Iya Motilewa Osunniyi (Tendai Paula Johnson) • Director of Domestic and International Programs – Tendai (Paula) Johnson is currently serving as Senior Program Associate/Consultant with ASSOCIATES FOR INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INC., Red Oak, Georgia, an educational management and consulting firm, providing formative and summative evaluations of federal grants and providing management and support training.
Her former HBCU experiences include Special Assistant to the President for Grants Management and Support at Shaw University, Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Research, Testing and Title III programs at Fayetteville State University, Special Assistant to the Chancellor with responsibilities for institutional effectiveness and assessment, Director of Institutional Research at Coppin State University and adjunct professor in the department of history at Morgan State University.
Other professional experiences include work in both public and private sectors. For numerous years Ms. Johnson worked as a corporate middle-level manager where she provided services to both vocational education and K-16 academic institutions. She has an extensive grant writing and management background that includes both national and international responsibilities and experiences. She is the former chair of the International Advisory Committee at Fayetteville State University.
A former graduate student (ABD) from the Morgan State University Department of History, Ms. Johnson’s concentration and area of interest is African and African Diaspora Studies. A graduate of Southern Illinois University and the University of Minnesota respectively, her MA in The History of African People prepared her for the rigors of the various professional positions she has held.
Her extensive international travel has provided her with rich and rewarding experiences to live, study and work in other cultures. Ms. Johnson is a critical thinker and motivated manager dedicated to the success and growth of historically Black colleges and universities. An initiated Priest of Osun, her education background in African and African Diaspora Studies coupled with extensive international travel have supported her commitment to the uplift of African people world -wide. Mother and grandmother are her greatest challenge and reward.