: About Me

Denise P. Meridith is currently the CEO/President of Denise Meridith Consultants Inc. (DMCI), a community and public relations firm, and the CEO of The Leadership Consortium (TLC), a non-profit organization, which recruits and develops leaders of color. This New York native has over 30 years of program development/management and supervisory experience, 11 years of community work in Arizona (including having established the Greater Phoenix Black Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Tourism Alliance), and a life-long commitment to minority community viability and economic development, particularly in the recreation, hospitality and tourism industries. Her forte includes lobbying at local and Federal level; partnership development; technical writing; conflict and crisis management; and human, cultural and natural resources development. She is adept at helping organizations get established, get connected with customers and constituents, and to maintain a skilled, motivated workforce.

Meridith served 29 years in the Federal government. After being the first professional woman hired by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), she had many management positions in six states, and became the first woman BLM Deputy Director in Washington, DC in 1992. She is a well-known public figure in Arizona, having retired from the government after seven years as the BLM Arizona State Director State Director in Arizona in 2002. She has received many awards from local governments, business organizations and non-profit group. She received the first-ever BLM Legend Award. Her career is chronicled in the recently released autobiographyThoughts While Chillin'.

Meridith has lived the last 11 years in Phoenix. She enjoys public speaking (a popular speaker for government and corporate groups), writing (in addition to her book, she is a regular columnist for the Phoenix Business Journal) and showing dogs (Cairn terriers).

My passion is ...

Communications

I know too much about ...

the impacts of discrimination

My parents always told me ...

education is the key to success

My childhood ambition ...

to be a veterinarian

My favorite memory ...

our family vacations

Why I write ...

to get people to say "I never thought of that!"

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

anything that provides more insight into why we are the way we are

My first job ...

wildlife biologist

My best moment ...

receiving "Denise Meridith Day" recognition in the City of Phoenix on September 21, 2001

My inspiration ...

my parents' achievements despite the odds

Business > Leadership Strategies Black women CEOs share their secrets for success

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Whether it be tourists left on snowbound, ill-equipped planes or soldiers left in harm's way in ill-equipped vehicles, the issue of taking (or avoiding) responsibility has been a hot topic the past year. Several speakers at the recent "Women of Power Summit," sponsored by Black Enterprise Magazine, discussed how accepting responsibility for one's work, career and community is critical to business success. Over 600 women of color from around the country convened at the Biltmore Resort in Phoenix in February for this second annual opportunity to build relationships with fellow executives and...

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