Meet Adonica Pelichet Duggan

We recently connected with Adonica Pelichet Duggan and have shared our conversation below.

Adonica, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

My optimism comes from a relentless focus on the possibilities of humanity. It’s easy to see all of the limitations that stand between us and greatness, and we can choose to focus on that. A lot of people do. But particularly as I think about the opportunities for my community and the potential of a place that I love, I am inspired to do hard things by holding tightly to the vision of what we could be. One of my favorite quotes is that the thing about human beings is that we are both “disasters and miracles.”

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am the founding CEO of the Baton Rouge Alliance for Students an education advocacy organization that focuses on improving outcomes for historically underserved public school students in my community. The Alliance was created with the goal of ensuring that students are at the forefront of school improvement decisions in Baton Rouge, and that a diverse coalition of families, civic leaders, elected officials, and business leaders from across the parish are engaged in driving a more successful future for students in EBR. We believe that our work together will ensure Baton Rouge’s future by uplifting the innate potential in every child in every corner of our community.

The Baton Rouge Alliance for Students Action works in partnership with a coalition of parents, community, civic leaders, and policymakers to achieve the shared goal of an excellent education for every Baton Rouge student. The Alliance’s work focuses on empowering families, elevating community, and engaging leaders. The Alliance cultivates and supports diverse, student-centered leaders who believe that high-quality schools serving all of Baton Rouge’s children are vital to ensuring the city’s growth and success.

One of the organization’s most successful initiatives is the CHANGEMAKERS community leadership cohort. CHANGEMAKERS is designed to engage a diverse group of community leaders in the issues facing public education in Baton Rouge. The program offers participants a vehicle to find their role in achieving a shared vision of an excellent education for every Baton Rouge student. The eight-month experience provides participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to address
education issues and to work together for excellent schools for all Baton Rouge area students. Since its inception, CHANGEMAKERS has supported the development of nearly 200 community leaders who have created an active alumni network.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. I believe we have lost the ability to listen without seeking to respond. One of the most critical yet often overlooked skills in advocacy and policy change is the ability to truly listen. This means not just hearing people’s words, but also understanding the context, emotion, and lived experience behind them. It requires hearing what is being said and what is left unsaid. Listening allows advocates to build trust, uncover root issues, and avoid assumptions that can derail efforts. From there, digesting and synthesizing what you’ve heard enables you to identify patterns and translate complex realities into clear, actionable priorities. In my work, this skill is essential.

2. Another essential skill in this work is the ability to recognize patterns and just as importantly, to interrogate your own assumptions about what those patterns mean. Sometimes we take shortcuts and jump to conclusions defaulting to familiar solutions or frameworks, but meaningful change often requires stepping back and asking: Is the obvious answer the right one? What bias am I inserting into the way I am viewing the facts? Pattern recognition helps surface recurring barriers but we have to be careful of the old adage that if you only have a hammer everything looks like a nail.

3. Matching the messenger to the message and the moment has been critical to crafting a successful communications strategy. This requires seeking to understand the underlying subtext of different styles of communication and evaluating messengers for their effectiveness with a given audience. I am constantly learning and seeking to expose myself to as much content as possible which provides helpful data to drive my decision process.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

In the past few years as I have started launching my own children out of the nest, I have reflected a lot on the way my parents raised me. There are two things that I think my parents did that stick out in my mind as having set me up for success. These are the two things that I focus on replicating in my own parenting style. First, my parents ensured that I felt their love so deeply that my need to seek external validation rarely enters the equation. Being grounded in a love that feels unshakeable frees you to go into the world boldly without fear of failure. This is a gift. Second, during my young adult years my parents prioritized nurturing my independence and ability to navigate the world without their assistance. This resulted in my ability to adapt to hard situations with confidence.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bralliance.org
• Instagram: adonicapd
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adonica-duggan/