Consecrated on October 11, 2020, Archbishop Marcia L. Dinkins serves as founding prelate and CEO of Forever Changed Ministries, a nondenominational ministry without walls that seeks to break the sacred/secular divide between church and community. Bishop Dinkins is the founder and executive director of Black Women Rising (BWR). BWR centers the voices of Black women and women of color on Healing for Change through a social justice lens using Teaching and Training that leads to Transformation.

Bishop Dinkins launched the Black Appalachian Coalition (BLAC) on June 18, 2021. In addition to her roles at Black Women Rising and BLAC, Bishop Dinkins serves as the part-time executive director for Ohioans for Sustainable Change (formerly Ohio Interfaith Power and Light).

A native of Detroit, Bishop Dinkins owned and operated a medical and substance abuse facility serving unserved and underserved communities. She also has a state contract to provide wrap-around, family preservation, and reunification services to keep children from being placed in the foster care system and to reunite children in foster care with their families. Bishop Dinkins was sworn in and appointed by the Wayne County Third Circuit Judicial Court as Court Appointed Special Advocate to represent the best interest of children in the child welfare system and has worked 23 years in the field of law specializing in family law, tort law, and medical malpractice.

In 2013, Bishop Dinkins moved to Toledo, Ohio where she served as Senior Organizer and Executive Director for Toledoans United for Social Action organizing a faith-based response on issues of racial and economic injustice, education and housing discrimination, environmental hazards, green jobs, and criminal justice reform. In 2016, Bishop Dinkins led the “Free Bresha” national campaign with groups across the United States and Canada fighting for rehabilitation over incarceration for Bresha Meadows and juvenile offenders.

Bishop Dinkins holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary and Women and Gender Studies (University of Toledo) and a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice and Policy (Youngstown State University). She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Union Institute and University focusing on Public Policy and Social Change.

She has certifications in Cultural Competency & Humility, Forgiveness Therapy, Restorative Justice, Child welfare, and Executive Management Leadership.  She is a certified Trauma Informed Approach and Restorative Justice Trainer. She has presented workshops and lectures on social justice at Case Western Reserve, Bowling Green University, and trained clergy across the state and with the American Baptist Leadership Academy on domestic abuse and safety planning. Bishop Dinkins is known nationally for her work organizing clergy to engage on issues of healthcare, the social safety net, environmental and climate justice, racial, economic, gender justice, and civic engagement.

Bishop was recognized as Sojourners’ Top Ten Leading Women Taking Charge in Organizing, named to the Foster Care Review Board, and Toledo Schools Disciplinary Board and twice appointed to the Steering Committee for Strong Families and Safe Children Board.

Her commitment to God and compassion His people. Her determination is to lift the least of these to a more equitable existence and her desire to meet people where they are in her preaching and teaching keeps Bishop Dinkins continuously serving from a place of humility and love.