Deena Hayes has over 15 years of experience as a community organizer. Her training experience includes community based organizing as well as institutional organizing. She is currently training with several anti-racist organizations presenting an in- depth analysis on the impact of systemic and historically constructed racism on contemporary systems and institutions across the United States, including Alaska.
Her institutional work has been primarily in the areas of Social Services/Health and Human Services, public/private education, Higher Education, Judicial/Disproportionate Minority Contact initiatives, public health and non-profits. She was initially elected to the Guilford County Board of Education in 2002 and was re-elected in 2006, 2010. She currently chairs the Achievement Gap, School Safety Committee and the Historically Underutilized Business Advisory Committee for Guilford County Schools. She serves on the board of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, a project of Sit-In Movement, Inc. and the Ole Asheboro Street Neighborhood Association and the Guilford Gang Commission. Deena is a former Human Relations Commissioner for the City of Greensboro and has received numerous awards and citations for outstanding leadership. Deena lives with her family in Greensboro, N.C.