- Frances E. Ashe-Goins—Frances E. Ashe-Goins—health administrator, educator, nurse, epidemiologist—received her MPH in Health Education from the University of South Carolina in 1980. Currently, she serves as the Deputy Director of the DHHS Office on Women’s Health (OWH), where she is responsible for the development, initiation and implementation of programs and policies in partnership with other federal agencies, national and local health organizations, and leaders committed to advancing women’s health. As a Nurse Epidemiologist, her varied past nursing and educational experiences served as a solid base upon which she built her infectious diseases expertise with special emphasis on AIDS. Ashe-Goins has served as a Senior Policy Analyst for Prevention and Minority Affairs for the DHHS Public Health Service’s Office of HIV/AIDS Policy, where she was responsible for the coordination of HIV prevention activities with other government offices and HIV/AIDS related issues for minority communities. In addition, she has held a number of HIV/AIDS policy and public outreach-focused positions in the federal government.
- Oscar A. Barbarin—Oscar A. Barbarin, PhD, is the L. Richardson and Emily Preyer Bicentennial Distinguished Professor for Strengthening Families in the UNC School of Social Work, and Senior Investigator at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He earned a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Rutgers University in 1975 and is President of the American Orthopsychiatry Association, as well as a Fellow in the American Psychological Association’s Society for Community Research and Action. He is currently involved in a longitudinal study of the effects of family life and publicly sponsored pre-K programs on early socio-emotional and academic development. He is also interested in the effects of early childhood intervention and the etiology of achievement and under-achievement in ethnic minority children.
- Dr. Barbarin has conducted research on the effects of community violence and poverty on emotional and behavioral development in South African children. He published a book entitled “Mandela’s Children,” describing the effects of poverty and violence from birth to age 5. He has served as the Executive Director of the University of Michigan’s South African Initiative Office, where he collaborated on research aimed at development of the next generation of South African Scholars and the preparation of American students for scholarly work in Africa. In addition, Dr. Barbarin has investigated stress, coping and socio-emotional development in families of children with life threatening illnesses such as cancer, sickle cell disease, hemophilia, and AIDS and has tested the effects of a preventive home-based, family focused intervention. He has served as a consulting editor for several research journals and has provided program and research consultation to Head Start programs and the State of Michigan Sickle Cell Program.
- Stacey Bouchet—Stacey Bouchet is a Senior Consultant at the Annie E. Casey Foundation where she works on projects related to Healthy Marriage and Healthy Relationships, children with incarcerated parents, responsible fatherhood, and faith and families. She uses her research background and commitment to system reform and community-based change to provide strategic consulting to the Foundation. Dr. Bouchet earned her doctoral degree in Public Policy from the University of Maryland and serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. Her areas of research expertise include co-parenting, father involvement and child outcomes in a variety of family structures, the effects of marriage on the income of women in poverty, voluntary paternity acknowledgements and child support payments, and the effects of welfare policy on child well-being. Dr. Bouchet is also the proud mother of a nine year old daughter.
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- Carmen Bovell-Chester—Carmen Bovell-Chester is Senior Advisor on State Collaboration at the Office of Head Start (OHS) in Washington, DC. In this capacity, she is responsible for providing expert technical leadership, policy, and program guidance to the OHS, Regional Offices and State Collaboration Offices. She has over 20 years experience as a Head Start Director and has worked as a child care center director, education specialist, and preschool and elementary school teacher. In 1996, Dr. Bovell-Chester was awarded a one-year Head Start Fellowship and spent this time working on child mental health issues at the Head Start Bureau and the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, as well as on Early Head Start issues at the Bureau. She has served as an adjunct instructor at George Mason University, The University of Virginia, and Marymount University in Northern Virginia.
- Dr. Bovell-Chester earned her PhD in Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her doctoral dissertation examined the impact of cultural beliefs and practices in child-rearing on the classroom behavior of preschool children.
- Cleopatra Caldwell—Cleopatra Caldwell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education and Co-Associate Director of the Program for Research on Black Americans at the University of Michigan. She has published in the areas of help-seeking behaviors and informal social supports among African Americans, the Black church as a social service institution, and race-related socialization and academic achievement among African American youth. In addition, Dr. Caldwell has experience in the health policy field. She served as the health policy analyst on Capitol Hill for U.S. Congressman J. Roy Rowland and as a fellow in the office of U.S. Congressman Sander Levin.
- Seth Chamberlain—Seth Chamberlain has been a social services research analyst with the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), in ACF, for the last three years. He is co-project officer on the Building Strong Families contract, evaluating the effectiveness of healthy marriage programs among unmarried couples at or near the time of the birth of their child. Chamberlain is also co-project officer on the Couples Together Against Violence cooperative agreement, which is evaluating the effectiveness of healthy marriage programs among couples experiencing low levels of violence.
- Cassandra D. Chaney—Cassandra D. Chaney is an Assistant Professor of Family, Child and Consumer Sciences at Louisiana State University. Her research focuses on the relationship structure and stability of married and cohabitating African Americans. Chaney is particularly interested in distinctions between married and cohabitating couples and between men and women, as they discuss the meaning, experience, and development of emotional closeness and romantic commitment. In addition, her research examines religious and spiritual involvement among African Americans, the ways that religiosity and spirituality support African American parents, and the ways that African Americans define “religiosity” and “spirituality.”
- Dr. Chaney received her BS degree in Psychology from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge and her MS & PhD degrees in Human and Community Development from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has been an invited panelist at various conferences to present her research and plans to expand her commitment to African American families by developing programs and conducting outreach that will help married and cohabitating African Americans, during various stages of the life cycle, to have more satisfying and stable relationships.
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- Obie Clayton—Obie Clayton is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at Morehouse College, as well as the Executive Director of the Morehouse Research Institute and the Chivers–Grant Institute for the Study of Family and Community Issues. Dr. Clayton received his undergraduate degrees in Religion and Sociology from Millsaps College in Jackson MS and the MA and PhD degrees from Emory University. His research and teaching interests are primarily in the areas of family studies, stratification and crime and delinquency.
- Dr. Clayton’s current funded research is in the area of health disparities and teenage sexuality. Other research activities include studies of urban inequality, the impact of immigration, job training for African Americans, and the impact of mass transit. He has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to expand the infrastructure of Morehouse College to conduct basic and exploratory research on the etiology of violence and asocial behavior.
