In 2017, I co-founded this consulting business with Dr. Marjorie A. Fonza-Thomason so that we could work intentionally on the projects and causes to which we are both committed. My mother, who is a retired nurse and naval captain, has now embraced her retirement permanently, but, as AM Consulting LLC, I continue to provide strategic and professional consulting services for educational institutions, community-based organizations, local planning commissions, developers, agencies, and professional boards. I am also certified by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as a substitute teacher, and formerly as an adult education and literacy instructor.

Currently, I am employed as a chaplain in the Kansas City metro area and I have been teaching remotely as a lecturer in urban and regional planning at the post-secondary level for the last three years. A couple of years prior to accepting my teaching position online, I was sworn in at the federal government as a civilian. Since 2020, I have had the privilege of working at two very different federal agencies: the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or HUD, and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (although I was first hired at the Census Bureau at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to make it three). I have immersed myself in a lifetime of public service (I even took an oath to proove it) and I am very proud of the work that I do to serve the communities where I have lived by sharing my expertise as an academic and engaging myself in opportunities for human connection. Needless to say, my mother’s influence upon me, to be passionate about my work, and present to others, wherever I am, is paramount to who I am.

I have always been drawn to landscapes that have empowered me to assist others because I enjoy creating things, and I feel even better about the work that I do when I can share my talents and dreams with trusted others and become a critical part of the community’s well being or sustainability. What can I say…I am a former Girl Scout, but my mother once told me that when I could barely talk and she was not feeling well one day with a cold or the flu, I toddled to the other room and brought my father back to her so that he could help her. When she told me that, it made me realize that my passion for serving others for goes back even further than my Girl Scout or even my Brownie days. As an experienced educational consultant – and as a writer – I am always eager to co-create seminars, workshops, presentations, and special ceremonies. If you are looking for a facilitator, a writer, a researcher, or even an officiant, I would be happy to meet with you to learn about your projects and special events.

A quick review of the writings and presentations tab on this website will indicate that I specialize in urban planning and community development events and projects. One of my recent accomplishments is designing and teaching online urban planning courses on behalf of Planetizen, Inc. My Planetizen courses explore the significance of culture and placemaking in the U.S, which are important subjects of my teaching at the post-secondary level.

Writing is germane to all that I do, therefore, critical thinking is what I do to write and to write well for myself and for others. Needless to say, the work that I committed to early in my professional career has a special place in my heart, and it has informed my attention to detail and to the art of storytelling. On the other hand, I didn’t truly embrace the fact that I was much of a writer until 2003, when someone else recognized my talents on a local radio show by announcing that “Annalise is an excellent writer.”

At the time, that someone was my boss and soon to be good friend, Benjamin Swan. Today, Ben Swan is a retired Massachusetts lawmaker, and we are still good friends to this day. At the time that he made that statement about me, I was sitting in as the co-host of The Black Love Experience, which still airs to this day on WTCC-FM in Springfield, Massachusetts. It startled me to hear this said about me, but it caused me to recognize that my writing skills and abilities have been central to every job that I have ever had. Coming to this understanding forever changed my approach to gaining meaningful employment.

Last year, I returned to Springfield, Massachusetts, to present a lecture – for the seventh time – to chronicle my collection of oral histories that has been archived at the Springfield Museums for nearly two decades. I was delighted to learn that March 28th, 2024, was proclaimed “Dr. Annalise Fonza Day” by Mayor Dominic Sarno. What a gift!

I am also a former United Methodist clergywoman. My journey as a local church minister or small organizational administrator officially started in 1996, when I became a candidate for ordained ministry in Illinois. As a local church pastor, I learned how to write and preach sermons that were meaningful to the people who gathered every week at church for worship and for community-based activities and programs. In all, I served about six local congregations in three separate states in the U.S. for about seven years. I am very thankful for this part of my life: the memories of my experience and travels as a pastor are very special to me.

