{"id":6187,"date":"2022-09-01T10:36:34","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T15:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/education-and-human-sciences\/?page_id=6187"},"modified":"2026-08-10T12:05:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T17:05:40","slug":"president","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/education-arts-humanities\/melfa\/president\/","title":{"rendered":"MELFA &#8211; President"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=&#8221;in_container&#8221; full_screen_row_position=&#8221;middle&#8221; column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction_tablet=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction_phone=&#8221;default&#8221; scene_position=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; row_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; row_border_radius_applies=&#8221;bg&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; gradient_direction=&#8221;left_to_right&#8221; shape_divider_position=&#8221;bottom&#8221; 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<\/div><div class=\"slide-bg-overlay\" style=\"background-color: #0a0a0a;\"> &nbsp; <\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content\"><h1>MELFA President's Message<\/h1><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--\/container--><div class=\"video-texture \"> <span class=\"ie-fix\"><\/span> <\/div><\/div> <!--\/swiper-slide--><\/div><div class=\"nectar-slider-loading \"> <span class=\"loading-icon none\">   <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=&#8221;in_container&#8221; full_screen_row_position=&#8221;middle&#8221; column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction_tablet=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction_phone=&#8221;default&#8221; scene_position=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; row_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; row_border_radius_applies=&#8221;bg&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; gradient_direction=&#8221;left_to_right&#8221; shape_divider_position=&#8221;bottom&#8221; bg_image_animation=&#8221;none&#8221;][vc_column column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_tablet=&#8221;inherit&#8221; column_padding_phone=&#8221;inherit&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; column_element_spacing=&#8221;default&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; column_link_target=&#8221;_self&#8221; gradient_direction=&#8221;left_to_right&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; tablet_width_inherit=&#8221;default&#8221; tablet_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; phone_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; bg_image_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; border_type=&#8221;simple&#8221; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_row_inner column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction_tablet=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction_phone=&#8221;default&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221;][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_tablet=&#8221;inherit&#8221; column_padding_phone=&#8221;inherit&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; column_element_spacing=&#8221;default&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; column_link_target=&#8221;_self&#8221; gradient_direction=&#8221;left_to_right&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; width=&#8221;3\/4&#8243; tablet_width_inherit=&#8221;default&#8221; bg_image_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; border_type=&#8221;simple&#8221; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_column_text]Welcome to the Mississippi Educational Leadership Faculty Association (MELFA).<br \/>\nIt is an honor to serve as President of an organization dedicated to advancing educational leadership preparation across Mississippi. MELFA brings together faculty from Mississippi&#8217;s approved educational leadership preparation programs to collaborate, share expertise, and advocate for practices that strengthen the preparation of future school leaders.<br \/>\nThis year&#8217;s theme, &#8220;<em>Strengthening Partnerships. Advancing Leadership Preparation. Growing Strong Leaders,&#8221;\u00a0<\/em>reflects our commitment to building meaningful collaborations that enhance the quality and consistency of leadership preparation across our state<strong>.<\/strong>\u00a0By working together with our member institutions and educational partners, we can share knowledge, strengthen preparation programs, and help ensure that Mississippi&#8217;s educational leaders are prepared to make a positive impact from their very first day of service.<br \/>\nThank you for visiting our website and for your interest in MELFA. We look forward to continuing our work with colleagues and partners across Mississippi as we advance educational leadership preparation and support the success of schools, educators, and students.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_tablet=&#8221;inherit&#8221; column_padding_phone=&#8221;inherit&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; column_element_spacing=&#8221;default&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; column_link_target=&#8221;_self&#8221; gradient_direction=&#8221;left_to_right&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/4&#8243; tablet_width_inherit=&#8221;default&#8221; bg_image_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; border_type=&#8221;simple&#8221; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][team_member image_url=&#8221;7953&#8243; team_memeber_style=&#8221;meta_below&#8221; link_element=&#8221;none&#8221; color=&#8221;Accent-Color&#8221; name=&#8221;Daphne D. Smith, Ed.D.&#8221; job_position=&#8221;President Mississippi Educational Leadership Faculty Association (MELFA)&#8221;][\/team_member][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row type=&#8221;in_container&#8221; full_screen_row_position=&#8221;middle&#8221; column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction_tablet=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction_phone=&#8221;default&#8221; scene_position=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; row_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; row_border_radius_applies=&#8221;bg&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; gradient_direction=&#8221;left_to_right&#8221; shape_divider_position=&#8221;bottom&#8221; bg_image_animation=&#8221;none&#8221;][vc_column column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_tablet=&#8221;inherit&#8221; column_padding_phone=&#8221;inherit&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; column_element_spacing=&#8221;default&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; column_link_target=&#8221;_self&#8221; gradient_direction=&#8221;left_to_right&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; tablet_width_inherit=&#8221;default&#8221;&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":530,"featured_media":0,"parent":5510,"menu_order":99,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-left-sidebar.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6187","page","type-page","status-publish"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/education-arts-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/education-arts-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/education-arts-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/education-arts-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/530"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/education-arts-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6187"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/education-arts-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7960,"href":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/education-arts-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6187\/revisions\/7960"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/education-arts-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/education-arts-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}