CWBN Dare to Lead Roundtable

The CWBN is a proud supporter of the ATHENA Leadership Model. 

For over 30 years we have presented the ATHENA Leadership Award to local individuals who possess these qualities. In celebration of Women's History Month, we are featuring several local women leaders who have demonstrated these characteristics in their leadership style. Join us as we hear their stories and celebrate their accomplishments as WOMEN in LEADERSHIP.
 

Crystal Kimpson Roberts
Chief of Equity, Information, and Student Services
Johnston County Public Schools

Crystal Kimpson Roberts is Chief of Equity, Information and Student Services for the Johnston County Public Schools.  Crystal previously served as the district’s Chief of Communication and Engagement, which was an expansion of her previous role as Public Information Officer for the district from 2000-2008. Her current role is an intersection of her communications expertise with teaching and promoting anti-racism, cultural proficiency, and equity.

A South Carolina native, Crystal is an Honors Mass Media graduate of Hampton (VA) University. She also holds a Certificate in Communications from Duke University’s Continuing Education division and a Certificate of Corporate Communication from Cornell University.

Crystal’s career in communications spans 30 years, starting as a daily newspaper reporter with the Virginia-based Daily Press, Inc. She then transitioned to public relations and has served four school districts in Virginia and North Carolina in communication management roles. She has also served as a Public Relations Coordinator for the Durham Police Department; a communications consultant for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction; Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications at St. Augustine’s College; and, a Communications Specialist for Johnston-Lee-Harnett Community Action.

Crystal presents workshops, corporate communications presentations, teaches, writes freelance, and has served as a part-time instructor for Johnston Community College. She served the business community as the 2015 Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Smithfield-Selma Chamber of Commerce and participated on the Smithfield-Selma Senior High School Public Relations committee. She has also served on the Smithfield-Selma Senior High School Parent Advisory Council and her church’s non-profit Community Empowerment Center at First Missionary Baptist Church. She holds industry memberships in the Raleigh Public Relations Society—for which she served two terms as secretary, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Public Relations Society of America. She is also a member of the First Missionary Baptist Church, Smithfield; and. the Johnston County chapter of the NAACP. Crystal is the 2016 ATHENA Leadership Award recipient.

Crystal is the mother of three sons, Matthew, Adam, and Malachi, and has one grandson Andre Michael.

Marilyn R. Pearson, M.D.
Director of Public Health
Johnston County

Dr. Marilyn Pearson has been director of the Johnston County Public Health Department since 2005, and supervisor of the agency’s physicians and mid-level providers since 1998. In the community, she serves on several committees and boards, including Project Access and the Johnston County Partnership for Children. In 2015, she was named NC Health Director of the Year. And in 2014, the Johnston County branch of the NAACP honored her with its Trumpet of Conscience Legacy Award. Dr. Pearson is the 2020 ATHENA Leadership Award recipient.