professional bio

Driven by purpose and grounded in practice, Leah Dozier Walker is the principal consultant and founder of Modern Impact Solutions, a strategic advising practice that provides tailored support to small and mid-sized mission-driven organizations, while also advising larger institutions on strategy, capacity-building, and leadership development.

As founder and principal consultant and Modern Impact Solutions, LLC, Leah has developed a culturally responsive messaging toolkit for wealth advisors at a major commercial bank, supported the launch of a national literacy initiative in partnership with BET, guided strategic planning and implementation for a local Boys & Girls Club, and provided executive coaching to nonprofit leaders and corporate executives alike.

Before founding her consultancy, Leah served as the inaugural Director of Equity and Community Engagement at the Virginia Department of Education, where she shaped education policy and professional learning to promote culturally responsive teaching. She later served as Executive Vice President at Waterford.org, a national early education nonprofit reaching more than 300,000 children across 43 states each year, where she led Strategy & Inclusion and spearheaded initiatives to expand access and equity in early learning.

A transformational leader, Leah has successfully driven strategic planning, managed cross-functional teams, pioneered responsive engagement strategies, and elevated public discourse around signature initiatives and programs. With more than twenty years of leadership across the human services portfolio, she has also served as a program administrator and policy advisor in the administrations of Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine, Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones, and Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, Ranking Member of the Education and Workforce Committee.

Leah is deeply committed to education and community leadership, serving as Trustee and Vice Chair for the Virginia Commonwealth University Foundation and on multiple advisory committees in education and human services. She has been recognized for her influence and leadership by Style Weekly and Virginia Commonwealth University, both of which named her to their annual “Power Lists.”

A proud HBCU graduate, Leah is a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE) and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Hampton University and a Master of Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. She resides in central Virginia with her two daughters and one feisty chihuahua.