Leadership rooted
in community.
Marsita L. Ferguson is an organizational strategist, systems-level leader, and national and international speaker whose work spans higher education, nonprofit leadership, civic engagement, and organizational development.
She brings these areas together through a practical focus: helping people and organizations turn priorities into programs, partnerships, funding, and systems that can sustain their work. Her experience includes community engagement, student leadership, program design, training, advocacy, and cross-sector collaboration.
Building the capacity to do the work
As Founder and Managing Director of Marsita L. Ferguson, Inc., established in 2021, she advises organizations on funding strategy, program development, operational systems, and organizational capacity. Her practice supports nonprofits and community-serving organizations in identifying opportunities, strengthening grant readiness, developing proposals, and connecting strategy to implementation.
Her approach considers the whole organization: what a program is intended to accomplish, the resources it needs, the systems that support delivery, and how the organization will evaluate and communicate its results. Funding is part of that work, alongside the capacity to carry it out.
Connecting education and community
As Director of the David & Frances Brain Center for Community Engagement at Baldwin Wallace University, Marsita led work connecting students with community partners through service learning, civic engagement, and leadership development. The center’s work reached more than 1,000 students annually.
Her higher education experience includes student voting initiatives, community partnerships, constructive dialogue, and training that helps students connect classroom learning with public life. She contributed to Baldwin Wallace’s 2022 ALL IN Action Plan and the “Dinner and a Fight” dialogue initiative.
Civic leadership and public advocacy
Marsita founded and led Black Lives Matter–Lake County, bringing people together through advocacy, community events, civic participation, and Juneteenth programming. Her work has also included youth leadership, cultural-sensitivity training, and collaboration across schools, community organizations, and public institutions.
She is the creator of Black American Experience, a platform examining Black life through history, culture, economics, politics, identity, and institutions. The conversations connect historical context with present-day realities and questions of progress, opportunity, and community solutions.
Taking the work across borders
In 2024, Marsita worked with the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition through a U.S. Embassy initiative focused on youth civic engagement. Her work addressed first-time voter participation, electoral integrity, youth mobilization, and the role of community organizations in civic education.
The engagement brought her into classrooms and community spaces to work with students and organizational partners. It connects to the same questions that guide her work at home: how people participate, how institutions earn trust, and how communities build the capacity to shape their future.
Keynotes, advocacy, and dialogue
Marsita has delivered keynote addresses at Black Lives Matter events, advocated on Ohio legislation, and facilitated dialogue across differences. She also ran for Painesville City Council in 2018, 2019, and 2021. Her public-service record includes testimony opposing Ohio House Bills 22 and 109 and speaking about diversity before county and school-board audiences.
As a speaker and facilitator, Marsita draws on her experience in organizational leadership and community work to lead conversations about civic engagement, student development, cultural understanding, and sustainable organizational impact. Her engagements include NASPA and international civic education work in Ghana.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Pre-Law and a Master of Business Administration. Across her consulting, speaking, and public work, she brings a research-informed perspective and a focus on practical implementation.