Sesha Joi Moon becomes first Black queer woman to establish an endowment at VCU

Tarazha Jenkins, Contributing Writer

VCU alumna Sesha Joi Moon will be the first black queer woman to create an endowment at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, named after the first Black governor of Virginia.

The scholarship is the second endowment ever established in the Department of African American Studies, according to the Wilder School.

The Dr. Sesha Joi Moon Endowed Scholarship will provide $50,000 to students in need, pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in the Department of African American Studies at VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences or the Wilder School. An endowment is money given to an institution. 

Moon’s academic and activism journey began in the third grade when she first ran for Student Government Association president at John B. Cary Elementary School in Richmond 

“As the daughter of a civil rights activist from Blackwell, as well as a legacy of educators from Byrd Park on my mother’s side,”  Moon said.

Standing on the shoulders of her ancestors’ and community leaders like her parents, she pursued two degrees at VCU and received a doctoral from Old Dominion University, propelling her into a notable career in social justice and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, or DEIA, in the government, Moon said. 

She was one of the first students to receive a degree from the Department of African American Studies in 2005. Later, earning her master’s degree in criminal justice from the Wilder School.

The VCU alum graduated a decade ago and now, alongside her family, plans to pay it forward in the Richmond area, establishing three endowment scholarships for students at VCU, and two at local historical black colleges and universities, or HBCUs. 

Moon told the Wilder School that a family trip to Georgia helped push the initiative forward. During the trip discovering that she comes from a long lineage of those who pursued education her great grandfather would send family members from Georgia to attend Virginia Union University, she said. 

“We have a deep legacy which we wanted to pour back into the students at VCU with the establishment of my endowed scholarship,” she said. “The exact same times we also did an endowed scholarship at Virginia Union and Virginia State in honor of my grandparents.” 

The Moon family donated $20,000 to endow the George Ernest Johnson Scholarship Fund at VSU for students playing in the marching band or pursuing a music degree. Moon’s grandfather played in the marching band while attending VSU. 

“One of the biggest things that I know is that there would not have been a VCU for me if there had not been a VSU and a VUU for my grandparents.” Moon said. “Not losing sight of all of the different HBCU’s and MSI’s within the Richmond community was very important to our family.” 

The family also gave a $25,000 donation to endow a VUU scholarship named after her grandmother, Inez Orzene Jaudon Johnson, for students seeking a degree in education, sociology or social work. 

Her mother, Michon Moon, is a scholar from Byrd Park and three-time VCU graduate, who served as the director of victim witness for the commonwealth’s attorney officer in Virginia, before retiring. 

“I followed in her footsteps,” Moon said. “I’m a proud product of both my parents and their ancestors.” 

August Moon, her father, was a social justice activist, recording artist, record label owner and entrepreneur from the southside of Richmond. Born during the Great Depression, at the height of Jim Crow in 1937.

“He made it from Blackwell Bottom, to having a daughter who’s a senior executive at Congress,” Moon said. 

Many Blackwell residents referred to him as the “Mayor of Hull Street.” 

The “grassroots foot soldier” was a notable figure at city council meetings, contributed to the Stop the Violence Campaign and United Struggle Movement around Richmond, and served as the sergeant of arms for Crusade and Voters, an organization founded in Jackson Ward to effectively promote Black political participation and education. 

“He had ‘Tell It Like It Is’ – a notable television show,” Moon said. “Which people say you couldn’t even run for office if you did not come and stop by and see August Moon.”  

August Moon passed away this summer and now his daughter Sesha Moon is eager to carry his legacy on, with her sister Enjoli Moon, co-founder of the JXN Project and executive director of the Richmond Independent Afrikana Film Festival.

Before Sesha Joi Moon was appointed into her current position as Chief Diversity Officer for the U.S. House of Representatives, she began her career as a federal government intern. 

“Most of the people that I know who are co-executives, across all sectors, we all began as interns,” she said. “It’s probably one of the most beneficial two years I’ve ever spent.”

Moon soon became Chief Diversity Officer at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, gaining the attention of Speaker Emerata Nancy Pelosi. 

However, long before she became a figure in Richmond and D.C., she was an active leader at VCU. Moon served as president of the Black Caucus and vice president of the Eta Tau Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. the first historically black Greek Organization chartered at VCU in 1970.

“I was actively engaged in issues that had to do with the governance of the institution through the lens of a marginalized community or students,” Moon said.

The VCU alum hopes the endowment will encourage other alumni to pay it forward. 

“I think it’s a huge lesson – I’m young, I’m Black, I’m queer, I’m a woman. I’ve established this fund and people poured in because they’re looking for spaces to really fill up,” she said.

On VCU Giving Day, the Dr. Sesha Joi Moon Endowed Scholarship was the number one fundraised endowment outside of the medical school, according to Moon. 

“One of my biggest accomplishments with establishing this fund is the fact —  we came in number one,” she said, “Because of that we actually received an additional $10,000 dollars that allows us to unlock the scholarship fund earlier than anticipated. It encourages other alum, such as myself, to really lean back and give back,” Moon said.