“Some people arrive and make such a beautiful impact on your life,
you can barely remember what life was like without them.” ~ Anna Taylor
Meet the CEO
Sandra M. Strozier
“My true desire is that we can all find a passion within ourselves which leads us to true healing; and allows us to stop, think, and take action towards expanding our internal horizon.”
As an employee with the U. S. Department of Education, Sandra Strozier has coordinated conferences and meetings to increase public awareness of the various regulations and federal laws facilitated by the Department of Education and its jurisdictional authority and informed citizens of formal complaint procedures. She has worked with the Secretary’s Regional Representative’s Office to organize various conferences discussing sexual harassment, making our schools safe and the Read, Write, Now Program.
Living out a passion for youth development, Ms. Strozier developed a non-profit organization, DIVAS, Inc. – Divinely Inspired to Victoriously Achieve Success, Incorporated that focuses on assisting young people in realizing and displaying self-confidence, self-awareness, and improving family dynamics. She has written several grants to First Book (a non-profit that receives new books from various vendors to promote reading within inner city schools) and partnered with several agencies, foundations and Atlanta Metro area schools to increase the reading skills of students K-8.
She is a facilitator of evidence-based curriculum within the juvenile and family court systems of Georgia. Her true desire is that we all find within ourselves that passion which leads us to true healing; and allows us to stop, think, and take action towards expanding our internal horizon.
Ms. Strozier is a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) within Toastmasters International and a member of the Speakers Bureau. She has served in various leadership positions at the club and area levels.
Sandra is a native of Atlanta and has a degree in Urban Policy Studies (Planning and Economic Development) from Georgia State University. She is employed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Atlanta and facilitates various evidence-based curriculums within the juvenile court system in Metro Atlanta. Her passion is to assist families and youth in becoming whole within themselves as a unit by realizing and displaying self-confidence, self-awareness, and improving family dynamics.
Meet the Team
Founder/CEO/Independent Contractor Hope 4 Tomorrow, Inc.
Rufus Clemmons
“Assisting youth and young adults with leadership for over 17 years.”
Rufus is a Pike County native and he has been providing assistance to youth and young adults in many different forms of leadership as a volunteer, mentor, coach, consultant, facilitator, spiritual guide, and administrator for over seventeen years. He has a Bachelors in Business Administration with a background in Education and Psychology.
Contractor - Partner within community
Joy Tellis-Cooper
“My belief is that by self growth, I can help others to grow with me.”
Joy works as an Accountant for a global insurance company. She obtained her BA in Business Administration from Clark Atlanta University.
Joy has many endeavours and is always striving for improvement. She founded the non-profit organization Tellis Cooper Foundation in 2004. This organization helps many children and homeless individuals. Joy has a great background in schools and communities, and that lead her into to decision to become a motivational speaker to young girls, focusing on self-respect and leadership.
Contractor
Alan Thompson
“A man with a passion to help young people reach their full potential.”
Alan has been working with youth for over 30 years. His love for working with young people started while he was pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in Business at South Carolina State College.
Alan is a mentor, teacher and an Independent Contractor with the Dekalb County Juvenile Courts where he facilitates and monitors classes. He is trained for professional learning sessions on working with students with special needs, emotional and behavior disorders, crisis prevention, physical restraint training and motivational speaking.
Co-Facilitator/Contractor
David “Big Dave” Cuffie
“My love for training business professionals and at-risk youth reflects my heated passion for my audience to leave with understanding and knowledge that the potential to be great is only restricted by the limitations they allow to be placed on yourself.”
David has a Master of Business Administration degree from Valdosta State University. He is a motivational speaker, corporate trainer, certified customer service instructor, and adjunct professor.
David uses his diverse social educational background to impart the keys to success for overcoming barriers that everyone faces in their career. With his positive energy, sense of humour, and hands-on training, he provides a solid foundation for participants to embrace and empower challenges in life as long term career opportunities for personal enrichment and growth.