- Bill Coffin—Bill Coffin, Special Assistant for Marriage Education, joined the Administration for Children and Families in January 2002. Working with the Assistant Secretary, he is helping to orchestrate an important culture change, where those who marry will have better access to knowledge and skills to form and sustain healthy marriages. In recognition of his work he was awarded the 2006 Smart Marriages Impact Award. Coffin spent most of the previous three decades working for the Navy, initially on active duty and then as a civilian in the Navy’s Family Support Program Headquarters in DC. His passion is marriage education and enrichment. He served as the Marriage Preparation Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Washington and as a consultant to the U.S. Bishops Committee on Marriage and Family Life. He co-authored a book chapter on Preventive Interventions for Couples. Coffin is a graduate of Fairfield University in CT and has Masters degrees in Human Relations and in Counseling. Coffin and his wife Pat have been married for 38 years and have four children and four grandchildren.
- Diann Dawson—Diann Dawson serves as the Director of the Office of Regional Operations within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A senior level director and principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary regarding field operations, she provides leadership and direction to ACF’s ten regional offices responsible for federal oversight and implementation of more than 60 human service programs to promote the well-being of children and families. Those programs include Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Child Care, Child Support Enforcement, Head Start, Foster Care and Adoption, Child Abuse and Neglect, Child Welfare, and Runaway and Homeless Youth.
- A career public servant with over 30 years of Federal executive leadership and State program management experience, Dawson is the recipient of numerous awards including the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service which recognizes outstanding achievement by members of the Senior Executive Service. With a background in social work, Dawson understands the critical nature of love and support, intangible lessons, and indispensable characteristics that children obtain from their parents. It is that understanding, combined with her commitment and experience that has been instrumental in helping ACF work to strengthen and rebuild families through the Healthy Marriage Initiative. As part of her present role, Dawson effectively guides regional support of Healthy Marriage Initiative goals across the country. Dawson also provided the leadership to create the African American Healthy Marriage Initiative (AAHMI) along with her executive staff in 2003, laying the foundation of a national family strengthening movement for African Americans.
- Ms. Dawson received her JD degree from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and Maryland. She holds a MSW degree with a concentration in community organization and social planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA from Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina. Ms. Dawson is married and the mother of one son.
- Hazel Dean—Hazel D. Dean, ScD, MPH, is currently the Acting Deputy Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She previously served as NCHHSTP’s first Associate Director for Health Disparities and as a supervisory, senior, and staff epidemiologist in the Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the CDC. Prior to joining CDC, Dean worked at the Louisiana State Health Department, where she was an epidemiologist, biostatistician, and statistical coordinator with the HIV/AIDS Program.
- Throughout her two decades of work in the public health field, Dr. Dean has contributed significantly to the development of national and international strategies for using HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, STD, and tuberculosis data to guide prevention and care program planning, and to address infectious and chronic diseases health disparities. Her research interests include developing methods, applications and programs to detect, understand, and reduce health inequalities. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Spelman College and her Master’s degree in Public Health in International Health and Biostatistics and her PhD in Biostatistics from Tulane University.
- Wayburn Dean—Wayburn Dean is an accomplished vocal recording artist who has traveled the globe performing Contemporary Christian music for God. He is the former lead singer for the internationally known Contemporary Christian group Acappella. During his five years with the group, he received several national awards, including two Dove award nominations and a Grammy nomination for his vocal performance of the hit song “Rescue.” After recording 12 albums with the group, Dean has launched his first solo record this year. Over the past year his solo career has had wonderful success. Most recently, Paramount Pictures selected Dean’s arrangement of the song Swing Low Sweet Chariot from the 1993 Acappella Spirituals Album as a pivotal selection in the storyline of the motion picture “Fighting Temptations” with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyonce Knowles.
- Dean’s second national recording entitled “IMMEASURABLE” was released in 2006. In June 2006 and January 2007, three songs from this record topped the charts as top ten singles in the nation.
- Jacqueline Del Rosario—Jacqueline Del Rosario is an author, columnist, speaker, and community leader who has championed the cause of America’s youth. She is a prolific visionary who inspires youth and adults alike to expand their horizons and capture their vision. As a forerunner in the areas of youth empowerment, HIV prevention and abstinence education, Mrs. Del Rosario has accomplished unprecedented success with her program ReCapturing the Vision (RTV), aimed at reducing HIV AIDS, preventing teen pregnancy, and breaking the cycle of dependency. In addition, she has established The Vision Center, housing The Vision Academy of Excellence (a fully accredited school), a counseling center, a family life center, and an after school program.
- As the author of curricula used in several school districts and the publisher of Teen Vision Magazine, Mrs. Del Rosario is breaking new ground and making a positive impact in the areas of HIV prevention, teen pregnancy and family mentoring. She is a certified marriage trainer in the PREP Approach. She is working to establish a new way of thinking in today’s generation through Raise It, a positive talk show for cable television. Mrs. Del Rosario resides with her husband and two children in Miami, Florida.
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- Nancy S. Dickinson—Nancy S. Dickinson, MSSW, PhD, is Executive Director of the Jordan Institute for Families at the School of Social Work, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The Institute focuses on strengthening families through research, educational, and technical assistance projects. Dr. Dickinson has had extensive experience in social services practice, administration, research, education and training in North Carolina, Tennessee, California, and Washington State.
- Dickinson received her MSSW at the University of Tennessee and her PhD at the University of Washington. She is currently Principal Investigator of a 5-year, Children’s Bureau funded project on public child welfare staff recruitment, selection and retention.
- M. Robin Dion—M. Robin Dion, MA, is a Senior Researcher at Mathematica Policy Research. She serves as Principal Investigator for the Building Strong Families project and is Project Director for the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative Process Evaluation. For the Strengthening Families with Children Born Out-of-Wedlock project sponsored by HHS ACF, Ms. Dion led the development of a conceptual framework and directed a project that studied the implementation of healthy marriage programs across the country. The author of numerous reports and articles, Ms. Dion has served on several State research advisory groups for initiatives to strengthen families and marriage. Over the past 12 years, she has studied poverty and well-being of low-income families and children, State welfare-to-work programs, and interventions to improve the outcomes of teenage mothers and their children. She received an MA in social psychology from Arizona State University.
- Stephen Erath—Stephen Erath earned a BS in psychology from Texas A&M University in 1999 and a PhD in child clinical psychology from Pennsylvania State University in 2006. He worked extensively with children and families in clinical settings at the Penn State Child Study Center and University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he completed a clinical psychology internship. Dr. Erath is currently a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Auburn University and will be appointed Assistant Professor in January 2008. His research focuses on children’s family and peer relationships and coping with social stressors, such as marital conflict and peer victimization. He is also interested in translating research into preventive interventions to promote children’s social and emotional competence.
