Founder
Dr. Chiquita D. Howard-Bostic was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. She began serving the community at the age of fourteen as a Mayor Summer Youth Employee in City Hall. Within four years, she had volunteered at several community organizations as a grant writer and an advocate for marginalized youth and adults.
By age 21, she was hired as the youngest executive director of human services in the City of Buffalo. In 2003, Howard-Bostic relocated to Virginia to extend her graduate-level education and pursue a career in academia.
In WV, Howard-Bostic merged her goal to provide leadership initiatives in at-risk communities. Since 2017, Howard-Bostic has worked with the Help Bridge team to train and support youth, exectives, and organizational teams around the world.
INSPIRING MINDS AND CREATING IMPACT!
Dr. Howard-Bostic received a Ph.D. in Sociology, teaching certificate in Women’s Studies, and a Race and Social Policy research certification at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She earned a master’s degree in urban planning and bachelor's degree in legal studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Howard-Bostic is an Integrative Wellness Academy (IWA) certified life coach and a licensed qualified administrator of Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). Howard-Bostic is also a certified art theripist. Howard-Bostic is a former college associate vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion and director of institutional assessment. She has also served as an executive director of housing and human services and associate community planner in Buffalo, New York.
LEADING THROUGH ACTION!
Dr. Howard-Bostic has taught online and face-to-face courses in the academic disciplines of sociology, criminal justice studies, psychology, and communications (over 15 different academic courses). She promotes teaching methods that center learning. Howard-Bostic also inspires students to advance their professional skills and to obtain employment in the areas of criminal justice and social work.
EMPOWERING LEARNING AND DRIVING CHANGE!
Dr. Howard-Bostic’s research has advanced the study of social stratification, online teaching pedagogy, cross-cultural motivations for aggression, and emotive-based treatment for perpetrators and victims of mutually performed domestic violence. Dr. Howard-Bostic has presented research at Harvard University, two international forums at Oxford University, and at other prestigious forums around the US and abroad. She has received grants to support international research on gender and domestic violence. She has also presented ground-breaking, motivational, empowering research.
SHARING WORDS TO INSPIRE LEADERS!
Howard-Bostic has published several manuscripts including a book chapter titled, "Aggression and Violence in Teen Girls," in Black Girls and Adolescents: Facing Life Challenges. Another article, "Is Mutual Violent Combat (MVC) A Gender-Neutral Conceptualization of Intimate Partner Violence?" was published in Conference of the International Journal of Arts and Sciences. She also published "Women's Emotive Responses and Female-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence" in the Journal of International Criminal Justice Research. The manuscript "A Hybrid Learner-Centered Pedagogy" was published in the Journal of the East Coast Colleges Social Science Association. In addition, Howard-Bostic co-published The Handbook of General Sociology.
ENGAGING TO TRANSFORM COMMUNITIES!
Dr. Howard-Bostic facilitates service learning projects, community-based youth programs, and international learning initiatives. For over fifteen years, she has generated social change as a university administrator and a community developer. She has participated in international projects in Brazil, Liberia, Cuba, Jamaica, and Vancouver. She has been a phenomenal mentor and Girl Scout troop leader. She also serves as a role model to her students. Students accompany Howard-Bostic with service learning projects.