By Ashley Benkarski
NASHVILLE, TN — The R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation (RHB) is going strong 125 years after its inception.
Dr. LaDonna Boyd, EdD, has been leading the historic R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation since 2017.
Focused on nurturing faith and responsible for uplifting Black voices, RHB has been a pivotal force across mediums.
Like her ancestors, Dr. Boyd possesses the knowledge and boldness needed to navigate the company’s continued success in an oversaturated and evolving media industry; through growth and innovation, Dr. Boyd has led her family’s company through challenges and success alike while maintaining the integrity of the Boyd name and its vision.
For Dr. Boyd, innovation and technology are important in the facilitation of having broader, more challenging conversations. “Culturally, we’re in a different place but maybe society hasn’t quite progressed as much as we thought it would,” she said. Noting cultural tides concerning women’s health and gun rights, “the shift in religion and how people interact with their faith and being able to lead those conversations with historic text, i.e. the Bible … Superimposing that on modern-day issues hasn’t been an easy challenge, but it’s something that has to be done. My biggest goal is to make sure the conversations are being had and I want the mission of our organization to provide educational and useful materials, but most of all to teach people how to think critically in the context of their faith,” she said.
Dr. Boyd said that while the past five years have had their challenges, there have been victories too; new product launches, additional brand exposure, and the opportunity for new events and different types of conversations.
RHB publishes an annual catalog that features a wide array of stories, testimonies and products, but that’s just one item in a vast portfolio of work and is a proud publisher of impressive and impactful materials, with a recent example being H. H. Leonards’s Rosa Parks Beyond the Bus: Life, Lessons, and Leadership.
The upcoming book is a collection of Parks’s thoughts and memories told to Leonards over the years spent between the two at the author’s O Mansion in Washington, D.C.
The book is “a personal look into Mrs. Parks’ life, her thoughts, her beliefs, and her immense wisdom that moved people— from world leaders Nelson Mandela, Deepak Chopra, and Pope John Paul II, to the smallest of children— to seek and revere her presence,” the RHB catalog details.
The Vision Conference, taking place today through Saturday, is an annual event focused on education, leadership and fellowship presented by RHB in partnership with Barna Group.
The Vision Conference “is a premier leadership event, providing a multitude of resources, including strategy sessions, business advice/mentorship, author services, sermons, workshops, continuing education credits for seminary and secular employment requirements, and access to the Urban Leadership Program and Seminary Now at Northern Seminary,” the site reads.
This year’s conference will feature topics on the importance of technology, innovative teaching methodologies, entrepreneurship, theology, and youth ministry training.
The conference will kick off at the Sheraton Grand Nashville downtown today at noon with a Leadership Luncheon featuring Dr. Boyd, Pastor Breonus Mitchell, Reverend Judy D. Cummings, DMin., Dr. Forrest Harris and Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III on the State of the Black Church in a post-pandemic America.
On Friday, a black-tie Legacy Ball will be held and awards will be presented for three categories; the late Dr. T.B. Boyd III (Chairman Emeritus, RHB) will be honored with the Excellence Award.
Karlton Humes will round out the weekend, performing at the 10th annual Praise and Laughs comedy show at Cumberland Park.
Adult Ministry Arts courses will also be offered and include panels, classes and lectures on Black Health Matters, Preaching as Narrative, The Theology of the Black Church, Music Ministry Leadership and Liturgical Dance for Adults.
All 2022 registrants will be gifted access to six streaming courses at Seminary Now, made available in partnership with Northern Theological Seminary.
The Vision Conference is being held in-person as well as virtually. Tickets can be obtained through Eventbrite or at visionconference.org.
Keep up to date with the latest news on the conference on Instagram @visionconference_official.
