Dr. Johnetta Thurston, DSL, MBA, PMP, SHRM-SCP, SPHR

Dr. Johnetta Thurston is the founder and principal consultant of JDA Management and Consulting Group, LLC (JDA). With over 25 years of human resources, training, project management, and leadership development experience, she understands people, relationships, and organizations on a multitude of levels. Her professional experience has afforded her a unique view of people and business, which gives her a well-rounded and balanced ability to deal with people in various positions. She is adept at helping companies and individuals manage change, develop and communicate policies, ensure compliance, perform personnel assessments, provide leadership and employee training, personalized coaching, and project management. She has experienced developing sought -after team members and has been responsible for day-to-day oversight of staff ranging from one to over 950 employees.

She is accomplished in private, non-profit, union, and non-union sectors. Her thorough knowledge and experience prepared her to manage personnel and contracts for the U.S. Dept. of Labor, U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Dept. of Defense, as well as, county, state, and private entities. Johnetta has enjoyed a myriad of successful milestones including working in partnership with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the U.S. Pentagon to successfully lead the effort to relocate Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Washington, DC to its current location in Bethesda, Maryland and the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. This historic move of over 16,000 patients, hospital personnel, and equipment was the most significant hospital/medical center move in DOD's history.

Johnetta currently provides human capital training, management, advisory, and implementation services to various companies and industries. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Maryland University College, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business with a specialization in Human Resources and a Masters of Business Administration. She earned a Doctoral Degree in Strategic Leadership and Global Consulting from Regent University. In addition to her professional affiliations (listed below), she enjoys serving her community and surrounding areas as a member of the Board of Directors of several non-profit organizations.

Professional Certifications

•     Society of Human Resources Management-Senior Certified Professional Certification (SHRM-SCP)

•     Senior Professional in Human Resources Certification (SPHR)

•     Project Management Professional (PMP)

•     Master Facilitator

•     Certified DiSC Trainer

•     Certified Work Place Excellence (WPE) Soft Skills Trainer and Master Facilitator

•     John Maxwell Certified Coach, Speaker, and Trainer

Memberships

•     Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM)

•     Central Maryland Chamber (CMC)

•     Project Management Institute (PMI) and a member of the local Baltimore Chapter of PMI

•     Association of Talent and Development (ATD)

Dr. Amaris Thurston, DSL, MBA,

Dr. Amaris Thurston has over 15 years of project management, administrative, and human resource experience in government contracting, private sector, and healthcare environments. As partner and co-founder of JDA, Dr. Thurston brings a level of dedication, tenacity, and thoughtfulness that is only matched by her great instincts about people and their potential.  She attended University of Maryland Eastern Shore, University of Maryland University College, and Regent University, earning a bachelor of science degree in business administration and human resources, a master's of business administration, and a doctoral degree in strategic leadership with a concentration in leadership development from regent university. 

Certifications:

•     Maryland notary public 

•     Management foundations

•     Maryland real estate agent

Memberships:

•     Society for human resources management (SHRM)

•      Anne Arundel county representative payee program