Brandy Maltbia Woodley is a Kansas City, Missouri native, graduating in the top 5% of her class at Winnetonka High School in 1993. She also was the first Black Homecoming Queen in the North Kansas City School District. In 1997, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in International Business with a minor in French, with honors, from Northwest Missouri State University. During the summer and winter breaks from undergraduate studies, she interned at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and Farmland Industries, Inc through the INROADS, Inc internship program. In 1999, she completed her Master of Arts in Human Resources Management at Webster University.
Brandy and her family retired from the U.S. Army life and settled in Parkville, MO. Her children have been part of the Park Hill School District since 2016. In 2020, Brandy was asked to be part of the Walden Middle School Equity and Inclusion Advisory Group and the Park Hill South High School Inclusion and Equity Family Advisory Council. She jumped at the opportunity to help Dr. Stucker and Dr. Herren improve and set objectives that would allow each and every student to be seen, heard and feel that they truly belong at their school. Upon listening to what other parents had experienced and that of their scholars, her heart was pained and resolve stirred to reach out and help. Hearing how students of color were negatively disciplined differently, racial and gender slurs were freely used without worry of consequences, distressed students not getting learning gaps closed, and curriculum not inclusive of the dynamic culture, races, genders, ethnicities and preferences that make up the student body, Brandy felt a call to advocate and help ensure a more excellent school experience for her daughters and every student within the Park Hill School District.
Affiliations*, Honors and Service
- 2013 Young Entrepreneur of the Year (EMA, El Paso, TX)
- Delta Mu Delta (Business Society)
- Habitat for Humanity – Education Committee
- Human Resources Management Association, Kansas City Chapter- Co-Chairman of the Diversity Committee
- Kansas City Compensation & Benefits Association (KCCBA)
- Mortar Board Senior Honor Society
- National Association of African Americans in Human Resources (NAAAHR) -Kansas City Chapter
- National Association of Professional Women
- National INROADS Alumni Association
- Phi Sigma Iota – President (Northwest Missouri State University)
- Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)
- SHRM Global Forum
- United States Army Sergeants Major Academy – Senior Spouse Leadership Course
- U.S. Army Spouse and Family Readiness Group – Co-Leader and Volunteer
- 1st Black Woman elected to the Park Hill School Board of Education and serve as President and Treasurer
- U.S. Army Civilian Service Commendation Awards
*Affiliations are not current.
Academic Experience
After leaving corporate America and becoming an Army wife, she took her experience to the education field. She was an Adjunct Instructor at Central Texas College and Upper Iowa University, while stationed at Fort Polk, LA. She taught human resources management, complex organizations, training and development, compensation, and other related business courses. One of the most challenging and rewarding courses was helping graduating seniors with their “Senior Projects,” or thesis papers and presentations.
Across the Pacific Ocean, she sailed into Red Hill Elementary School in Honolulu, HI. She took the course and exam to be become a Certified Substitute Teacher in the state of Hawaii. At Red Hill for almost two full years, where her three daughters started off in first and fourth grades, she was initially hired as a substitute for Pre-Kindergarten through sixth grade on that campus. Then, she took on additional duties as an Educational Assistance (EA) to help kindergarteners and first graders with sight words and reading development. The second year, she was asked to be a long-term substitute working daily with designated SPED students, creating daily session plans catered to individual needs, helping with IEPs and recording progress for the primary teacher and parent.
One of Brandy’s most memorable experiences was working with an amazing first grade girl named Hunter. She was born prematurely and had some delayed learning, motor and social skills but was very smart, witty and strong-willed. They worked together on writing, reading, numbers and socialization. An intricate part of “Team Hunter” was an awesome school nurse, who explained Hunter’s condition, needs, and how to operate the machine that controlled her feeding tube. A few months into being her primary teacher, her parents informed Brandy that she was moving to solid foods. Brandy and the nurse worked together to have Hunter feed herself soft foods—encouraging her, pushing her and celebrating her and her victories. Working with Hunter anchored Brandy’s resolve to take advantage of opportunities to help all children be successful and reach their dreams.
