Dr. Denise Barrett  serves as the  NSF, Florida AGEP Alliance Project Coordinator for FAMU.  She is responsible for working across the state with other partner institutions to facilitate research and foster collaboration to increase the number of women in STEM career paths and into the professorship. The partner institutions include the University of South Florida , Bethune-Cookman University , Florida Memorial University , and Florida International University .

Dr. Denise Patricia Barrett has been a passionate educator for more than 25 years serving in a variety of instructional and leadership roles at both the district and state levels. She is currently working in the private sector as an Educational Consultant.
She holds a Broadcast Journalism degree from Florida A&M University (FAMU), a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from Florida International University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Florida Atlantic University. Her research interests include: mentoring, helping students become college, career and life ready, female empowerment, and mentoring ethnic minorities to career success in the field of educational leadership. For this reason, her dissertation was entitled:
“How Jamaican Administrators in a Large School District in Florida Perceive Ethnicity, Gender, and Mentoring Have Impacted Their Career Experiences: A Phenomenological Study.”

She is a member of 2013 class of the: Improving Schools: The Art of Leadership Principal’s Institute at Harvard University’s School of Education, and was selected the following year to serve as a Small Group Facilitator at the 2014 National Institute for Urban School Leaders at Harvard University’s School of Education.
In an effort to increase awareness and interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), Dr. Barrett, alongside a fellow, colleague and scholar co-wrote and presented the following presentation at the 2017 Hawaii International Conference on Education (HICE):
“Teach STEM Change a Girl’s World: Breaking the Gender Barriers & Minority Involvement in STEM Education through Elementary Teaching & Learning.”
As a part of her female empowerment platform, Dr. Barrett was honored to serve as presenter/panelist for the 2018 Mentoring Camp for Young Men & Boys – Single Mother’s Summit : Session Title: Raising our Sons sponsored by the Steve & Marjory Harvey Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia.

As a proud FAMU alumna, Dr. Barrett was humbled and honored to be a FAMU Legacy Award recipient in 2017. In 2012 she was named Assistant Principal of the Year for the Miami-Dade County Public School System and went on win the prestigious Florida Department of Education Outstanding Assistant Principal Achievement Award. That same year, Dr. Barrett was also recognized by The Honorable Barbara Jordan, Miami-Dade County Commissioner (District 1) with a Women’s History Month Award for Outstanding Achievement. She was then named by Legacy Magazine as one of “South Florida’s Most Powerful Black Business Leaders of 2013”.

Dr. Barrett served her beloved alma mater as Miss Florida A&M University 1992-1993 with dignity, style, and grace. She was the first Miss Florida A&M to place in the Top 8 of the Miss Collegiate African American Pageant and was first runner up in the 1991 Miss Young Gifted & Black Pageant.
Throughout her career, Dr. Barrett has presented interactive and energy-filled informative presentations on the importance of high educational standards and how to implement them successfully to prepare students for college, career and most importantly life. This passion prompted her to self-publish her first book in 2016 entitled Education 3.0: How to Get Your Kids What they Need to Succeed , which serves as a practical guide for parents to help their children succeed both in school and the real-world.
Dr. Barrett is the founder and CEO of her own non-profit called Real-World Education & Advice for Life ( R.E.A.L.), Inc. which she created to provide community-based education and mentoring programs, her non-profit produced the 2018 and 2019 Miss Tallahassee Scholarship Pageants. She also is the President and CEO of Beautifully Educated Enterprises, LLC.
Dr. Barrett has a son named Reginald and in her spare time she enjoys mentoring, cooking, reading, fitness, music, and traveling.