Today, working as AM Consulting LLC enables me to use my talents to write and to develop narratives with others. Once, I heard someone say, “If you can write, you can change your life,” and that has been very true for me. I am the author of many writings and publications, and I have provided a list of selected writings in the “Learn More” tab on this website.

Ideologically and philosophically, I am a womanist and I am a non-theist. These two expressions are central to who I am today. As a womanist, I am naturally a truth-teller and an advocate for the sustainable development of black urban communities. As an advocate, I am more than able and willing to stand up in print and in person for the dignity and humanity of black women, men, and children.

Saying the word non-theist, better known as a-theist, may sound strange coming from an ex-clergywoman. In 2003, I voluntarily, officially (and procedurally) returned my ordination papers to my annual conference in the United Methodist Church. I walked away from local church ministry – as a vocation – when I abandoned a belief in “original sin” – which I learned in childhood. As I learned more, and as I matured in adulthood, I rejected this childhood belief as well as the whole idea of “personal salvation” by way of the Christian theory of atonement (e.g., concerning the work of the person that is called Jesus the Christ).

In other words, I do not believe that anyone or anything is coming to save us here on planet Earth. Being an atheist simply means that I do not maintain or promote a belief that any gods or alleged supernatural others exist in the known world. I do believe that perhaps we can be inspired or empowered by the memory of those who have gone before us or who have died, but I do not believe that any alleged “supernatural” beings or entities are alive and actively working on our behalf, nor do I believe that any “persons” are coming to save us now or in the future. In the words of the late great June Jordan, “We are the ones that we have been waiting for,” and we must act in order to enhance and preserve the places and spaces in which we live.

Unlike the anti-theist, I am not hostile or opposed to those who practice the worship of deities; everyone is entitled to their own beliefs; just not mine. I respect the spiritual ideas and traditions that early humans imagined and developed to help them make sense of their lives and the world around them, but I believe that we humans are absolutely responsible for the individual and collective good of our own lives and for the preservation of the Earth on which we live (to the extent that we can control ourselves and our environment). The primary philosophy that I hold on to about the role that we have as a society to the Earth and to each other is humanism, (not theism), and humanists believe that we have the power and the responsibility to save ourselves and our planetary existence in our galaxy, to an extent. I believe, it is our turn to live and act in the world in which we live, and we must embrace this responsibility courageously and for ourselves.

Professionally, I have dual endorsements: as a Humanist Chaplain and a Senior Humanist Celebrant, which means that I am legally authorized by The (American) Humanist Society to co-create and officiate ceremonies that celebrate and commemorate life. Since 2014, the The Humanist Society (THS) has been recognized by the Association for Professional Chaplains, which is an affiliate of the Board of Chaplaincy Certification, Inc., As such, THS may endorse chaplains. I have been a THS member for a little more than a decade. My affiliation with the THS has empowered me to recycle and apply the skills that I gained as a pastor to serve in an official capacity to assist and celebrate those who profess “any faith or none.”

I am grateful for the work of The Humanist Society as well as The American Humanist Association. In everything I do, I use my talents and my intellect to make this world better in the here and now. Hopefully, my efforts, along with the efforts of other like-minded people, including those of believers, will serve as a means for future generations to be self-sustaining and self-determining. In particular, I believe that non-theists have a unique and peaceful role to play in this life: as a group non-theists only represent about 1% of the prison population in the U.S. Indeed, we are GOOD WITHOUT GOD!!!

As for inspiration, I have been compelled by many people. Most of them have been women, womanists, authors, feminists, artists, and writers such as bell hooks and Dianne Reeves. Reeves is an extraordinary jazz vocalist who I tried to emulate (vocally) in my early twenties. It was such a pleasure to meet her in person in Kansas City at the American Jazz Museum in 2017, where I used to work. The amazing writings of bell hooks, Alice Walker, and Octavia Butler have been key to the development of what I call a womanist-feminist consciousness. If you are not aware of what either of those terms mean, then I urge you to read more from these authors. Many of my own publications explore these terms and their origins.

