philanthropist – Purple Hair And Converse

Giovanni N. Dortch, when I first saw the name I aligned it with her iconic namesake. And I’ve found that it is a more than valid correlation. Giovanni, neé GioD is an Entrepreneur, Activist, Philanthropist, Womanist, Spiritualist, Mentor, and Coach, Scholar, Author, Pedagogue, Filmmaker, Domestic Goddess, Wife, Mother…

Giovanni Scholar

How she manages to find the time to be anything else while being in the dissertation stage of pursuing her Ph.D is beyond me… I can barely walk and blow bubbles at the same time… I kid, of course!

But she is, she is doing everything while completing her Ph.D in Sociology from the University of North Texas. Her work is focused on African Immigrants in the United States and Identity Formation and or Retention. How do they navigate the immigration process? What is it like being an immigrant of color? How do they identify or continue to identify? Is their identity defined by ethnicity, nationalism, or race? Very interesting work on navigating the process of immigrating and how it shapes identity… Although I’m not an immigrant, I am relative to more than a few and that whole process… Just whew! And identity, Listen Lindas and Lonnies! People of Color, don’t we know something about that identity…Or we learning.

Giovanni, Scholar (photo credit: Quinn McGowan)

Giovanni Wife and Mother

And while she is in pursuit of her continued advancement in academia she continues to foster and model friendship, parenting, and love gracefully. Married for 2 ½ years to her best-friend and prom date (it really is one of the sweetest real-life love stories) and mothering 3 teenage boys– one in public school, one in charter school, and one being homeschooled… YAZZZ! Wipe your brow honey, she is doing that, seemingly with ease (and it’s not always easy, but she makes it look that way). Her career, scholarly pursuits, and family oft overlap as she lives out her politics and very full and colourful life. One awesome overlap is Co-Ownership with her husband, Quinn McGowan aka The Mighty Quinn of Iron Mic Coalition(but this ain’t about him, I’ll do that another time…) in Legends Press Comics. Her role as Business Administration means keeping the business end of thing in balance… And if you hadn’t figured out by now… This Libra woman knows something about balance and keeping it together… Can you say “In touch with your star player…”

(Giovanni, Wife, Mother, Friend… photo credit/ artwork: Quinn McGowan)

Giovanni Entrepreneur

Which brings us to the business woman… As Owner and C.E.O of Zenzile’s (pronounced Zin. Zee.Lay) Way Consulting, Giovanni is leading the way in Public Speaking, Writing, Editing, Coaching, Diversity Training, Workshops and Corporate Communications with creative magic and keen insight. Through her company and aligned with her astrological nature, Giovanni will be launching her Luxe Libra Lifestyle brand (Coaching) in the upcoming month, which promotes “Better living through balance.” And has already embarked upon a partnership, The Scoop Divas, with Black Opal Media– a division of Harkins House Productions– offering on-site social media management and public relations… Meaning they can take our local events, GLOBAL! Somebody shout Gloowwwwray with me!!!

Giovanni Activist

And just when it looks like her plate could get no fuller, Giovanni adds just one mo’ thang! Community Service, again the GioD lives her politics and she does so seamlessly: The Activist Mother, The Business-Partner Wife, The Student and The Educator… Giovanni has currently picked up the mantle and is working on several projects in Memphis, including Memphis TEEN SUMMIT, a live series based on BET’s popular nineties TV Show that launched the career of Ananda. MTS is also part of an effort of supporting and welcoming the Cutting Edge Youth Summit , a project she’s been involved with for several years, to Memphis (February, 2015) And at the same damn time she has partnered to organize a push to bring FREE Yoga classes to under-served areas in and around Memphis through the Memphis Urban Yoga Initiative… Oh did I mention, she’s a YOGI! Yazzz! That too!