Woodley’s Park Hill Scholars
Brandy has three daughters who are part of the Park Hill community. Nakiya is a Park Hill South graduate, where she played the violin in orchestra and was involved in the EMP Robotics team, track and field, Black Student Union and drama. She is currently in the U.S. Army Reserves and attending Kansas State University. Go Wildcats! She has twin juniors that attend Park Hill South HS. Jordyn is a part of the JV basketball team, Panther Mentors, and track team. She is also a coach for a KC Premier third grade girls’ team. Jaelyn plays the clarinet in PHS Marching Band and alto saxophone in the PHS Jazz Band. She is a part of PHS Student Council, Panther Mentors, Student Sense of Belonging, as well as president of the Black Student Union and Young Dems.
Army Wife
Brandy was an Army wife for 16 years, married to Sergeant Major (SGM) Johnny Woodley. He served 31 years: Soldier, Ranger, 82nd Airborne, Jumpmaster and more. The Woodleys were stationed at Fort Polk, Fort Bliss, Fort Sill and Fort Shafter/Hickam Harbor AFB. As an Army wife, Brandy learned to “bloom where you are planted,” as a General’s wife advised. She learned to quickly unpack and set up a house, while enrolling kids in school and dropping off her Soldier at the airport for three months to a year of deployment—sometimes all in the same week. During deployments, she became tough, focused and determined to ensure that her daughters had all the love, support, discipline and opportunities in his absence, and that family time and bonding was a priority when he reintegrated back into their lives each time. Woodley admits that being an Army wife was hard, but she would do it all over again . . . and again.
Work Experience
Brandy Woodley’s career has not been a straight path but one that gradually smoothed out with great gratification. She started off in corporate America as a Compensation Analyst at the headquarters division of Farmland Industries, Inc. In 2000, she took a lateral move to work for Sprint, where she completed the final courses to be a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) with an International/Expatriate emphasis through WorldatWork, in 2001. During her corporate career, working for Fortune 500 companies’ Headquarters Human Resources Departments, she worked closely with executives and counterparts in areas of Employee and Organizational Development, Employee Relations, Recruiting, Benefits, Sales Compensation and more.
As an entrepreneur, Brandy Woodley was the CEO of Soaring Dove Enterprises, a sole proprietorship she ran from 2006-2019. This business was established in order to provide balance of military life, spirituality, child development, and home life; as well as conduct business across the nation and seas, wherever the military located her family. She has always had a heart to help others and could accomplish this through Soaring Dove Enterprises, Inc. The business focused on document assistance, editing (articles; general, term and/or thesis papers; webpage content; marketing & advertising language, and more); virtual assistance; HR consulting and professional coaching. During that time, she went on to edit three published books. In March 2013, Brandy received the Extraordinary Minority Awards’ Young Entrepreneur of the Year from the MEDA Business Center of El Paso (El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce).
From 2009-2013 while stationed at Fort Bliss, TX and Fort Sill, OK, Brandy was the Editor-in-Chief and contributor of Army Spouse Magazine (formerly Army Wife Magazine). Within that role, she completed press releases for top stories impacting the local military and civilian population that went out to different Public Affairs Offices of various Army installations across the nation. She was also a liaison for the magazine and USAA’s marketing and communications initiative with independent, military focused media outlets. Woodley also, was the Director of Operations and Human Resources for MOCHA Enterprises based in El Paso, TX.
Woodley dipped into the education field in 2002, working as a substitute teacher in DeRidder, LA and at neighboring Fort Polk’s satellite campuses of Upper Iowa University and Central Texas College. In 2014, she jumped completely in working full-time at Red Hill Elementary School in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Currently, Brandy is the Editor for the Department of Military History for the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) located on Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This job is truly a culmination of the gratifying career pivots of her life: editing, Army, and education. In 2023, she earned her certification as a Women, Peace, and Security Gender Focal Point via the U.S. Army. She is her department’s Female Mentoring & Morale Program, Fort Leavenworth representative, working to bring more empowerment, support, and networking for women in uniform and Army Civilian Professionals. During her time at CGSC, she has earned the Army Civilian Service Commendation twice—from the Department of Military History for outstanding service, and from the Fort Leavenworth’s Commanding General, LTG Milford Beagle for serving on one of his Cross-Gen Teams.
For service, Brandy is currently the Board President and a MSBA Delegate of the Park Hill School District Board of Education. During her first board term, she served as Board Treasurer and MSBA Delegate Alternate. She earned her MSBA Master and Advanced Certifications in 2023, and she is serving as part of the founding cohort for MSBA’s focus on supporting and growing needs for urban and suburban school districts. She is also on the Melvin D. & Valorie G. Booth School of Business Professional Advisory Board of Northwest Missouri State University.