Rahdiah Barnes
Board Member, workforce development, and Diversity partnerships in New York
Rahdiah Barnes is the Community Partner Manager at EDSI and the immediate past President of the NY Chapter of The National Association of Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMICNY), the leading diversity organization for People of Color in the Communications Industry.
At EDSI she manages the Community Partner Program at WokForce1, an initiative of NYC Small Business Services.
During her previous 20-year career in the telecom industry, she worked for Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and Charter. As a top performer, she received prestigious awards including, The Presidents Club and The Achievers Cup for outstanding sales achievement.
After excelling in her sales roles, she transitioned into the field of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), where she has successfully developed and implemented impactful community outreach programs for a diverse range of organizations.
She is known as a change agent in designing cutting-edge workforce and partnership strategies. She has helped media companies plan, strategize, and execute DE&I initiatives and recruitment efforts
As the New York Chapter President of The NAMIC, Rahdiah oversaw committees that provided quality professional development programming geared to educate, & advocate for multi-ethnic diversity in the Communications industry. Under her leadership, her Chapter executed over 100 events and outreach initiatives, ranging from large-scale corporate events to intimate panel discussions and workshops. She particularly takes pride in creating impactful events that benefit marginalized communities.
She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from St. John’s University and credits the school for implementing in her the love of volunteering.
Rahdiah sits on Community Board 12, and the Community Advisory Boards for NYC Health & Hospitals/Harlem Hospital, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, and United Way NYC. She founded Pappy's Heart, a nonprofit that delivers essential comfort bags to ease hunger for the homeless. In 2019 she was awarded the Outstanding Community Service Award by the Shannon's Share Foundation.
A dedicated member of Convent Avenue Baptist Church since 2005, in 2024 she took on the role as Food Pantry Director
Born and raised in NYC, she lives in Harlem and has visited over 20 countries and 100’s of eateries all over the world. She enjoys watching documentaries and listening to 90’s Hip Hop. A big-time foodie, she runs a fun food blog, @chichieats that documents her love of diverse cultures.