Contractor
Sharon J McMath
Born and raised in the city of Atlanta, Georgia Sharon McMath has made a name for herself by being a martyr for her community and for the lives of young children for over thirty years.
After attending the illustrious North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University, she began her career as a social worker for the Department of Family and Children’s Services. She started her career in one of the most difficult counties in the state of Georgia - Fulton County. She used her passion for children, helping her community, and serving justice to mistreated children to drive her career and move forward with helping her community in other ways. She volunteered at local food drives and served the homeless. She eventually progressed to a supervisor role in which she helped even more families and directed other junior social workers with her expertise.
After serving almost thirty years in the field, Sharon retired with honors. After taking a short break, she wanted to help children in other ways by becoming an infant teacher at a daycare. Her nurturing spirit and passion for kids gave her fulfillment in knowing that she is molding the youth for the future.
On the side, she spent her nights working with juvenile delinquents in the Atlanta, Dekalb area to keep them out of jail. Since 2012 she has been teaching a class called Thinking for a Change at the Dekalb County Courthouse about self-awareness, self-love, rights, and making the right choices in order to preserve their freedom and keep them on the right track.
Sharon J. McMath has dedicated her life to raising and motivating the youth in many ways. She is a woman of action, advocate of change, heroine for her community, mother and grandmother to many, and protector of love.
Intern
Celissa Gaston
“My passion is helping individuals become the best person they can be.”
With a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, Celissa was eager to learn more in assisting those involved within our justice system. She was given an opportunity to intern and shadow other facilitators within DIVAS, Incorporated when she found the glow that offered her purpose.
Celissa will be pursuing a Master’s Degree in Social Work. The decision to pursue that path came from working with DIVAS, Incorporated and being around mothers who lost their kids into DFCS custody as it relates to mental health and substance abuse. She knew then that she was put here to help people.
Contractor
T. Denise Humphrey
Theodora Denise Humphrey, born the sixth of ten children, on July 3, 1962 in Augusta, Georgia. Theodora (lovingly referred to as Nise or by most as Denise) was raised in East Orange, New Jersey for the first ten years of her life, and in 1972 her family moved back to August, Georgia where Denise lived until she graduated from high school at the Academy of Richmond County. In her 7th grade year Denise joined the band, wanting to play drums but Mr. Burton, the band director said drums were for boys and convinced her to play flute. Denise progressed very quickly on the flute and throughout junior high and high school she won many honors. Some of those honors included securing first chair in the All City, All County, and 10th District competitions. She played flute and piccolo in the concert and marching bands, as well as playing saxophone in the jazz band.
After high school Denise moved to Atlanta, Georgia where she attended a 6-week program to attain secretarial skills. She eventually landed what she thought would be a temporary job at the American Cancer Society. However, working at the American Cancer Society became a passion. As Denise worked her way up through many positions, learning as much as she could, she finally secured the position she most enjoyed in the National Relay For Life Business Unit; Training Manager. Denise worked on many initiatives in this position, but the most cherished one was diversity inclusion in Relay For Life. She staffed and led a volunteer and staff workgroup that created the Diversity module and video used all over the world.
Denise left the American Cancer Society in 2009 and started working with the DeKalb County Juvenile Court in 2010, where she currently works as a Judicial Assistant. This is where she made the acquaintance of Sandra Strozier and DIVAS, Inc. Denise’s passion has always been to help in some capacity, but mostly women and children to realize their ability to overcome adversity. Working with DIVAS, Inc. has given Denise the opportunity to help families with those challenges. Denise has been certified in several trainings; MRT, TREM, T4C, Wellness and Recovery, Strengthening Families, as well as Motivational Interviewing which is more of a technique than a training.
Denise enjoys spending time with friends and family, eating, dancing, listening to music, quiet time and any girly stuff. She is very silly and likes to laugh …. a lot! Denise has two sons; Hiram Atwater II and Sean Atwater, both currently residing in Stone Mountain with their mother.
