“Leap of Faith in Action”
Velshonna Luckey, a native of Detroit, Michigan, joined the University of Notre Dame in 2002, where she first worked for the TRiO Upward Bound Program. In 2006, she started at the Robinson Community Learning Center (RCLC), the University of Notre Dame’s community center. When she joined the team, she was asked to expand their work with children and improve student participation. As a compassionate community member she began building relationships with the students and their parents. She quickly became known for her loving yet, no nonsense approach to helping families dream big and believe their dedication and hard work would help to create great success for the RCLC and their individual lives. It has been said that her passion for life is contagious and many of the people who challenged her high standards and relentless dedication the most, have become her greatest supporters.
Velshonna graduated from Central Michigan University in 1995 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration. In 2009 she earned a Master’s of Science in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University and a certification in Non-Profit Executive Leadership from the University of Notre Dame. In 2011 Velshonna received the Presidential Values Award from the University of Notre Dame. This award recognizes employees whose performance reflects the University’s core values of integrity, accountability, teamwork, leadership in mission and leadership in excellence. In 2014, she received the Indiana Torchbearer Award, from the Indiana Commission for Women. This award recognizes women who “become true beacons of light in their community and their stories of courage, perseverance and compassion create a lasting legacy of inspiration”. In 2016, Velshonna became an Executive Journey Fellow, which is funded by the Lilly Endowment Inc. The fellows attend a series of residential retreats “designed to create new ways of thinking about and practicing youth work within existing systems”. Fellows are awarded individual renewal scholarships, are supported by fellow youth workers around the state of Indiana; this support helps reduce turnover within a field that is known for high turnover.
Velshonna and her husband, Mark, became legal guardians of their two nieces in 2004. They have been married for more than twenty-two years. Both, Velshonna & Mark believe raising their nieces was one of the most rewarding opportunities of their life.
Living in the Rest, Inc. began in 2008 and has been an avenue to introduce many women to personal & prayer retreat practices.
Year of Launch: In April of 2018, Velshonna Luckey resigned from her position of twelve years as the youth development program director at the University of Notre Dame’s Robinson Community Learning Center. After months of consideration, Velshonna realized instead of looking for a new position, she really wanted to take a year sabbatical to write and travel but wanted to do something to keep her engaged in the work she’d come to love. During her days of consideration, she remembered a conversation with a successful young man she once mentored, while he was a student at the University of Notre Dame. During one of their conversations, he said “Mrs. Velshonna you should really consider consulting. You have a unique way in which you engage youth and there are many organizations that would benefit from what you have to offer”.
The morning of July 15, 2018, Velshonna spoke with her husband and shared her idea of becoming a consultant. Her husband was very supportive and a month later, using the name given by her husband, Pendulum Consulting, LLC began.