Changing the Lives of Others

Angela James-Moses, Ph.D. (B.S. ’87, M.P.S. ’89), wanted to join the police department after obtaining her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. “While living in New York City, witnessing the politics, racism, and sexism associated with the police department, I changed my mind,” she recalls. While looking for a job, James-Moses reached out to her New York Tech professor, who told her he would hire her as his assistant. But, there was a catch. “He said I had to go back and get my master’s,” says James-Moses, who at first was reluctant. “He actually picked my major, registered me, and then told me about it.” Her first class changed her life. It focused on human behavior, including disorders and addiction. “I found learning more about human behavior so interesting,” she says.

James-Moses would go on to receive her M.P.S. at New York Tech and worked as a probation officer in a special unit and, later, as a director of funded programs with the New York City Department of Education, where she discovered she had a knack for writing grant proposals. In that role, she helped acquire funding for extra-curricular programs, such as gymnastics and swimming for young students of color. “If children can engage in something that makes them feel good about themselves, they’ll develop a level of discipline for any walk of life,” she says.

Today, she runs her own business, Angela Moses Consultant Enterprise, whose mission is to increase recognition, promote, and educate on the importance of behavioral health. Through her company, she organizes and facilitates training in schools, communities, and church groups, with a focus on the family. “I do a lot of training for teachers and parents,” she says. “I spend most of my time changing the lives of others and trying to help each person to become their best self, through training in social and emotional development—the stages of development when it comes to young people, and also in parenting leadership. I [wrote] a book called The Joy of Single Parenting, because raising children is time-sensitive with no do-overs, therefore, parents should enjoy that season.”

James-Moses laughs when talking about how she didn’t want to get her master’s and how her New York Tech professor encouraged her. And now she’s taken her education and is helping others succeed. “Helping people is a gift,” she says. “I love what I do. To see people at one point, and to teach them something that will show them that it can and will get better, I love it.”