Jarralynne Agee

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Jarralynne Fletcher Agee (born c. 1969 in Dayton, Ohio) is a psychologist and provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Miles College and former executive director of the Birmingham Violence Reduction Initiative (BVRI) under Mayor William Bell.

Agee is the daughter of William and Karen Fletcher, and grew up in the Parkside Homes in West Dayton. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee in 1991, followed by an M.L.S. in psychology and African-American studies at Ohio State University in Columbus in 1994. She went on to complete a doctorate in psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in Fresno, California in 2000. While doing that she performed stand-up comedy. Following a fellowship in counseling at the University of California in Berkeley in 2001 she joined the staff as principal analyst for the university's Center for Workforce Development. She also taught an undergraduate psychology course, "Issues in African American Psychology."

While in that role, Agee also spent three years working as a consultant for the Cos Cob, Connecticut-based media company "Chicken Soup for the Soul," contributing a well-received section to the 2004 book Chicken Soup for the African American Soul. She then spent another year as a performance consultant for NFL Europe while her husband, orthopedist Bobby Agee, was the league's medical director.

When Bobby Agee was hired by Lemak Sports Medicine in 2008, the family relocated to Birmingham. She joined the faculty of Miles College as an assistant professor of criminal justice. In 2010 Agee began overseeing the "Positive Pathways" program for the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity. She left that job in 2015.

Agee was appointed director of the BVRI in June 2016. In her role she engaged directly with persons being served, and also coordinated with law enforcement and court officials, and with other social programs. For her work she was presented with a "Game Changer" award at the 2016 Vulcans Community Awards and was a member of the 2017 class of Leadership Birmingham. In the 2016 and 2020 general elections she was the Democratic candidate for District 3 on the Alabama State Board of Education, but lost both races to Republican Stephanie Bell.

Agee's role ended with the incoming Randall Woodfin administration, and she was moved into the job of liaison for grants and charitable giving for the city.

In 2020 Agee returned to Miles as provost and vice president of academic affairs. She soon became involved in transitioning the college to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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