Patrick & Henry Community College Board added four new members: Sean Adkins, Belinda Bryant, Robert Foster, and Dr. Shana LeGrant. These members were appointed by their respective localities to fill vacancies that arose last year.
Adkins is the director of Economic Development for Patrick County. His career has almost entirely been spent as a public servant for non-profits and local governments in the fields of community and economic development. He earned his undergraduate degree in Business/Organizational Studies from the University of Connecticut, his Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the University of Miami, and originally came to Virginia for the PhD program in Public Policy at Virginia Tech.
Bryant received her Bachelor of Science, with a major in Social Work, from Longwood University through New College Institute. She graduated from PHCC in 2016 with an Associate in Arts and Science (General Studies) with a minor in Human Services and is currently employed at HopeTree Family Services as a Regional Director for their DDM (Developmental Disabilities Ministry) program. She travels to four group homes within a two-hour radius from Martinsville.
Foster is a native of Henry Count and attended Patrick Henry Community College earning a Certificate in Architectural Drafting and Associate Degree in General Studies before transferring to Radford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Probation and Parole in 1988. He has been employed with the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice for over thirty years, serving as a Probation Officer, Probation Supervisor, Court Service Unit Director and beginning in 2011 serving as the Regional Program Manager for the Western Region of the Commonwealth.
Dr. LeGrant is a Technical Assistance Associate at the North Carolina Early Learning Network, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. She has two decades of successful experience in providing support and training to preschool through fifth grade teachers across the state of North Carolina. Dr. LeGrant holds a B.S. in Elementary Education, an M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction, an Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instruction, and a Doctorate in Education. Her research revolves around teacher self-efficacy for delivering literacy instruction to students in early childhood classrooms, grades preschool through second grade.
Adkins was appointed by Patrick County to fill the unexpired term of Dr. Clyde DeLoach. He will be eligible for his first full four-year term in 2023.
Bryant, Foster, and Dr. LeGrant were appointed to represent Henry County and began their first four-year term in July 2022.