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- Archie W. Ervin—Archie W. Ervin, PhD, is Associate Provost for Diversity and Multicultural Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In this role, he directs the university’s efforts to recruit, retain and graduate minority students and faculty. He has focused on development of programs and strategies contributing to increased diversity in the undergraduate student population and to greater accessibility to higher education for all citizens of North Carolina. In 1995, he received the University’s Massey Award for Public Service, in recognition of his leadership and service to the university.
- Before coming to Chapel Hill, Dr. Ervin served as an Instructor in Political Science, Director of Minority Student Affairs, and Student Personnel Administrator at Appalachian State University, where he received the Outstanding Black Staff Award and was a founding member of the Black Caucus. A native of Brevard, NC, he earned undergraduate and master’s degrees at Appalachian State and a doctoral degree from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education.
- V. Jeffery Evans—Jeffery Evans is Director of Intergenerational Research with the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of NICHD. He received a PhD in Economics from Duke University, where he was cross-trained in Demography. He received a law degree from the University of Maryland. He is responsible for supervising a portfolio of research dealing with issues regarding families and children, intergenerational behavior and transactions, and socio-economic status and health.
- Dr. Evans has been instrumental in implementing large-scale projects targeted at specific research problems and yielding public use data sets. He has researched welfare reform and its impact on families and children and has held leadership positions in the planning and implementation of several initiatives that include 1) the creation of the Federal Interagency Forum for Child and Family Statistics, 2) the Fatherhood Initiative, 3) the NICHD Health Disparities Strategic Plan, and 4) the NICHD intergenerational research program.
- Paris Michele Finner-Williams—Paris Michele Finner-Williams has been a professional mental health pioneer for over 34 years. She is a licensed Clinical Psychologist, a practicing Attorney, and a Certified Christian Counselor. She is the founder and CEO of the Detroit-based Finner-Williams and Associates Psychological Services, created in 1979, and the legal professional association of Paris M. Finner-Williams, Esq., P.C., created in 1991.
- A popular guest on radio and television, and author of numerous publications, Finner-Williams addresses male-female relationships and motivational issues. She provides consultation and training to public and private agencies in the areas of group dynamics, forensic psychology, client assessment, and mental health treatment. She is a member in or officer of numerous professional organizations and has received local and national recognition for her contributions and leadership in the mental health field. Finner-Williams has volunteered time as the legal consultant for the International Association of Black Psychologists since 1989 and received their Service Award for consecutive years and the 2006 Distinguished Psychologist of the Year Award.
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- Robert M. Franklin—Robert M. Franklin is a scholar-preacher and insightful educator, as well as a former foundation executive. He is author of Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities (Fortress, 2007). Dr. Franklin has served on the faculties of his alma maters, the University of Chicago and Harvard University Divinity schools, and at Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, and Emory University’s Candler School of Theology where he gained a national reputation as director of Black Church Studies. He then assumed the presidency of the Interdenominational Theological Center and served as program officer at the Ford Foundation where he had primary responsibility for grants to African American churches engaged in secular social service delivery and for advising the President of the foundation about future funding for religion and public life. His major fields of study include social ethics, psychology, and African American religion. Dr. Franklin served as the Chautauqua Institution “Theologian in Residence” for the 2005 season, and he provides commentary for “All Things Considered,” a National Public Radio program.
- W. Wilson Goode, Sr.—W. Wilson Goode, Sr., has been a leader in military, government, church, and social action organizations for over 40 years. He is currently Senior Advisor on faith-based initiatives for Public/Private Ventures and directs the Amachi Program, a national faith-based mentoring model for children of incarcerated parents (http://www.amachimentoring.org/). Dr. Goode has improved communities by building housing and organizing interventions in education, employment, and economic development. He broke racial barriers in state and local government with his appointments as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (1978), Managing Director of the City of Philadelphia (1980), and the first African American elected Mayor of Philadelphia (1983).
- Dr. Goode has served on more than 40 corporate, civic, religious and neighborhood Boards and serves as Chair of four Boards: The Free Library of Philadelphia; Cornerstone Christian Academy; Self, Inc.; and Philadelphia Leadership Foundation. He is a Fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration and The Society for the Study of Black Religion. A sought after preacher and speaker, he makes more than 150 appearances annually. He has authored his autobiography, In Goode Faith (1992). Dr. Goode received a BA in History and Political Science from Morgan State University; a Master’s degree in Governmental Administration from the Wharton School’s Fels Institute at the University of Pennsylvania; and a Doctorate Of Ministry from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Velma, have one son, two daughters, and two granddaughters.
- Barbara J. Guthrie—Barbara Guthrie is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor at the Yale University School of Nursing. Her nursing education began at Howard University’s Freedmen Hospital School of Nursing. She received her BSN from Boston University, her MSN (in Family Health) from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and her PhD from the New York University School of Nursing. Prior to her current position, Dr. Guthrie held a dual appointment at the University of Michigan as an Associate Professor in the Division of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction and Women Studies. She directed undergraduate Traditional and Non-Traditional Nursing Programs at Michigan and was the Associate Director of a T-32, a Women’s Health Disparities Interdisciplinary Training Grant funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research.
- Dr. Guthrie’s research and health activism have afforded her the privilege of working with adolescent girls from diverse ethnic, social class, and environmental contexts, to design ethnic- and gender-responsive health promotion programs, for which she has received funding from The National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Cancer Institute, and National Institute for Nursing Research. She has served on numerous Advisory Boards, including the first National Female Adolescent Technical Expert Group, the American Bar Association Advisory Board for Girls in Juvenile Justice Systems, the Girl Scouts of American’s Research Board, and Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA)’s Adolescent Female and Substance Use Research Advisory panel.
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- Creasie Finney Hairston—Creasie Finney Hairston, PhD, is Professor and Dean of the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Hairston is one of the pioneers in the development of family programs for correctional populations and has conducted research and written extensively on the impact of incarceration on families and communities. Her recent publications examine domestic violence and prisoner reentry, public policies and fathers in prison, and parenting programs in prisons. She is the Editor of the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, President Elect of the Illinois Academy of Criminology, past chair of the John Howard Association Prison and Jail Monitoring Committee, and founding Chair of the Academy of Certified Social Work Managers. She is a member of several national and local boards including the Chicago Board of Health, the Administration in Social Work Journal Editorial Board, and the Criminal Justice and Mental Health Institute National Advisory Board. She is a member of several professional associations including the National Network for Social Work Managers, the Council on Social Work Education, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and the American Society of Criminology. In recognition of outstanding research and leadership, she received the International Community Corrections Association’s E.B. Henderson III Presidential Award in 2004 and the National Network for Social Work Managers Distinguished Leader Award in 2006.
