Patricia Russell McCloud is the Chief Institutional Engagement Officer for PPDG. She leads engagement with the 101 Historically Black Colleges and University through which she has extensive experience as a guest lecturer, visiting profession and Convocation Speaker.
As a member of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO), she studied at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. She earned her Juris Doctorate degree at Howard University, School of Law, Washington, DC. Prior to embarking upon her speaking career, Russell-McCloud was an attorney with the Federal Communications Commission, Chief, Complaints Branch, Broadcast Bureau, Washington, DC for ten years. Then she decided to follow her true passion which was to be a business entrepreneur and global professional orator. Born in Indianapolis, IN, and graduating from Kentucky State University she knew that her true career connection was to prepare meaningful presentations for diverse audiences, and to meet them at their point of need.
She has received many honors, including being presented more than 300 keys to American cities. She has served as the 11th National President of The Links, Inc., and the National Parliamentarian to the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She has been named as one of the top five business motivators in the country by Black Enterprise Magazine; identified as one of the top 10 speakers in America.
Russell-McCloud is a “visual speaking experience.” With more than 20 years on the lecture circuit, she is categorized as being one of the nation’s best. Her speaking style is engaging, highly substantive, well-researched, pertinent to her audiences, and entertaining, whether for the public or private sector
A resident of Atlanta, Georgia, Russell-McCloud is married to Bishop E. Earl McCloud, Jr., the 127th elected and consecrated Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.