York City, Dover said she received early exposure to workplace challenges for Black people. After a job transfer to Chicago, she found a mentor in SB Fuller, president of the South Side Chicago NAACP and the National Negro Business League. Known as the “dean of Black entrepreneurs,” he laid the foundation for Dover’s entrepreneurial journey, she said. In the DoverSolutions’ early years, Dover was able to find clients in her HBCU network, including Rep. Roger Bruce of the Georgia House of Representatives. The 1975 Morehouse College graduate formerly served as Spelman College’s vice president for human resources. In the early 2000s, he sought DoverSolutions to build out his team. “I was told about her recruiting agency and I contacted her to help hire people we needed on campus. We remained friends,” said Rep. Bruce. “The whole nature of her company is to help people find employment opportunities and take care of themselves. It’s not just her company making money. It’s about using that money and resources to help other people. I applaud her big time for that. I did everything I could to help her be successful. Sanquinetta is an absolutely beautiful person.” While Dover runs her successful company around the clock, she is able to mix business with pleasure– and service. As an Atlanta resident, she maintains her connection to Spelman College, visiting for special events including her recent
50th reunion convocation. In 2014, the late Dr. Jane Smith, who served as Spelman’s vice president for college relations and graduated from the school in 1968, invited Dover to become a founding committee member of the school’s Spelpreneur program dedicated to honing students into entrepreneurs. Now in its 10th year, Spelpreneur offers two programs for students curious about entrepreneurship, provides resources to develop their businesses, and hosts weekly opportunities to learn tenets to start a business, or grow their side hustles. “I had the honor to go back and participate with some of the students,” said Dover. “It’s wonderful to engage with the students and pour into them, and they poured in to me, too. It’s a wonderful experience to be on campus, sharing with the students and seeing how that program is growing and thriving. Being in Atlanta gives me an opportunity to touch base often with my alma mater.” Taking the program a step further, Dover continues to mentor Spelman alumna Ve’Lesa Dunlap. They met during a Spelpreneur networking event in 2017,
during Dunlap’s junior year. Now an aspiring
entrepreneur herself, the 2018 graduate said Dover’s mentorship has influenced her desire to grow her own business. “I remember meeting Ms. Dover during a speed dating type of mixer,” said Dunlap. “I just so happened to sit at the table where Ms. Dover was. I was shy, but we
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