With a smorgasbord of life experience, Gilda Rogers' penchant to motivate people is an aspiring fable in the tradition of black cultural progress. Rogers' impact on the lives of people of all ages and races has broadened the horizons of those whom otherwise would have missed out on the opportunity to explore a world beyond their own.

As an award-winning journalist, Rogers has been featured on CN8 Newsmakers, and formed the program, "Club-J," for journalism. Piloted at the Red Bank Middle School, its success is its unique ability to merge language arts writing skills and the latest in publishing technology to produce a student-run newspaper that rivals most high school newspapers.

A 15-year veteran of the fashion industry, Rogers started "The Evolution of Fashion," another after school club on the high school level that manifested into a full-blown fashion curriculum (incorporating fashion art and design, basic tailoring, textile immersion, fashion buying and merchandising). The students are introduced to the history of fashion while exploring a gamut of career opportunities. This club has received front-page coverage in the "Whatever" section for teens in the Asbury Park Press, while applying hands-on knowledge in the aesthetic design of visual merchandising (window displays).

Rogers has used all she has learned to excite and motivate a new generation. As the President of The Beyond Group, LLC, Rogers, who is a proponent of education and a Master's candidate in the history program at Monmouth University, has interviewed prominent leaders and humanitarians to cutting-edge entertainers and would like to be useful to you.

Rogers, who was raised in Elizabeth, N.J., graduated from Roberts Walsh Business School having studied fashion buying and merchandising and furthered her studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Rogers worked for many years as a window dresser for major department stores along the East coast. She graduated from Kean University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in English. This led to writing and editing positions in the New Jersey media, including the Asbury Park Press, one of the top newspapers in the state. She also extended her reach into the field of education, working with The Source program at the Red Bank Regional High School as its youth development coordinator, a position in which she organized social, educational and job-training programs for at-risk students.