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- Jeffery Marvin Johnson—Jeffery Marvin Johnson is President and CEO of the National Partnership for Community Leadership (NPCL), whose mission is to strengthen the capacity of nonprofit and community-based agencies to empower youth and families. In this role, Johnson has overseen the planning and implementation of two of the nation’s largest social welfare research projects involving low-income men: The Partners for Fragile Families Site Demonstration and the Fathers at Work Demonstration. With his leadership, NPCL has convened 10 annual International Fatherhood Conferences and has managed the National Youth Development Practitioners Institute on behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor, the Ford Foundation, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Dr. Johnson is a recognized authority in areas of leadership, poverty, and employment, with particular focus on the plight of African American men and families. He is regularly invited to testify before Congress on matters pertaining to low-income fathers and strengthening families and played a principal role in passage of the Fathers Count Bill. He has authored several publications including Fatherhood Development: A Curriculum for Young Fathers.
- Prior to his work at NPCL, Dr. Johnson was a senior manager and consultant in the private and public sectors and an adjunct professor of Educational Administration and Leadership at Trinity College in Washington, DC. He served as President for the District of Columbia United Way and the United Way of the National Capital Area, where he was selected as Outstanding Volunteer for three consecutive years. Johnson currently serves on the Boards of Advisors for the Morehouse College Research Institute, the District of Columbia Commission on African American Men and Boys, and the District of Columbia Neighborhood College. He is the 1999 and 2003 recipient of the President’s Award by The National Practitioners Network for Fathers and Families. Dr. Johnson is a member of The Peoples Community Baptist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he serves as President of the Men’s Fellowship Ministry. He has been married for 28 years to his wife Ernestine and has 2 children, Jeffery Jr. and Jasmin. He received his education at the University of Michigan where he earned his BA, MA, and PhD degrees in Urban Education.
- Robert I. Lerman—Robert I. Lerman, Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute and Professor of Economics at American University, has worked for over 30 years in public policy and research on issues relating to family patterns, poverty, and welfare programs. At the Congressional Joint Economic Committee and U.S. Department of Labor, he helped formulate policy on welfare reform and youth employment. As one of the first scholars to examine the patterns and economic determinants of unwed fatherhood, Lerman co-edited and contributed three chapters to Young Unwed Fathers: Changing Roles and Emerging Policies. Among his other family-related publications are: “Employment Opportunities of Young Men and Family Formation,” in American Economic Review; “The Impact of the Changing US Family Structure on Child Poverty and Income Inequality,” Economica (1996); and (with Avner Ahituv) “How do Marriage, Work Effort, and Wage Rates Interact?” (forthcoming in Demography).
- Currently, Dr. Lerman is serving as Principal Investigator in the evaluation of the Community Healthy Marriage Initiative. He earned his AB from Brandeis University and PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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- Marjorie Lewis—Marjorie Lewis has been a member of the Denver Community since 1991, coming from Washington, DC via Pittsburgh, PA and Berkeley, CA. She came to our community with public service and community-based empowerment as a Godly call. With a Bachelor’s degree, three Master’s degrees, a PhD, and a DMin degree, Reverend Dr. Lewis has blended her academic career with community activism to establish the Center for Community Excellence and Social Justice. She utilizes this Center in partnership with her pastoral care and counseling ministry through Sojourner Ministries and as a minister at the New Hope Baptist Church, to honor human dignity through spirituality, education, and empowerment. The Center’s Behavior Services Institute provides drug and alcohol rehabilitation therapy, play therapy, individual and group counseling, pre- and post-marriage counseling, grief therapy, and HIV/AIDS faith based harm reduction technical assistance and training.
- Dr. Lewis is the author of various journal articles and book chapters, including a sermon in Ella Pearson Mitchell’s, Those Preaching Women Volume III, and chapters in The Black Church and Public Life and Raising the Bottom: Promoting Marriage in the African American Community. Most recently, Dr. Lewis has been identified as the point person for the state of Colorado’s Healthy Marriage Initiative. She has developed a series of activities addressing fatherhood, abstinence, addiction, and domestic violence, with the traditional aspects of a healthy marriage community transformation.
- Jennifer Hickes Lundquist—Jennifer Hickes Lundquist, PhD, is a social demographer at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She evaluates racial disparities within a variety of demographic outcomes, including marriage, family stability, fertility, and infant health. By specializing in an experimental framework that compares such outcomes in the U.S. military institution to those of larger society, she provides a counterfactual perspective on the causality behind persisting race differentials in U.S. society.
- Andrew Lyke—Andrew Lyke is the Executive Director of Arusi Network, Inc., a not-for-profit organization focused on strengthening marriage in the African American community through education, consultation, coaching, and spiritual retreats. He has served on the Advisory Boards of The Catholic New World and the Office for Black Catholic Ministries. He has served on the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, and currently, he serves as a member of the Archdiocesan Christian Initiation Board and the Executive Board of the Archdiocesan Office of Conciliation.
- Lyke is a certified facilitator of the “Recovery from Racisms” focal support group process and a member of the “Dwell in My Love” Archdiocesan Anti-Racism Team, which organizes against systemic racism in the Church and society. From 1996 to 1999 he served as a campus minister at DePaul University, where he established the Center for Marriage and Family Ministry. The “Books ‘n Hoops” summer program, which reaches out to inner-city high school students, was begun under Lyke’s leadership while he ministered at DePaul. He and his wife, Terri, have headed Marriage Ministry for the African American Community for the Archdiocese of Chicago since 1982 and have delivered marriage enrichment and preparation programs for couples across the United States. As Lyke To Lyke Consultants, they have conducted presentations on marriage and family issues to church, community and business audiences. They appeared on “The Gift of Blackness” series on cable television and have written for numerous publications, including The Catholic World and In A Word magazines. They regularly write for Catholic News Service’s Faith Alive publication. Their biweekly column, “Family Reflections,” was featured in several Catholic diocesan newspapers around the United States from 1993 to 2003. They were the 1995 recipients of the Augustus Tolton Archdiocesan Award for the Archdiocese of Chicago, and in 2005 they received the Bishop Quarter Award from the Archdiocese of Chicago. From 2000 to 2002 they served as advisors to the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Marriage and Family. They are the parents of two adult children and are parishioners at St. Lawrence O’Toole Church in Matteson, IL, where they serve together as a family in ministry.
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- Rufus Sylvester Lynch—Rufus Sylvester Lynch, Dean of the Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work, has over 30 years of experience in administration, teaching, research and community service. He has served in senior staff positions in the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of Pennsylvania’s State Government and has held executive positions in private industry, higher education, and non-profit corporations. Lynch received his Doctorate of Social Work degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s in the same field from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Morgan State College. Dr. Lynch’s interest in and commitment to the revitalization of urban America extends over several decades. He has co-founded several non-profit charitable corporations including the Center for Studying Social Welfare and Community Development, the Berean Presbyterian Institute for Family Preservation and Policy Development, Fresh Start Community Development Corporation, the Philadelphia Juvenile Center, Inc., and the Institute for the Advancement of Working Families. In his capacity as Dean, he has enriched the School of Social Work through establishment of a national research center for child and family issues of systemic and global impact; a regional clinic for the advancement of women with families; and an institute for the study and research of full-male development.
