MEET DR. CHARMAINE TROY
Charmaine Troy Ph.D. is a speaker, author, strategist, first-generation student advocate, and educator with practical experience and academic training in access, equity, and inclusion. Her expertise focuses on expanding access among underrepresented populations, specifically first-generation students, and student success across primary through post-graduate education. She is currently the Associate Director for First-Generation Student Initiatives; where she leads Georgia Tech’s work in supporting the co-curricular success of first-generation college students. She also teaches Communication and Culture: First-Gen in Pop Culture in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, she served as Assistant Dean for First-Generation Student Success at Virginia Tech.
Born and raised in the rural town of Lumberton, North Carolina, Dr. Troy is a first-generation college graduate. She has served as a legislative intern at the North Carolina General Assembly where she worked with representatives and their constituents in areas of education, mental health, and juvenile justice. In 2011, she was selected by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy to participate in an international exchange program between Armenia and Turkey in an effort to promote grassroots civic engagement in education. Dr. Troy previously served as an advisory board member on the Gwinnett County Public Schools Community-Based Mentoring Program in Georgia. She also served as Vice Chairman of the Wake County Housing Authority Commission in North Carolina and Director of the Wake County Housing Finance Corporation (nonprofit). She was also the first African American to serve on the Board of Directors for the Montgomery County (VA) Economic Development Authority. Additionally, Dr. Troy is a founding member of the NASPA Black First-Gen Collective.
She is the recipient of the Bertha Pitts Campbell Special Scholarship in Education and the Delta Research and Educational Foundation Golden Anniversary Scholarship from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She also received the Educational and Charitable Foundation Graduate Fellowship for Graduate Studies from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Dr. Troy earned a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master's in Public Administration from North Carolina Central University, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Higher Education from Morgan State University.