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Doneisha Posey, J.D. ’14, is a co-founder of Indianapolis’s Women Equity Brunch, or WE Brunch. The gender pay gap, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, infant mortality and maternal health, women’s health justice, and women’s entrepreneurship may seem like heavy topics to tackle over brunch, but these are issues facing women everywhere and need to be addressed. Posey founded WE Brunch in fall 2021 with her colleague, Amanda Bonilla, vice chancellor for diversity, equity, belonging, and community engagement at Ivy Tech Community College.

Dean Karen E. Bravo received the State Office of the Treasurer’s Sentinel of the Vault award during the March 5 WE Brunch event.

“We wanted to design a safe space for women to celebrate and build relationships with each other,” Posey said, “the perfect occasion for brunch!” Posey and Bonilla had both worked in metropolitan Indianapolis for over a decade and had entirely separate support networks that needed to network. “We also realized that people were trying to find their way back into in-person networking events post-pandemic.”

Posey previously served as vice president of diversity, equity, and belonging at Ivy Tech; as legal advisor to the Governor’s Commission on Minority and Women Business Enterprises; and as deputy director and general counsel at the Indiana Civil Rights Commission. She now is vice president and general counsel at Black Onyx Management, a Black-owned applied research and management consultancy that focuses on leveraging an organization’s mission and goals to ensure equity for all communities, especially for Black and other historically marginalized communities. In this role, she oversees the DEI consultancy. The firm’s Accompliceship in Action program helps organization move from allies, or those who make statements, to accomplices, or those who take action.

“The overarching goal is to make our communities better places to live, work and do business,” Posey said. “We believe that diversity, equity and inclusion is a corporate responsibility.”

In addition, Posey gives her talents back to IU McKinney by serving as an adjunct professor, teaching courses on housing discrimination and segregation, and race and the law. “I truly enjoy getting to know the future of our legal profession and helping to shape their idea of what it means to be a positive changemaker for our communities,” Posey said. “By leveraging the power and privilege we have as lawyers, judges, law makers, and business leaders, we have the ability to advance the fight for a more equitable society and meaningful progress. My students keep me grounded in this work and they challenge me every day to do a little more to continue the fight!”