The Voice of the Voiceless: An Interview With Thelma Daley

As a young girl growing up in New York City, I have always been fascinated by the life stories of others. As a researcher and counselor educator, my scholarly interests have largely been in the examination of the intersections of race, class, and gender. More specifically, I have focused on the experiences and mental health concerns of African American women. As a new professional attending national conferences or professional meetings, was starstruck whenever I would talk to prominent scholars in our field. Those experiences had a huge impact on me and added much to my sense of professional identity. As a woman of color, I could not help but feel there was, however, a professional void. There was a visible absence of African American leadership in the American Counseling Association (ACA), more specifically there was an absence of celebrated African American women within the organization. Although there have been efforts to examine the experiences of African American counselor educators in academia (e.g., Bradley & Holcomb-McCoy, 2004; Holcomb-McCoy & Addison-Bradley, 2005) and highlight the achievements of African American men in counselor education (e.g., Jackson et al., 2002), there is a dearth of literature regarding the experiences of African American women in the academy (Bryant & Coker, 2002; Bryant et al., 2005). I wondered about those African American female leaders in the field of counseling. It was only by accident, through a conversation with a professional friend, that I first heard the name of counseling icon, Thelma Thomas Daley. Why I never knew of her sooner, I do not know. Perhaps I needed to go on an elongated journey of not knowing in order to truly appreciate what she has done (and continues to do) for the counseling profession in organizational leadership and development. Thelma Thomas Daley has served the counseling profession for approximately forty years in a variety of leadership roles at the local, state, and national levels. Her areas of specialization are school counseling, career development, and organizational development. During the years 1971 to 1972, Daley became the first African American to serve as president of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). During the years 1975 to 1976, she became the first African American and third female president of ACA (then known as the American Personnel and Guidance Association [APGA]). Daley became the first woman to chair the National Advisory Council on Career Education, served as president of the Maryland Association for Counseling and Development (1981-1982), served as associate editor of the Peer Facilitator Quarterly (1998-1999), was on the college board of trustees, and subsequently was a member of the National Board of Trustees of the Educational Testing Service during the years 1976 to 1990. Even today, Daley has continued to serve ACA in a variety of important roles including several terms as treasurer, parliamentarian, chair of the ACA Insurance Trust, chair of the ACA Foundation, first secretary-treasurer of the National Board for Certified Counselors, and long-time member and chair of the ACA Finance Committee. Furthermore, Daley currently serves as chair of the first ACA Audit Committee. In 2006, Daley was named an ACA Fellow in recognition of her many years of excellence in and dedication to the counseling profession. She was the 1982 recipient of the Gilbert and Kathleen Wrenn Award for a Humanitarian and Caring Person and recipient of the Counselors for Social Justice 2006 'Ohana Award, a recognition given annually honoring individuals who promote and advocate for social justice. Her early presence and consistent work in the counseling profession has opened the door for many to enter: women, people of color, the underserved, gay men, lesbians, and people with physical disabilities. In addition to service, Daley has held several full- and part-time teaching positions including appointments at Harvard University, Loyola University of Maryland, North Carolina Central University, Western Maryland College, and George Washington University. …