From Passion to Action a Life of Service
Born in Birmingham, Alabama during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. She is the second oldest of five. She and her brother and older sister come from a long line of ministers and deacons. Her family was very active in church in both Birmingham and Selma. She was raised by her grandmother in a very strict and spiritual household. As a child she was subjected to the hatred of the south as her neighborhood was burned to ground and her sister’s friend killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church street bombing. She credits her strong, strict grandmother, aunt and mother for her faith, humor, caring, patience and love of others.
After leaving the segregated south, she and her family moved to the Catskill in Sullivan county where she was now the only Black American in her class. She graduated from Liberty High school.
Ivy Reeves is an individual with many credentials serving in various communities. She is a graduate of Marist College Poughkeepsie, New York with a Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude. She received an Associates in Arts, Cum Laude from Dutchess Community College also in Poughkeepsie, New York, and was awarded Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges as well as been listed as a member in the National Register’s Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals.
Ivy began working at the age of 14 where she was employed at her local library reading stories to children from the area summer camps and as a Child Care Worker for the Cerebral Palsy Association. Ivy has spent most of her adult life serving her communities, building programs and volunteering She also was employed as a Child Care Worker for Broward County’s TOPS (Time Out for Problem Solving) in Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach Florida; The PASWRD program in Dutchess County for “at risk” girls 11 to 14 years of age. She has been a Conference Speaker for the American Association of University Women.
Ivy is the Founder of FOCUS (Families of Color for Unity and Solidarity) which was created when her daughter’s high school was experiencing racial turmoil. There she volunteered her services for five years to developed multicultural programs and fundraisers through music, fashion and the performing arts to bring students of all races, creeds, colors and religions together to learn and understand why there are differences, what those differences mean, and to recognize that we have many more things in common. During her five years with the high school three graduating seniors received college scholarships in honor of the Reeves family’s name.
Ivy also created Important Values for Youth (IVY) Programs
Ivy has worked for Syracuse University Deans Office for the College of Arts and Sciences, US Air Airlines, Seton College; Pace University School of Law, The Unified Court System as Auditor for the five counties in 9th Judicial district. Marist College Assistant Director of Student
