Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd (affectionately known as Dr. Shetay) is a professor, Award-winning STEM+C equity scholar, TEDx speaker, nonprofit CEO, and Kingdompreneur that is igniting the power to prosper within women and underserved communities of color. She has 21+ years of experience in the information technology, education, and nonprofit sectors. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, with an emphasis in Career and Workforce Education, from the University of South Florida, and an M.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Career and Technical Education from Texas State University. She also holds master’s certificates in Project Management and Program Evaluation. As a former global training program manager, technical trainer, and IT consultant with Fortune 500 companies such as General Electric, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Dell Computers, she has led international projects across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific, and Japan.
Dr. Shetay serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies at Texas State University where she has been awarded nearly $3M in federal research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and U.S. Department of Agriculture. She also serves as the Director of the ACCEYSS (Association of Collaborative Communities Equipping Youth for STEEAAM Success) Research Lab (Award No. 1764404, $314,535, 12/1/2017-11/30/2020), which was initiated as one of 70 nationwide NSF INCLUDES design and development launch pilots (cohort 2) in 2017. In 2018, she founded the Counter-Life Herstories Conference to illuminate hidden truths about women of color’s experiences and career trajectories in STEM occupations from her research, which attracted nearly 400 girls across Central Texas. Dr. Shetay’s research lab is positioned as one of the top producers of evidence-based solutions and best practices with the potential to transform underserved communities in the Texas Innovation Corridor.
Dr. Shetay is a nationally recognized STEM+C equity scholar and academia leader with published works in refereed academic journals (e.g., The Journal of Negro Education, Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering), and recognition in the White House Fact Sheet for President Obama’s Computer Science for All Initiative. Most recently, she was recognized by the National Science Foundation as an early NSF CAREER scholar awardee for her research on broadening participation of Black and Hispanic women in the P-20 STEM+Computing (STEM+C) workforce pipeline (Award No. 2046079, $843,895, 2/1/2021-1/31/2026). As a sought-out expert in community and workforce development, Dr. Shetay has been an invited TEDx speaker, panelist, and presenter at international and national conferences including the International, Vocational, Education and Training Association, Association for Career and Technical Education, International Conference on Urban Education, Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and Race, Ethnicity, and Place.
Dr. Shetay is the Founder, President and CEO of The P2P Movement (P2P), which is a a faith-based nonprofit, public charity with tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (EIN: 38-4057454, DUNS: 081273876) headquartered in San Marcos, Texas. In partnership with Texas State University, P2P serves as the backbone organization and fiscal sponsor of the ACCEYSS Network and University-Community Resource Center located at 174 S. Guadalupe Street, Suite 105, San Marcos, TX 78666.
Dr. Shetay also considers herself as a Kingdom-minded entrpeneur (or Kingdompreneur) that is driven by her faith to garner resources and create innovative solutions to close the racial wealth gap in underresourced and underserved communities of color. She is passionate about sharing her story and personal journey to encourage and exhort women and girls to fulfill their God-given purpose in life. Along with her husband – Edward Lewis Hanserd, she serves as the Co-Owner of K Empowerment Group LLC with its holdings Kingdom Business Development Center and Heavenly Soundz Music. She is also the Founder of the Power 2 Prosper Summit, a women’s empowerment summit that empowers and equips women from all walks of life to fulfill their God-given purpose in business, ministry, and life.
