Our Leader
Currently, she resides in Columbia, South Carolina and is employed by the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice (SCDJJ) where she serves as Director of Chaplaincy for the state. There she oversees the Chaplaincy program and also provides spiritual direction and counsel for both staff and female juveniles. She lovingly refers to these young ladies as "jewels" who simply need help discovering or rediscovering their sparkle.
Dr. Lovely has earned a Bachelor's degree in Business from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She also holds a Master of Divinity degree from Columbia International University’s Seminary & School of Missions in Columbia, South Carolina as well as a Master of Christian Leadership from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. She completed her Doctor of Ministry degree at Virginia Union University’s Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology in Richmond, Virginia. The title of her dissertation is Ugly Beauty—Restoring Precious Jewels, which is a research project based on the pastoral care and trauma work she does with the girls of SCDJJ.
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As a result of her doctoral work, Dr. Lovely founded and serves as the Executive Director of Ugly Beauty LLC®, a faith-based organization. This organization is geared toward helping girls and woman heal and discover their purpose in life. Ugly Beauty LLC® works in partnership with UBeauty, a non-profit ministry with a component specifically for teens called The Jewel Factory (TJF). A signature event of TJF is the annual "identi-TEA PARTY"™, which is focused on helping girls tear down negative labels and embrace their true identity in God.
Her motto is taken from Colossians 3:23-24: "Whatever you do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord...knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of inheritance."
She maintains that a lady should always look good, smell good, and live gracefully!
Dr. Lovely N. Poitier hails from Miami, Florida, and is a native of Nassau, Bahamas.