- Dr. Lynch served as a Gerontological Fellow at the Philadelphia Regional Office of the U.S. DHHS and has written about educational services for older persons, training for those who work with senior citizens, and organizational improvements in the field of aging. His more recent work has focused on the empowerment of communities, defining an appropriate role for social workers who practice in justice system settings and the discussion of ethics which guide the practice of social work. He has been recognized as Pennsylvania’s Social Worker of the Year; as one of the Outstanding Young Men of America by the U.S. Jaycees; and as a Distinguished Alumni by the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Social Work.
- Leon R. McCowan—Leon R. McCowan serves as the Regional Administrator for the Administration for Children and Families, Region VI, in Dallas, Texas. He provides executive leadership, direction, and coordination for all ACF programs in the region, consisting of the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The Administration for Children and Families is responsible for programs that promote the social and economic well-being of children and families. The following ACF programs are under his direction: Head Start, Child Care, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Child Support Enforcement, Tribal programs, Developmental Disabilities, Child Welfare programs, Youth programs, and Community Service programs. Nationally, he serves as the Lead Regional Administrator for Child Support Enforcement, Technology, and Positive Youth Development.
- With more than 30 years of professional federal service, Mr. McCowan began his career in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. He has held various program and management positions within the Department of Health and Human Services, including: Regional Hub Director, WestCentral Hub; Deputy Program Manager for the Office of Family Assistance; and as the Deputy Regional Representative for Child Support Enforcement.
In 2001, Mr. McCowan was recognized with the prestigious “Presidential Rank Award” for Meritorious Executives, and was presented with two “Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service” by the Department of Health and Human Services. The first award commended his creativity, initiative and vision in developing approaches to partnerships for results with Hub Stakeholders and inventing a model organizational strategy for the West-Central Hub. The second lauded his efforts with the Department of Health and Human Services National Fatherhood Initiative. He received the Secretary's Award in 2000 as well, for outstanding performance of Y2K activities.
- Mr. McCowan is a member of the International Who’s Who of Professionals. The North Texas Chapter of Blacks in Government honored Mr. McCowan with a “Career Achievement Award.” He was named “Manager of the Year” by the National Treasury Employees Union and was presented the “Unsung Hero Award” by the Dallas Chapter of Federally Employed Women.
- Mr. McCowan received his BA in Sociology from Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, and his MA in Public Administration from the University of North Texas in Denton. He is married to Curtistene McCowan; they have two married sons and three granddaughters.
- Linda Malone-Colon—Linda Malone-Colon is a Hampton University psychologist, a non-resident fellow at the Institute for American Values, and the former Executive Director of the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center (NHMRC), a national clearinghouse for information and research relating to healthy marriages. She earned a PhD in Personality Psychology and an MS in Clinical Psychology at Howard University. Dr. Malone-Colon is a noted scholar on African American marriage. Most recently, she co-authored three important manuscripts, published by the Institute for American Values—The Consequences of Marriage for African Americans: A Comprehensive Literature Review; Marriage and the Well-being of African American Boys; and Responding to the Black Marriage Crisis: A New Vision for Change. She is a national speaker and consultant on the values and consequences of marriage, speaking most recently at the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference, the annual Smart Marriages Conference, and the Brookings Institution Conference on the Consequences of Marriage for African Americans.
- Dr. Malone-Colon has also worked with several healthy marriage projects including the Administration for Children and Families AAHMI as their research specialist, the Hampton Roads Healthy Marriage Coalition, the DC Healthy Marriage Coalition, the Building Strong Families Research Project, the Next Generation Elites and Marriage Research Project, and an Annie E. Casey Foundation Initiative designed to strengthen marriages in low-income communities. In addition to research on marriage, Dr. Malone-Colon has studied African American responses (including coping strategies) to socio-cultural stressors associated with their minority status. She co-authored a chapter on measures of responses to stress in the Handbook of Tests and Measurements for Black Populations. She designed and taught a course entitled “Black Marital Relationships,” which was featured at the 2003 through 2006 annual Smart Marriages Conferences and in the August 2004 edition of Essence magazine.
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- Sarah O. Meadows—Sarah O. Meadows is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Center for Research on Child Well-Being at Princeton University. Dr. Meadows received her PhD in Sociology from Duke University in 2005. While at Duke she served as the data coordinator for the Foundation for Child Development’s Child Well-Being Index (CWI). Her work on gender differences from this project received the 2005 Best Social Indicators Paper Award from the International Society for Quality of Life Studies. Among her current research projects are an examination of parental mental health, family structure, and child wellbeing, as well as the impact of family structure transitions on maternal and paternal mental and physical health trajectories using the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study (FFCWS). She has also investigated gender similarities in depression and delinquency among a national sample of adolescents. Dr. Meadows’ work has recently been published in Social Forces, the Journal of Family Issues, and the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.
- Linda Mellgren—Linda Mellgren is a Senior Social Science Analyst in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, DHHS, focusing on child support, fatherhood, marriage and the intersection of human services and criminal justice populations. Since 1985 she has been responsible for oversight of child support policy, evaluation and research. From 1995 to 2000 Mellgren was Staff Coordinator for the DHHS Fatherhood Initiative, established to promote opportunities for fathers, children and families by improving research, evaluation, policy development and program support for fatherhood. Currently she is managing the evaluation of the ACF Responsible Fatherhood Marriage and Incarceration grants. Since coming to Washington, she has also worked on issues related to teenage pregnancy, domestic violence, and Native American health and social welfare. From 1969 to 1976 Mellgren worked for the Social Security Administration and the Office of Child Development/Head Start in the Chicago Regional Office of DHHS. She has a BA in psychology from the University of Minnesota and an MPA from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
- M. Valerie Mills—M. Valerie Mills is a Senior Public Health Administrator with the US DHHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). She recently returned to this position after a two year assignment with the White House Conference on Aging where she served as the Senior Advisor on issues related to mental health and aging, substance abuse and the elderly, and affordable and available senior housing. She is presently working on Public Health policies related to homelessness, minority health issues, cultural competency and eliminating disparities and health literacy.
