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LaJean Gould, President/Founder
of Women In Golf Foundation Appointed To
Editorial Advisory Board of African American Golfer's Digest

NEW YORK, NY (January 27, 2008)--Ms.
LaJean Gould, President and Founder of the Women In Golf
Foundation of Atlanta, Georgia, was appointed on January
27, 2008 as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board.
LaJean's professional skills and years of experience in
the corporate and academic fields will bring a wealth of
opportunities to each of our organizations and to the
African American Golfer's Digest.
LaJean Waller Gould is the founder and president of The
Women in Golf Foundation, Inc. The organization focuses
on creating opportunities for women in the areas of education,
training, leadership and lifeskill development through golf.
Her work is dedicated to supporting and training female
youth golfers from beginning levels through college and
entry into their chosen profession. The organization’s
efforts focus towards the development of women collegiate
golf teams, identifying career opportunities within the
golf industry, and one day facilitating African American
Women playing on the professional tour.
LaJean is the director for the organization’s annual
signature event, The Women’s Collegiate Golf Classic,
the championship event for Historical Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCU) Women’s golf teams. She currently
is continuing to lead the effort to host the 14th annual
Women’s Collegiate Championship event scheduled for
April 2008.
LaJean is currently the Director of Marketing for Charlie
Yates Golf Course at East Lake. She promotes play at the
facility, manages customer and community relations, and
leads the effort for player development, which includes
planning and organizing golf outings and clinics for all
ages.
Previously she was employed by SydMar Golf Management,
Inc. for 4 years and served as the Director of Community
Affairs and Marketing at Sugar Creek Golf and Tennis Club
in Atlanta, GA. Responsibilities included customer and community
relations, directing tournaments, planning and organizing
golf clinics for all ages.
Through her work in the golf industry, she has created
and manages a junior golf program that has gained a reputation
for its’ strong leadership and life skills program
and strong competitive golfers. The program supports female
and males, but has a very strong emphasis on girls. The
program has an LPGA/USGA girls group of African American
juniors concentrating on developing golf, leadership and
life skills. The program also is supported by a grant from
the United States Golf Association and a PGA of America
Growth of the Game Grant.
These girls are a feeder pool for the HBCU Women’s
Golf Teams. She has begun the huge task of expanding this
program to other facilities in metro Atlanta to increase
the numbers of children that can benefit from it’s
teachings. Her summer program not only includes participants
from Metro – Atlanta, but includes participants from
Alabama, Florida, and Oklahoma.
Ms. Gould currently is a part time member of the faculty
at Spelman College, teaching beginning golf and is the administrator
for Golf For Business and Life for the Atlanta University
Center.
In May of 2006, Ms. Gould was inducted into the African
American Golfer’s Hall of Fame in Phoenix, AZ, for
her work and support of women and youth in golf.
September 2001 was a milestone year for Ms. Gould. She
retired from a 23-year career as a senior executive in the
Communications industry, where she gained extensive experience
in financial and operational management, productivity improvements,
operational change, organizational motivation, team building
and relationship development.
LaJean is adept at negotiating between business requirements
and resource restrictions, managing outside vendors and
enforcing fact-based planning to drive change within the
organization. Her career in communications has enabled her
to emerge as a leader in program deployment and operational
management.
LaJean is determined; goal oriented, and is gifted with
the ability to stay focused. As a result, she develops,
motivates, and builds high performing teams producing extraordinary
results. These skills have earned her rewards and recognition
throughout her career and have been instrumental in her
ability to manage and grow the Women In Golf Foundation
and its programs.
Ms. Gould holds a B.S. in Mathematics with a double major
in Economics from Fisk University and a M.A. in Economics
from the University of Michigan. She has also received a
Mini-MBA in International Business, studied Strategic Financial
Management at Penn State and completed a curriculum on Women
in Global Management.
She devotes a considerable amount of time to business,
civic, and community organizations. She is a member of the
Browns Mill Women’s Golf Association, the Executive
Women’s Golf Association, the Divot Divas , and served
for 7 years as the Secretary/Treasure of The Sugar Creek
Women’s Golf Association. She serves on the board
of the Georgia Black United Fund, and has served on the
Board of Directors of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Metro
Atlanta, Inc., Board of Directors -RES COM Financials, National
Black Business Council and the Institute for the National
Black Business Council and the finance committee for the
Atlanta Business League.
While in the communications industry, she was a champion
for diversity, leading a team of executive women in the
Chief Financial Organization at AT&T and Lucent Technologies
to create a strong voice for women’s equality. She
also served as VP Fundraising - 100 Black Women Decatur/Dekalb
Chapter and on the Board of Trustees of Jomandi Productions,
but is most proud of her accomplishments as founder of the
Women In Golf Foundation and director of the Women’s
Collegiate Golf Classic.
Through her work with the foundation, over 500 girls and
women have been impacted, over $70,000 contributed to Historical
Black College and University women’s golf teams, 15
students obtained college scholarships, 6 participants received
summer internships, and youth have obtained summer jobs.
Her efforts have enabled the organization to gain credibility
with the USGA, LPGA and PGA of America Foundation and in
the golfing community as a whole. She was recently listed
by the African American Golfer’s Digest as “One
of the Amazing Black Women in Golf”.
LaJean is a wife, mother, and community activist. She is
determined to make a difference in her company, her community,
and the golf industry.
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