Home – Our Team
Dr. Rhonda Shaw currently serves as General Manager of Shaw’s Broadcasting Company, where she oversees operations, programming, and community engagement for WOJG 94.7 FM, a trusted voice serving West Tennessee and surrounding areas. She is also the host of the weekend radio show Doctor 2 Doctor – In the Chatroom, where she leads impactful conversations that inform, empower, and uplift the community.
Previously, Dr. Shaw served as a Senior Research Associate with Institute for Intergovernmental Research, where she worked as a project coordinator with the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Program. In this role, she supported the delivery of specialized training and technical assistance for law enforcement working within school settings and with school-age populations. She also contributed to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) Opioid Affected Youth Initiative, providing technical assistance to more than 30 sites nationwide impacted by the opioid epidemic.
Dr. Shaw also served as Project Director with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, leading initiatives that provided intervention, prevention, trauma-informed care, family supports, and wraparound services to youth and families in targeted communities. Her extensive experience includes serving as Program Manager for Memphis-Shelby County Schools, where she facilitated student services programming across 24 middle schools, as well as roles as an educator in Hardeman County, Jackson-Madison County, and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.
As an Education Consultant with the State of Tennessee, she supported West Tennessee school districts in strengthening academic instruction and ensuring compliance for Title I programs through targeted technical assistance.
Dr. Shaw is an active member of the Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Justice Board, the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative Committee, and the Shelby County Juvenile Justice Consortium. She holds a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Freed-Hardeman University, a specialist degree in curriculum and instructional design from Union University, and a Doctor of Education in Leadership and Professional Practice from Trevecca Nazarene University.
She is also a graduate of the WESTSTAR Leadership Program, a certified examiner for the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence, a trained family support specialist, a TN certified Family Support Specialist, and a certified Youth Mental Health First Aid trainer.
Miss Opal … the First Lady … Mamma … however you address her, she is loved and respected by all!
Opal J. Shaw is a life-long resident of West Tennessee. Born in Fayette County on September 9, 1945 to Walter and Sallie Johnson, who were both pillars in their communities. She is the youngest of ten children, and the mother of three: Reginald aka R.E. Shaw, Back in the Church House; Rhonda aka Dr. Shaw of Doctor to Doctor; and Tracy aka Baby Jock and Jeremy.
According to her mother, she began singing in church as soon as she could speak. After marrying Johnny in 1963, they combined her talents and became known as the world renowned Shaw Singers. Reading a newspaper article stating that one could record their music for $400, Opal gathered the music she had written and traveled to Memphis, TN, where the Shaw Singers recorded their debut singles in 1967. A former disc jockey by the name of Bro. Wade at WDIA AM in Memphis took some of their recordings on consignment and played one, “This Old Life Will Soon Be Over”. It was then that the duo’s singing career took flight. The Shaw Singers recorded a total of 33 singles, along with two albums. The First Lady wrote and arranged the vast majority of all recording. “Special Prayer”, a solo done by Opal, still lives on the airways to this day. Her music has taken her all over the world, including tours in Germany and France.
In 2000, Opal became the first African American female to hold the office of County Commissioner in Hardeman County, TN.
Marital Status: Married; Children: 4; Occupation: Businessman/Minister; Political Preference: Democrat; Religious Preference: Baptist; Education: Theology A.S.,
American Baptist College, Jackson, TN Campus;
Organizations and Affiliations: Owner, Shaw’s Broadcasting, LLC, Board Member -Community Rehabilitation Agencies of TN (CMRA); Board -West Tennessee Public Broadcast Service.; Former Board Member, National Civil Rights Museum; Founding Member & Chair -TAKE ONE (Offender Support Program), Steering Committee; West Tennessee Mental Health Facility, Board Member; Madison County African American Chamber of Commerce; Lifetime Member of the NAACP; Founding Member of the Shaw Singers; Rural West Tennessee Caucus; National Black Caucus of State Legislators, Alzheimer’s Tennessee Advocate; Commission on Aging Advocate; Tennessee Association of Broadcasters; Gathering of Men-Missionary Organization , member- Code Red Ministers Alliance & Coalition of West Tennessee
Honors and Awards:
Govt & Legislative Service: Hardeman County Commissioner; Past-Chairman of the TN
Legislative Black Caucus; Member of House Agriculture & Natural Resources; Finance Ways and Means, Finance Budget Sub, Local Govt; State Govt., Elections & Campaign Finance Sub; and numerous other committees for the past 22 years.
Member: 102nd, 103rd, 104th, 105th, 106th, 107th, 108th, 109th, 110th, 111th ,112th, 113th and 114th General Assemblies;
Counties Represented: Hardeman, Haywood and Madison
Counties—80th Legislative District
