Bishop Marcia Dinkins
Ohio Interfaith Power and Light
Consecrated on October 11, 2020, Bishop Marcia L. Dinkins serves as founding prelate and CEO of Forever Changed Ministries, a nondenominational ministry without walls that seeks to break the sacred/secular divide between church and community. Bishop Marcia,” she is founder of Black Women Rising. BWR centers the voices of Black women and women of color on Healing for Change through a social justice lens using Teaching and Training that leads to Transformation. Bishop Marcia also serves as part-time Executive Director for Ohio Interfaith Power and Light.
A native of Detroit, Bishop Marcia owned and operated a medical and substance abuse facility serving unserved and underserved communities. She also the State contract to provide wrap-around, family preservation and reunification services to keep children from being placed in the foster care system and to reunite children in foster care with their families. Bishop Marcia was sworn in and appointed by the Wayne County Third Circuit Judicial Court as Court Appointed Special Advocate to represent the best interest of children in the child welfare system and has worked 23 years in the field of law specializing in family law, tort law and medical malpractice.
In 2013, Bishop Marcia to Toledo, Ohio where she served as Senior Organizer and Executive Director for Toledoans United for Social Action organizing a faith-based response on issues of racial and economic injustice, education and housing discrimination, environmental hazards, green jobs, and criminal justice reform. In 2016 Bishop Marcia led the “Free Bresha” national campaign with groups across the United States and Canada fighting for rehabilitation over incarceration for Bresha Meadows and juvenile offenders.
Bishop Marcia is currently a PH. D candidate at the Union College & University in Cincinnati, Ohio concentrating on Public Policy and Social Change with specialization in Women & Gender Studies. She currently holds an Associates of Arts from Oakland Community College, Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration and Policy. She has certifications in Cultural Competency & Humility, Forgiveness Therapy, Restorative Justice, Child welfare, and Executive Management Leadership. She is a certified Trauma Informed Approach and Restorative Justice Trainer. She has presented workshops and lectures on social justice at Case Western Reserve, Bowling Green University, and trained clergy across the state and with the American Baptist Leadership Academy on domestic abuse and safety planning. Bishop Marcia is known nationally for her work organizing clergy to engage on issues of healthcare, the social safety net, environmental and climate justice, racial, economic and gender justice and civic engagement.
Bishop was recognized as Sojourners Top Ten Leading Women Taking Charge in Organizing, named to the Foster Care Review Board, Toledo Schools Disciplinary Board and twice appointed to the Steering Committee for Strong Families and Safe Children Board.
Her commitment to God, and compassion His people, her determination to lift the least of these to a more equitable existence and her desire to meet people where they are in her preaching and teaching keeps Bishop Marcia Dinkins continuously serving from a place of humility and love.