Our CEO

Angela Patton Founder of Camp Diva Leadership Academy and CEO of Girls For A Change

Angela Patton is the Chief Executive Officer of Girls For A Change. Angela is an Ambassador for whom she calls “at-promise” (as opposed to “atrisk”) girls and a serial innovator committed to “Preparing Black girls for the world, and the world for Black Girls.”

In 2016, Patton led her national Board of Directors and staff to refocus and retool the program structure to reflect GFAC’s goal to work with Black girls more accurately. The organization can now disseminate its programs using GFAC’s unique, replicable approach.

Angela has been recognized in the local Richmond, Virginia, press as Top 40 Under 40 (2010), by a coalition of girl serving groups in 2015, by President Obama as a White House Champion of Change (2016), has received the Nonprofit Partner of the Year (2018 & 2023) from the Metropolitan Business League, and Richmond Times-Dispatch 2019 Person of the Year Honoree. In 2022, The International Alliance for Women recognized Angela as a World of Difference Awards winner in the Nonprofit/NGO Awardees category and in 2023 she was honored with the Grace E. Harris Leadership Award by Virginia Commonwealth University.

Angela has been an in-demand speaker at conferences and colleges/universities nationwide. She is also a published author. She co-authored the book Finding Her Voice: How black girls in white spaces can speak up & live their truth, with Faye Z. Belgrave, PhD and Ivy Belgrave. The book is available on Amazon, at Target, and many small, Black-owned bookstores across the country.

My Reason to Build "We need space and each other to center, affirm and amplify love and acceptance of ourselves."