Danita Arlene Woodley (aka the BurnoutBawseLady) is purpose-driven, passionate, and whimsical. She simply has a zest for life and stays thankful and grateful no matter what comes her way. Danita has devoted 20+ years to public service, holding several roles such as a Teacher & Mentor, Grant Writer, Diversity Change Agent, and Supervisor to name a few. Her most recent position was Division Director, OELA Grant Team, Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) at the U.S. Department of Education (ED). During her tenure at ED, she built high performing teams, presented at national conferences/meetings, and led conference planning activities for several programs: Title I Part A, Homeless Education, Neglected & Delinquent, and 21stCCLC Afterschool. Prior to joining ED, she served as a Teacher for DCPS, ACPS, and APS. In addition, she served as a Teacher Mentor and Mindset Coach. To accelerate her purpose-driven work, she founded BossUp Fab, LLC where she is committed to building a global network of support for educators, one burnout bawse at a time. A 'Burnout Bawse' refers to someone who overcomes the challenges of burnout and chooses to use their story to empower others. Educators are often faced with burnout and are undervalued. To this end, she is now devoting her time into uplifting all of those who touch the lives of students. During 2025 Public Service Appreciation Week, she randomly selected a school in her new home state of North Carolina, to take time to honor ALL of their employees. She is scheduled to release her upcoming book, From RIF to Richness: 7 Strategies to Transform Workplace Trauma into the Richness of Each Day, in December 2025. She holds an MPA (Southeastern University), BSBA (Strayer University) and A.S. (Pace University). She is also a fellowship recipient of the Harvard University Leadership program. She’s a wife of 35+ years, mother of two adult sons, and Nana (3 grandchildren). In her spare time, aside from spending time with family, she loves vintage thrifting, writing, and arts & crafts projects.