My primary way of serving others is through teaching and writing. I teach in the local Kansas City metropolitan area in public schools when available and when needed. As a lecturer, I also I teach college courses at Cal Poly Pomona in the Department of Urban & Regional Planning and the Department if Ethnic & Women’s Studies. My teaching career officially started in 2001 in Illinois, at Parkland Community College in the Department of Humanities, although as a seminarian I was employed as a graduate assistant by many great educators/theologians, such as the Rev. Dr. Tex Sample, the Rev. Dr. Emilie Townes. At Parkland, my post-secondary teaching experiences began with developmental writing and religion courses, e.g., Old Testament and introductory courses on Eastern spiritual traditions or frameworks.

Today, I am still very interested in teaching courses that explore religious or secular frameworks, but as a non-theist. In practice, however, many who teach and work in traditional religious institutions or seminaries, for example, rarely have an interest in offering courses on atheism or secularism, but this is changing due to the pioneering work of those who identify as “nones” non-theists, secularists, freethinkers and humanists and who have refused to remain silent. Yet, black atheists, such as Lorraine Hansberry and Dr. Robin d.g. Kelley, as well as many black humanists, such as Alice Walker have given this world so many good things.

I too do my part when it comes to mainstreaming non-theism and helping theist educators to realize that there is much to gain from non-theists, especially in seminaries and in clinical pastoral education (CPE) programs where they will undoubtedly engage non-theists in clinical or hospital settings. Hospitals are places for all people, regardless of their beliefs.

I maintain a personal blog at https://www.annalisefonza.com. In addition, the percentage of black Americans who are non-believers or secular in standpoint, including “Black Nones,” is growing, and they deserve to be treated with respect in life and in the celebration of life at death. Those who identify as non-theist or secular deserve to be free from disrespect, harassment, or even discrimination, which are Constitutional freedoms that belong to atheists or nonbelievers as well, believe it or not.

The writing that I post in my blogging is often about matters of race/racism, gender/sexism, and, I write academically and professionally about those matters as they relate to lived social and spatial experience of black women and black communities, in particular. My starting point is often my own lived experience and I write from the standpoint of my education and expertise in urban and regional planning.

Finally, I write because it is my way of learning and expressing myself, and I believe that learning and thus evolving (e.g., adapting and growing) are fundamental to human growth and development. Therefore, I always try to maintain a willingness to learn, and I expect adult others to do the same. I understand that it is scary to adapt and grow because sometimes it means we have to leave the old way of doing things or thinking behind us. I know, first-hand, that letting go of ideological and ontological frameworks is hard. I would go so far to say that letting go of anything or anyone that gives us a sense of identity, security, or safety may cause us to experience cognitive dissonance, but when the time comes to let go we have to find the courage to change (no pun intended) and hence, to grow.

Becoming the person I desire to be is a significant aspect my life’s journey, and I believe that evolution is central to the human experience. Any person, society, or institution, that refuses to evolve, change, or grow will suffer and regrettably cause suffering and maybe destruction to themselves and perhaps to their loved ones. We must not let this happen to ourselves, nor the cities and places that many beautiful and courageous people have have taken the time to build for the betterment of us all.

In closing, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to visit this site. I am very excited about my current endeavors and for the collaborations and invitations that are to come. If you are interested in inviting me to your school or your organization, please contact me in the comments section of this site and I will receive it via my notifications. On Facebook, you can find me for officiant and chaplain services by clicking here.

Best regards,

annalise fonza, Ph.D., MURP, M.Div., MPA, BA

[N/B: Except where noted otherwise, all the ideas, research, and opinions on this blogsite are the exclusive intellectual property of Dr. Annalise Fonza and they are not to be attributed to any organization or person to which she is associated or affiliated with for any purpose. At this time, Dr. Fonza has created only one WordPress or dot com account: this one. If discovered, the unauthorized use or copying (e.g. re-posting and screenshotting) of the content from this website without permission from the author will be addressed appropriately and possibly with the assistance of legal counsel.

Updated 10/01/2025