3 minute read
Dr. Shanelle Benson Reid
Years ago, when Shanelle Benson Reid was a teenager in Southern California, she never could have envisioned the life she would be living today. She had dreams of becoming a doctor — a pediatrician — but when she became a mom at a young age, she had to re-work those dreams a bit.
She always knew, though, that learning was the key to everything, so she was determined to continue her education.
“I drove a school bus for 10 years because it’s a split shift. I could work in the morning, go to school during the day, and then go get the children after school,” Shanelle said.
It wasn’t until her son started having trouble academically that she decided to pursue a career in education.
“The only way to help him,” Shanelle said, “was to learn about education.”
So she did, earning her credentials to teach special education to all ages in California.
When her career as a teacher took off, she realized she had a lot to offer all stakeholders in education. Teachers were asking her how she kept her students quiet and on-task. Parents relied on her to explain the many acronyms and jargon associated with education, and principals wanted to know how she connected so easily with guardians and got them involved in their children’s education.
She started to toy with the idea of becoming a consultant. At first, she would speak anywhere — at churches to meet with families, and to different groups who were asking for information.
But she soon began toying with the idea of getting her doctorate. After all, Shanelle had always wanted to be a doctor; this was just in a different field.
“Someone told me when you put the alphabet after your name, people will listen,” she said.
So that’s what Shanelle did, eventually adding “Ph.D.” after her name.
While pursuing her doctorate, Shanelle decided to move her family to the Syracuse area in order to shield her children from gang violence that was so prevalent in Southern California. This meant flying coast-to-coast for six years as she completed the requirements for her doctorate.
Since earning her doctorate in 2010, Shanelle started her own company, ACCESS Global Group, and has worked with many organizations and school districts across the country.
Most often, she works with an equity task force within a district, which is comprised of people from the community, administrators, including superintendents, and people who are invested in the lives of young people, in order to look at different areas that need attention, including curriculum, code of conduct, graduation rates, or even how members of the school community are being addressed.
Sometimes, Shanelle said, districts just need someone to give an outsider’s perspective, one that’s not clouded by emotion.
“By being able to remove myself from the district and take a view from the balcony, I can usually see some of the blind spots,” she said.
While her job might be different with each school district or organization Shanelle takes on, her philosophy is almost always the same, she said.
“My goal is helping them to understand the importance of relationships,” she said. “I think I give a perspective that I think many people haven’t considered. Everything I do, when it comes to work, whether it be a school district or a company, it’s about the relationships.”
Since August 2018, Reid has been expanding her company with the help of her husband, Todd R. Reid, Sr., a long-time dental technician. Together, they’ve created ACCESS Dental Laboratories, a full-service, light manufacturing and tech company that specializes in dental restorations. They are hoping to open this summer, while bringing around 50 jobs to the southside of Syracuse.
Shanelle will rely on her husband’s expertise for the dental lab, but for her, everything her company provides comes back to the same idea.
“I don’t know if I believe in anything more than education,” she said. “Education is the be-all and end-all. Learning is the key to a lot of the ills that plague our community. Having people who understand the importance of education will uplift and transform our community.” SWM