- Dr. Mills served as the associate Administrator for HIV/AIDS at SAMHSA from 1997 to 2004 where she successfully engineered and obtained a total of $192M in newly appropriated funds for SAMHSA from the Congressional Black Caucus/National Minority AIDS Initiative for substance abuse treatment and prevention and mental health services for the homeless, women, children, youth and families. She organized the first State Integration Meeting, which brought together the Executive Directors from NASTAD, NASADAD, NAMHPD, federal partners, HRSA, CDC, State Directors, and selected Community-Based Organizations to discuss service integration for those with HIV/AIDS, mental health, and substance abuse concerns. For many years, she has provided technical assistance and expertise to the White House Workgroup on Youth and Families. In 2003, she co-chaired the National HIV/AIDS Prevention Conference in Atlanta, GA where more than 3000 participants attended. Presently, Dr. Mills serves on the African American Healthy Marriage Initiative Roundtable as a SAMHSA representative. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from A&T State University, an MSW from Rutgers University, and a PhD in Health Services from Walden University affiliated with Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
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- Nisa Islam Muhammad—Nisa Islam Muhammad is the founder and executive director of Wedded Bliss Foundation, a national initiative to promote marriage in the Black community. The flagship program of the organization is Black Marriage Day, the fourth Sunday in March, which started in 2003. Since then it has grown from 30 cities to over 100 cities in 2005.
- Muhammad’s work to promote marriage has carried her across the country speaking to audiences who are hungry for the message that marriage is much more than just a piece of paper. She is a frequent presenter at the Smart Marriages Conference with Rev. Dr. Rozario Slack. That relationship has produced a new non-profit organization called Black Marriage Publications. They responded to the pleas from people around the country to develop a marriage education curriculum that spoke to the needs of the Black community. Basic Training for Couples is the result of their research, dedication and commitment to help Black couples form and sustain healthy marriages. She has also collaborated with colleagues to write Raising the Bottom: Promoting Marriage in the Black Community. Ms. Muhammad knows the joys of marriage as well as the sorrows of divorce. She wants to create better foundations for successful marriages so that her 5 children can enjoy Wedded Bliss.
- Martha N. Okafor—Martha Okafor is the Deputy Director for Special Projects, Division of Public Health in the Office of the Director, Georgia Department of Human Resources. She holds MA and PhD degrees in Anthropology, as well as a Master of Public Administration degree. At the third AAHMI-HHS Health Agency Partners Roundtable, Dr. Okafor presented her research brief entitled, “A Public Health Perspective on Healthy Marriage.”
- Theodora Ooms—Theodora Ooms, MSW, is a Senior Consultant to the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center and Public Strategies, Inc. From 1999-2007 she was a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), where she worked on couples and marriage policy, with a special focus on low-income families. Between 1981 and 1999 she was the Executive Director of the Family Impact Seminar (FIS), a nonpartisan policy research institute based in Washington, DC. Prior to 1976, Ooms worked as a clinical social worker, family therapist, and program administrator in New Haven and Philadelphia. She received her BA from Oxford University and MSW from the University of Connecticut.
- Ooms has conducted studies on teenage pregnancy and parenthood, unwed fathers, family involvement in schools, and marriage. She has edited two books and authored numerous publications, including the background briefing reports that accompanied the highly regarded series of 44 family policy seminars that FIS held on Capitol Hill from 1988-1998. She collaborated with several national organizations on projects related to welfare reform, teen pregnancy and unwed fathers. In 1998 Ooms launched a new program of activities designed to identify strategies to strengthen marriage and held a national roundtable meeting on this topic. She joined CLASP in 1999. She twice testified before Congress on marriage policy. As an independent consultant, Ooms has provided technical assistance to community and state marriage initiatives, including Greater Grand Rapids, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.
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- Dennis K. Orthner—Dennis K. Orthner is Professor of Social Work and Public Policy and Associate Director of the Jordan Institute for Families at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a marriage and family specialist with over 30 years of experience in developing and assessing marriage programs and implementing measures of marriage and family strengths. He directs the multi-year Family Strengths Project, attempting to identify factors associated with family risks and resilience. His research has examined the role of shared time and experiences on marital well-being, the effects of separations and military deployments on marital quality, factors in low-income relationships that promote or limit relationship and marital quality, the conditions in marriages that promote resilience under circumstances of stress, and the role of relationship assets, or strengths, in marital commitments and stability.
- Dr. Orthner has been integral to the development and evaluation of programs promoting the health of families in the U.S. military, in the U.S. and overseas. He has presented testimony before the US Senate Caucus on the Family; the US House of Representatives Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families; and Senate and House Committees working on military family issues. He has worked with the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Defense on family related issues and served on the National Advisory Board of the National Military Family Association. Most recently, he served as the Program Director for the National Demonstration Program for Citizen-Soldier Support, a community capacity building effort to support military personnel and families in the National Guard and Reserves, and presented testimony on strategies to help families returning from extended deployments to leaders at a National Mental Health and Substance Abuse Conference.
- Dr. Orthner received his PhD degree in Sociology from Florida State University in 1974. He came to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1988. He has worked on family policy concerns with numerous organizations including The Conference Board, The Center for Law and Social Policy, and the Center for the Study of Social Policy. He has published extensively in areas of his research and consultation. He is the author or co-author of several books including Families In Blue (1980), Intimate Relationships, An Introduction to Marriage and the Family (1981), Youth in Transition (1987), and The Organization Family (1989). He has authored over 100 research publications in numerous professional journals. Orthner is listed in Who’s Who in the South, American Men and Women of Science, the Directory of Distinguished Americans, Outstanding Young Men in America, and others.
- Carol Lewis Osborne—Carol Lewis Osborne is the Director of Program Initiatives at the DHHS/Administration for Children and Families, Region IV, Atlanta, GA. Her professional background includes work at the local level in a County Social Services Office as a Caseworker and Casework Supervisor. She has served as a Head Start Community Representative, Children and Youth Program Specialist for Child Welfare, Developmental Disabilities and Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs, Child Abuse and Neglect Program Specialist, Branch Manager for TANF/Child Care/Child Welfare, Director of the Division of Community Programs which includes the Head Start program, and, most recently, Director of State Programs.
- Osborne received her early education in the public schools in her home state of Texas, her undergraduate degree from Tennessee State University, and her graduate degree from the University of Utah. She is also active in her community and Church. She is a member of Zion Hill Baptist Church, a founding member of the Ivy and Roses Community Fund, and a Past President of Pi Alpha Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
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- Twinet Parmer—Twinet Parmer is presently a professor of Counselor Education at Central Michigan University. She earned her PhD from The University of Iowa in Counselor Education, specializing in Couple and Family Counseling, with a minor in Family Studies. Dr. Parmer also earned a MS and BS in Textiles and Clothing, Apparel Design, from Southern Illinois University and completed the required hours in Elementary Education in order to earn a teaching certificate for grades three through eight.
