Dominiqua M. Griffin, Ph.D.

Dr. Dominiqua Griffin was born and raised in the Bronx, with roots in Pensacola, FL, and Barbados. Her life experiences bring meaning to the phrase, "it takes a village to raise a child." Her family and community have had a profound influence on her work. Her family vacationed frequently, and the many road trips and visits to other countries are the reasons why she is so interested in being a global citizen. Her work reflects a need to foster community and advocate for historically underserved groups. This Bronx native combines her passion for counseling, multiculturalism, and international education to advance health-related systems domestically and internationally. Her research focused on school counseling in the Caribbean, school-family-community partnerships, and influencing mental health and education policy.
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Dr. Griffin recently founded NS Walker Global, a consulting business that provides mental health strategy to organizations, and she works at a private counseling practice in the Washington, DC area. ​In private practice, she provides counseling services to children, adolescents, and adults. Dr. Griffin is the visionary behind Black Women PhDs®, founded in 2017, which focuses on supporting women throughout their doctoral journey and creating space for a holistic approach to scholarship. She was a political appointee under the Biden-Harris Administration, where she served as a policy advisor to the Secretary of HHS and focused on SAMHSA, Medicaid, all behavioral health, gun violence prevention, and other health-related social needs. She worked at the National Institutes of Health- National Cancer Institute as an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow. She has held positions in education and policy, including a legislative fellow in the U.S. Senate, a tenure-track professor, and a school counselor. Her research led to her consulting with the Barbados Ministry of Education and its national school counseling association. She has presented on numerous panels, such as Facebook (now Meta), and was the keynote speaker at Clarkson University. She has over 15 invited scholarly talks, 20+ presentations, and six publications.
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Dr. Griffin obtained her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision, with a Dual Title in Comparative and International Education from The Pennsylvania State University. Her Master’s is in School Psychology and Counseling Services with a concentration in Counseling and Guidance from Howard University, and she has a B.A. in Sociology with a minor in African American Studies from SUNY University at Buffalo. Lastly, Dr. Griffin serves her community as a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
