In 2002, Professor Risher was appointed the position of “Minority Scholar” teaching Public Speaking and Introduction to Business courses at Passaic County Community College. Eighteen years later she holds the position of a tenured Assistant Professor and Academic Coordinator of Public Speaking in the Fine and Performing Arts Department. She teaches Public Speaking, Business Communication, Business Writing, and Death and Dying courses. She also serves as chair of the Distinguished Lecturer Series and faculty advisor to the Power in Christ Christian Club who won the Emerging Club Award for excellent campus involvement and exceptional leadership.
Prior to this, she held a post at New York Theological Seminary where she taught for several years in the Certificate of Ministry program. Also, Professor Caffie also held a post Fairleigh Dickinson University Silberman College of Business (Madison campus) where she taught Executive Communication and Leadership to MBA students for nine years, was a visiting specialist for several years at Montclair State University where she taught a capstone course on Careers in Communication, and was a former director of training and development for a major ethnic satellite television international broadcasting company. She has earned numerous commendations for being an outstanding professor by both the dean and students at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
A licensed and ordained Proclaimer of the word of God, Reverend Caffie is president and founder of Midnight Gospel, Inc., a non-profit evangelistic outreach ministry which is based in New Jersey. Caffie’s ministry has evolved to include the development of More Than Survivors, a support group for female survivors of sexual abuse; authoring a home and hospital visitation ministry training manual; contributing her bi-vocational expertise to minister to women inmates at the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, New Jersey, the disabled and young adults.
She has also developed Christian education curricula and programs e.g., Matters of Life and Death: A Workshop on the Journey of Grief for the Congress of Christian Education – 29th Annual Worker’s Conference and Ministry to Death and Dying: The 5Ws and H at the North Jersey District Missionary Baptist Association – 94th Semi-Annual Session and Congress of Christian Education. She has also facilitated “How to Help Hurting People” at North Jersey District Annual Leadership Institute week.
As an author of the textbook, “The Essential Guide to Public, Professional and Personal Speaking” Professor Caffie is adept as a Public Speaker addressing diverse groups on a variety of topics, including public speaking, grief, loss, and bereavement and prayer. To this end, she has an extensive educational background and dedication to ongoing training that incorporates an intersection between faith, communication, and death and dying. She is most passionate about educating, empowering and encouraging others to be their best selves thus constituting her philosophy in life.
She has hosted her own Public Cable Access show, “GetUP: An Urban Perspective” and designed, developed, produced and hosted a weekly international short-wave radio broadcast ministry for culturally diverse audiences in China, Asia, Hawaii, Africa, the Middle East, Russia and Europe with LeSea Broadcasting; a division of World Harvest Radio. She is also a member of the New Jersey Communication Association.
As a Pastoral Care Practitioner, Caffie is certified in Thanatology from the Art of Dying Institute. Additionally, she is certified in Bereavement and Spirituality from San Francisco Theological Seminary; Grief Recovery, End of Life Doula and Clinical Pastoral Education/Chaplaincy Program from Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, New Jersey.
She also holds certificates on the completion of the V.I.P. Instructor Training for the Prison Fellowship Ministries from Dennis Cramer Prophetic Ministries-School of the Prophets (Levels I and II); Theophostic Ministry- a ministry based upon biblical principles of inner healing; Victory Ministries – Ministering Spiritual Gift; the Entrepreneurial Training Institute, the Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Paterson program, William Paterson University’s Non Profit Management and Bergen Community College’s Non Profit Leadership program. Moreover, Caffie has a Bereavement, Loss and Grief Work Center, Good Mourning Ministry where the primary focus is to minister hope and healing to hurting people.
She is a member of ADEC; the Association of Death Educators and Counselors, and has received the Chaplains Professional Development Institute Certificate of Completion for Ethics: Contemporary Issues and Options and the Nondenominational Movement and Chaplaincy.
Rev. Caffie is also a Prayer Warrior whose faith is unshakable as it is based on the belief that God hears and answers prayers. This gives her the strength to manage her various obligations and responsibilities while still being available for those who need her the most. She has conducted numerous podcasts, workshops, virtual seminars and bible study classes on various topics including prayer.
In recognition of her loving and selfless acts, Caffie was presented with a General Assembly Citation for commendations and praise for demonstrating outstanding dedication to the church and community on behalf of the 35th Legislative District of the State of New Jersey.
Caffie’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications with a minor in TV and Radio Broadcasting from Fairleigh Dickinson University, a Master of Arts degree in Corporate and Public Communications with a minor in Non-profit Management from Seton Hall University, and a Master of Divinity degree from New Brunswick Theological Seminary where she also successfully served as President of the Association of the Black Seminarians for the 2007-2008 academic year. Presently, Caffie is pursuing a doctorate of ministry in Pastoral Care and Counseling at New Brunswick Theological Seminary.
She is a graduate of BERGEN LEADS and a recent graduate of RISE TOGETHER Mentorship Network founded as an initiative of Union Theological Seminary in collaboration with the WOCIM Project. RISE is a female mentorship network that connects clergy women of color.
Caffie is adventurous and loves traveling (Canada, South Africa, Greece, Israel, Egypt, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Bahamas and several of the states). She also loves retail therapy, water aerobics, walking and praying in the mountains, holistic treatments, reading, retreating yearly in the Adirondacks, and spending time with her family in the south.