- Dr. Parmer has taught at Ohio State University, Washington State University, The City Colleges of Chicago, and the Chicago Public Schools. She has taught Community Agency Counseling, Multicultural Counseling, Sexuality Counseling, Practicum, Internship, Marriage and Family, And Careers. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Limited Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist. Dr. Parmer works in private practice, counseling individuals, couples, and families, with a specialty in working with clients who are dealing with sexual issues. Dr. Parmer has served on the Governing Council and the Executive Committee of the American Counseling Association, and on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. She has presented at numerous scholarly conferences and contributed to a number of scholarly journals, publishing articles that address African American family, relationship, and career issues.
- Hillard Pouncy—Hillard Pouncy is a Principal Investigator with Decision Information Resources, Houston, TX, on a three year federally funded project for the Office of Child Support Enforcement. The project assesses how well the goals of responsible fatherhood programs mesh with policy goals of healthy marriage initiatives. In addition, he has served as Principal Investigator for an Office of Child Support Enforcement study that examined differences in how minority and non-minority non-custodial fathers perceived the child support enforcement system. The project contributed to policies addressing national Black/White child support enforcement compliance gaps.
- Dr. Pouncy has also been a Principal Investigator on projects with the Ford Foundation; the Mott Foundation; the Academy for Educational Development; the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies; the National Center on Fathers and Families; the Annie E. Casey Foundation; and the Urban Institute. The projects ranged from school-to-work policy, to workforce policy, to child support enforcement and welfare policy. He has taught at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy at Princeton University, the Political Science Department at Swarthmore College, and the African and Afro-American Studies at Brandeis University. Pouncy is co-author of a book in progress, entitled Strengthening Fragile Families: Reforming Income Security Policy for Modern American Childhood Poverty, with Ronald Mincy, Columbia University. His education includes a PhD in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA and an MA in Journalism from Columbia University.
- Anthony M. Powell—Anthony M. Powell is currently working with Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America, Inc. (OICA), where he serves as the Healthy Marriage Education Program Director and Project Officer for the agency’s National Healthy Marriage Initiative. Formerly, he was employed with the Salvation Army of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Division’s Philadelphia Citadel Corps as the Director of Children and Youth Programs, and with United Communities Southeast Philadelphia, where he served as the Director of Children and Youth Services.
- Powell holds a Master Degree in Human Services from Lincoln University with a concentration in Leadership and Organizational Development. He has served as the State Director of Community Economic Development Grants Program at the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center. In this role he was responsible for monitoring legislative activity and disseminating information. He has worked for over 20 years with coalitions of community and religious groups seeking to address the needs of low to moderate-income families, especially those living in or near poverty. Powell is currently pursuing a Post Master Degree in Law and Social Policy at Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, PA.
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- Jan Quiram—Jan Quiram is the Associate Director of the Substance Abuse Services Bureau of the Boston Public Health Commission and has been the Interim Director of the Father Friendly Initiative since May 2005. She has thirty years of management experience with business and not-for-profit education, behavioral health, children’s services, criminal justice and human services. She has practiced as a consultant for over 18 years, specializing in strategic planning, executive coaching, organizational development, business and program development, and management.
- Quiram holds an MEd in Rehabilitation Administration from Northeastern University and a BA degree from the University of Minnesota. She is bilingual in English and Spanish, has run businesses and lived in Latin America, and began her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador, Central America. She has developed a training curriculum for staff working with persons with developmental disabilities recognized by a national innovation review group and has authored an international adoption assistance curriculum that has been utilized by 3 State Departments of Child Protective Services.
- Jerry Regier—Jerry Regier is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in the U.S. DHHS, and functions with the operational authority of the Assistant Secretary. He provides leadership in policy analysis and policy development and evaluation research for Secretary Leavitt. Regier has served as Secretary of the Florida Department of Children & Families (DCF), appointed by Governor Jeb Bush in August, 2002. As Secretary he oversaw a Department of over 25,000 with a budget of $4 Billion. Prior to that, he served as Secretary of Health & Human Services for Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, where concurrent to his Cabinet role he directed the State Department of Health. At the Federal level, he has served as Acting Administrator of the National Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the U.S. Department of Justice and Acting Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
- In 2001 Regier was named Administrator of the Year in Oklahoma by the American Society of Public Administration (Oklahoma Chapter). He is a graduate of Michigan State University with a BA degree in history, and a Master’s of Public Administration from Harvard University.
- Maryann Reid—In 2002, Maryann Reid was invited by USA TODAY to write a novella for the acclaimed Open Book section of their website. In Jan/Feb, her series, “Single Black Female” ran for several weeks and attracted a new audience to her already popular first book, Sex and the Single Sister. In 2003, Reid wrote Use Me or Lose Me, a spin off to Sex and published by St. Martins. Her third book Marry Your Baby Daddy was published by St. Martins Press in Sept 2005. Reid interviewed hundreds of couples with children to find out what their goals, concerns and issues were concerning their relationships. She discovered a group of “baby mamas and baby daddies” who love each other and defeat the negative stereotypes perpetuated by some forms of popular culture.
- The issue of fatherlessness in the black community has always been a topic of interest to Reid and inspired her idea for Marry Your Baby Daddy Day. With no funds and no corporate backing, she was able to gather supporters, vendors and grateful couples who couldn’t wait to embark on this venture. As the founder of this landmark event, Reid has been coined the “Oprah of Brooklyn.” She hopes to “bring black love back in style.” Reid is a graduate of Fordham University and obtained her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Miami. She is working on a fourth novel for St. Martins. She is a regular guest and relationship advisor on radio and television shows, most recently, for Life & Style, a syndicated daytime talk show seen on Oxygen and UPN. Born to Jamaican parents, Reid lives in Brooklyn, NY. To find out more visit www.maryannreid.com.
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- Addie L. Richburg—Addie Richburg is the President and Chairman of the Board for the National Alliance of Faith and Justice. She serves as the Chief Domestic Strategist for the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice and as a Consultant for the US Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. She has had a 21 year career with the Department of Justice, providing specialized knowledge to support the role of volunteer and citizen participation through the Inmate Transition Branch.
- A published author, accomplished professional musician, and choir director, Richburg also serves on numerous Boards and Advisory Networks addressing corrections, civil rights, and youth. She attended Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, VA, and Columbus University in Columbus, GA. She is mother to three adult children (Santraiah, Carrie, and Larenzo).
- Stephanie Robinson—Stephanie Robinson, Esq. is President and CEO of Yale University’s Jamestown Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan institute dedicated to presenting diverse new voices, innovative scholarship, and novel policy approaches, utilizing cutting-edge communications techniques and political action to increase democratic participation. She is also the Principal of the Robinson Sullivan Group, LLC (RSG), where she advises on legislative processes, as well as constitutional and criminal justice policy and procedure.
