WS Chronicle

For nearly 30 years as a District Court judge, the Honorable Denise Hartsfield served the people of Forsyth County. Now Hartsfield, who retired in 2021, is turning her focus to leading the  African American Leadership Society. 

Established in the early ‘90s by the United Way of Forsyth County (UWFC) as the African American Leadership Initiative and rebranded as the African American Leadership Society (AALS) in 2020, the mission of the initiative is to positively impact people of color through philanthropy, advocacy, and empowered leadership. AALS is comprised of philanthropic advocates for equity in our community.

As board chair, Hartsfield will be tasked with helping ensure the AALS lives up to its mission. 

Hartsfield’s involvement with the AALS began a few months ago when she received word that Dr. Antonia Monk Richburg, president and CEO of the United Way of Forsyth County, was looking for someone to lead the AALS board. In the beginning Hartsfield was part of the search party, tasked with finding the new chair, but soon thereafter she was being considered for the position. 

Hartsfield said Cheryl Lindsay, director of human resources and inclusion/diversity for HanesBrands and founder of the local nonprofit Red H.E.A.R.R.T. (Help Educate and Reduce Risk Today), approached her with the idea. Lindsay is a UWFC board member. 

“She asked me would I think about it and I said I would,” Hartsfield said. 

While thinking it over, Hartsfield said she saw the position as an opportunity to impact change in the community without some of the limitations she had while serving as a District Court judge. “I’ve never been in a position where I could do something of this magnitude, particularly when money is involved, because there was always a conflict of interest. But at the same token, United Way and other organizations were always important to me because of the work that I did in the juvenile court,” Hartsfield explained. 

“I was consistently looking for alternatives to incarceration, particularly for our young people, and programs that could help them and their families move away from generational poverty, so I always knew United Way was a change agent in this community… So when I thought about it, I said this is a great time for me to give back and put a new spin on what I did from the bench and I accepted the challenge of charging the African American Leadership Society.”

When discussing her plans for the AALS and the continued fight to end generational poverty, Harstfield said the fight begins with creating more affordable housing. Hartsfield also mentioned that something needs to be done about the eviction process. Statewide in 2022, courts saw almost 149,000 eviction cases, a rate of more than 10 per 100 occupied rental units. Eviction claims in small claims court increased by more than 70% between 2021 and 2022.

“Housing insecurity is at the very top of that list. I still encounter too many kids who don’t have a bed to sleep in at night. I’ve met too many people who have been evicted,” Hartsfield continued. “Bankruptcy goes away; Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, those evictions don’t go away. That means virtually you are rendered homeless. Unless you can find somebody who is renting out property, you have nowhere to go. We need more affordable housing, but before we get to affordable housing we need to really look at how we are evicting people and putting them in a permanent position to be homeless.” 

The AALS will host a kickoff event on Thursday, Oct. 5, from 6-8 p.m. at the Delta Fine Arts Center, 2611 New Walkertown Road. Hartsfield said the event is open to all local nonprofits and individuals who are actively working to uplift the community. She said AALS will be putting a lot of emphasis on bringing organizations and people together. 

“I’m encouraging people to come who already have programs in place because we don’t want to reinvent the wheel,” she continued. “What we are looking to do is help existing programs with volunteers, with ideas, and expansion.”

For more information on the African American Leadership Society visit https://www.forsythunitedway.org/get-involved/affinity-groups/african-american-leadership-society/ .