Lareatha H. Clay
Secretary | Dallas, TexasLareatha H. Clay’s professional experience includes more than 12 years in management roles with AT&T, and 6 years as Managing Partner of Omni Business Enterprises, Inc. (an Orlando-based event merchandising firm). During her 20+ years as an independent Training and H.R. Consultant with PRM Consulting, she has worked with large corporations (e.g., The Dallas Morning News, AT&T), small businesses, government entities (e.g. Harris County, Houston I.S.D., the State of Texas), and many nonprofit organizations.
While residing in Orlando, Florida, Ms. Clay’s background included service as a member of the City of Orlando’s Historic Preservation Board, Trustee of the Orlando Public Library, board member of the Downtown Orlando Partnership and founding member of the Shankleville (Texas) Historical Society, Inc. (www.shankleville.org). She also chaired the “Mayor’s Challenge Task Force for Minority Business Development,” which led to the founding of the Alliance for Minority Business Development, Inc. in 1993. The Alliance continued to support small and minority businesses throughout the Orlando area until 2009.
This Beaumont native currently lives in Dallas, where she continues her involvement with the Shankleville Community, including the founding of the Texas Purple Hull Pea Festival in 2014. Lareatha served as a Commissioner on the Texas Historical Commission from 2001 to 2007, where she established a paid internship program that offers college students from under-represented ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds the opportunity to work at the THC during the summer. She continues to work with the Commission as a former Chair and current Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission, Inc.
In 2017, Ms. Clay and her siblings founded Clay History and Education Services, Inc. as a vehicle for offering expanded history and preservation educational opportunities in partnership with other organizations having similar missions. The signature event of CHES is the annual Aya Symposium, a “multidisciplinary exploration of Texas freedom colonies.”
Lareatha currently serves on the Boards of the Dallas Historical Society and Foodways Texas. She is also a past President (two terms) of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League Innovators and a former Board member of the Dallas Arboretum, the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA), and the University of Texas Ex Students’ Association, as well as a member of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF), Dallas HR, the DFW OD Network, and the Leadership Texas Class of 2001.
In 2020, Lareatha was awarded the Ruth E. Lester Lifetime Achievement Award by the Texas Historical Commission for her preservation and Texas history education efforts and accomplishments.
Ms. Clay earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from The University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Arts degree in Human Resource Development Leadership from the same institution and is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).