, priorities established and more than $100,000 invested in its leadership development legacy, Ringgold begins her tenure with a clear charge: turning the energy of the celebration into service and impact across the North Atlantic Region.
