Chlo'e I. Edwards, MPP, RYT-200, SEL*F

Chlo'e Edwards is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Transformative Changes. She provides overall strategic and operational leadership to power the organization’s mission to challenge the status quo in the pursuit of justice and human liberation. 

With over a decade of experience, the epicenter of her career has been public service. She works to center the needs and aspirations of historically marginalized communities to shift power to people in the social justice movement space. After working across diverse industries at the local, state, and national level, she is an expert in intersectionality. Currently, she is the Policy Director at New Virginia Majority, Adjunct Faculty of General Education and Social Justice at Southern New Hampshire University, the DMV Youth Slam Team Coach and Youth Poet Laureate Advisor at Words, Beats, and Life, and is a certified yoga teacher, social emotional learning facilitator, and healing-centered engagement practitioner.

In community, she founded Virginia’s first-ever Racial Truth & Reconciliation Week, which was recognized by Governor Ralph Northam and evolved into the Racial Truth & Reconciliation Virginia Campaign in 2020 and helped lead efforts to recognize racism as a public health crisis, making the state the first state in the south in 2021. Chlo’e has been recognized as a Richmond History Maker by The Valentine, earned the  Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children’s Media Award, accepted the YWCA Outstanding Women Leadership Award, earned Style Weekly’s top 40 Under 40, and was featured as RVA Mic Share's top 34 Black women trailblazers.

Chlo'e holds a Master of Public Policy in Leadership from Liberty University and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Social Justice from Hollins University. She has participated in various leadership development programs, including the University of Richmond’s Bonner Center for Community Engagement Program, the Virginia Progressive Leadership Project, and the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute for Political Emerging Leaders Program.

Carissa Henry is the Policy Consultant at Transformative Changes, where she works to bridge the policy and people gap through participatory policymaking strategies and community-based action research. In this role, she builds collective power with various stakeholders, including clients, community members, public representatives, coalitions, nonprofits, and agencies to respond to the needs and aspirations of communities

With over a decade of experience in healthcare, Carissa has led pivotal initiatives that advance policy and promote community health and well-being. Previously, she managed a team that implemented quality improvement programs for the Virginia Department of Corrections, ensuring compliance with patient safety standards and improving healthcare services across multiple prison facilities. 

She spent several years working to coordinate care for Medicaid recipients through the integration of physical health, behavioral health, and social services to increase access to housing, food security, and transportation. Additionally, she is a strong advocate for substance use prevention policies through her work with local coalitions.

She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) from George Washington University and is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Public Health (DrPH). Her diverse certifications, including Community Resource Specialist (CRS), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), and Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM), centers a strong foundation in healthcare and project management.

In community, Carissa co-founded Mental Health Boxes, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the mental health of Black girls. She is passionate about fostering equity, inclusion, and community-driven solutions that empower historically marginalized communities . In her free time, she is a mother to three children and enjoys having game nights with her family.