Meet Doneisha
The rules were written somewhere we couldn't see.
So I learned them, all of them, and made a career of handing them over. I've sat on the bench as an administrative law judge, served as general counsel and deputy director of the Indiana Civil Rights Commission, led as a vice president at Ivy Tech Community College, and taught Race & the Law at the IU McKinney School of Law.
Then I did what I coach every woman to do: I bet on my own name. I founded Ascentra Strategies, a strategy firm serving mission-driven organizations nationally. When I coach you or take a stage, I'm speaking from the seat, not from theory.
Doneisha
attorney
judge
& CEO
professor
The record
My story
At 19, I founded the nonprofit El Colibrí and built a school in the Dominican Republic. I saw a gap, organized people and money around it, and built something that lasts.
I passed the Indiana bar exam while raising an eight-month-old daughter and five months pregnant with my son. Ambition and motherhood were never in conflict.
I'm bilingual and bicultural. Growing up in a multicultural family taught me early how systems sort people, and I bring that lens to every room, in English and Spanish.
Beyond the résumé
Ambition and a beautiful life.
I'm a mom of two, I love fashion, and I will always choose the trip. I believe women don't have to choose between power and a full life, and I build my work to prove it.
In print
Published perspective
Leadership in the Law, Indiana Lawyer
Early Career Achievement Award, IU McKinney
Diversity in Law Award, Indiana Lawyer
Forty Under 40, Indianapolis Business Journal
Drum Major for Justice Award, ICRC
Lawyer of the Year, Marion County Bar Association