- Previously, Robinson was Chief Counsel and National Director for Public Policy at the Center for Community Changes (CCC), one of the nation’s leading organizational voices for disenfranchised communities, and served as Majority Chief Counsel for Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. She was an associate at the law firm of Hogan & Hartson, L.L.P., representing clients in civil and criminal litigation and specializing in civil rights and education practices. In 1994, Robinson spent a year in Nairobi, Kenya as a Visiting Attorney to the Law Society, where she served on the Committee for Constitutional Reform and assisted in drafting Kenya’s Model Constitution.
- Robinson graduated magna cum laude from the University of Maryland, where she earned her BA in Political Science, and earned her JD from the Harvard Law School. She was featured as one of 30 Young Leaders of the Future in Ebony Magazine and was profiled in the book As I Am: Young African American Women in a Critical Age, by Julian Okwu. She is a native of Steubenville, OH and currently lives in Connecticut with her husband, her son, and their dog Niché.
- Rozario Slack—Rev. Rozario Slack has worked with families since 1980 as a mental health professional, trainer, counselor, and speaker in programs designed specifically for the empowerment of disenfranchised persons. He consults with a variety of community and faith-based organizations helping them to develop innovative approaches to engage “hard-to-reach” fathers and families. His long-term work with youth was enhanced when he became a trainer for the 10 Rites of Passage Program. Currently, he is the Director of Fathering and Urban Initiatives at First Things First, where he works towards the goal of connecting fathers with their children and connecting husbands with their wives. He has been a keynote presenter at the annual Smart Marriages Conference.
- Akilah Thomas—Akilah Thomas has been involved with the Building Strong Families Program since April 2004. She completed her Master of Public Health at Emory University in December 2000 and her Bachelors in Sociology at Clark Atlanta University in May 1999. Thomas initially began work with the Building Strong Families program in the planning stages, assuring that the chosen curricula were appropriate for the communities that Building Strong Families planned to serve. Currently, she is the Project Director for the Georgia Building Strong Families program, operated out of Georgia State University’s Health Policy Center.
- Prior to joining Building Strong Families, Thomas worked for ten years at Emory University’s School of Medicine and School of Public Health. She served as the Senior Project Coordinator for the Centering Pregnancy Program and worked also on various projects researching HIV/AIDS.
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- Joyce A. Thomas—Joyce A. Thomas is the Regional Administrator for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Region V, in Chicago, Illinois. The Region comprises the six states including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin and 35 Tribal Nations. In her capacity, Ms. Thomas partners with state, local, community based organizations, and tribes within the Region to promote economic independence and healthy development of children and families.
- Ms. Thomas provides executive leadership, and direction to ensure coordination and integration of activities among Head Start, child care, foster care and adoption, child support enforcement, youth services and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) programs. Ms. Thomas serves as National Lead Regional Administrator for the Office of Community Services and the Faith Based and Community Initiatives within ACF. The Region represents 22.8% of the nation’s Child Support Enforcement caseload, while collecting 25.0% of the nation’s child support collections and established 20.5% of the nation’s child support orders in 2001. In addition, Thomas serves as the national Lead for the ACF Office of Community Services in the Regions. In that capacity, she provides leadership for ACF’s support of community based economic development networks. The Region is responsible for 209 Head Start Grantees serving 141,588 children, 97 Early Head Start Grantees serving 7,797 pregnant women, infants and toddlers and 82 Runaway and Homeless Youth Organizations.
- Before her employment with the Administration for Children and Families she served as the Commissioner of the State of Connecticut’s Department of Social Services. As Commissioner, she implemented major changes in the child support enforcement, TANF and Medicaid programs and played a major role in the creation of Connecticut’s innovative School Readiness legislation. Thomas has developed particular sensitivity and expertise in re-engineering human services. She directed Connecticut’s largest administrative agency, overseeing an annual budget of over $3 billion and 2,400 employees. Before her appointment as Commissioner, she served as the Regional Administrator for the DSS in the state’s southwestern region.
A graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, Thomas was awarded a BA in Social Work, and an MA in Counseling, with a minor in Spanish. Thomas is married and has one daughter.
- Terrence D. Walton—Terrence D. Walton, Treatment Branch Manger for the federal government’s Pretrial Services Agency (PSA), in Washington, DC, is among the nation’s leading experts in the areas of substance abuse prevention, assessment, and treatment. He is responsible for overseeing substance abuse and mental health assessment, treatment, and social services for adults released under PSA supervision in the District of Columbia. Prior to assuming these responsibilities, Walton served as Director of a leading adolescent outpatient substance abuse treatment center. He is a certified alcohol and other drug abuse counselor with years of experience helping men, women, and children to champion positive change in their lives.
- Walton began his formal training at Wright State University in Dayton, OH where he received a BA Degree in Psychology. He went on to study at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee where he received his MSW degree with specializations in program administration and substance abuse. Walton developed the first Day Treatment Program for adolescent substance abusers at the Kettering Medical Center in Dayton, OH and worked at Wright State University as Site Data Coordinator for an HIV/AIDS prevention program for adult illicit drug users and their sexual partners funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He has served as the Director of the Career Youth Development Outpatient Treatment Center in Milwaukee, WI and as Director of the Southeastern Alternative School.
- In 2002, Walton joined the faculty of the National Drug Court Institute. Through this venture, he works with other treatment and criminal justice professionals to establish and enhance drug treatment courts. During the Clinton administration, he helped to evaluate a multi-million dollar White House Anti-Drug Media Campaign. During the Clinton and G.W. Bush administrations, Walton served on the Substance Abuse Task Force as a part of the White House Best Practices Collaborative. He is the creator of the MAC Group® and MAC Free Group®, multi-session substance abuse education curricula being used by adult and youth programs across the country. Additionally, he volunteers his services by sitting on numerous committees and task forces dealing with the issues about which he cares most. Terrence Walton is married and resides in Maryland. He and his wife, Yolanda, attend the Miracle Temple Church in Baltimore, MD.
- Carlis V. Williams—Carlis V. Williams serves as the Southeast Regional Administrator for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Southeast Region includes eight states: Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Mississippi and Florida. She leads a staff of 106, and oversees an annual budget of over six billion dollars. She is responsible for ACF human service programs that include Head Start, Child Welfare, Foster Care, Adoption, Child Care, Developmental Disabilities, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Child Support, and Runaway and Homeless Youth.
- Before assuming her present position, Williams was the Executive Assistant to the Governor for Human Services in the State of Indiana. She was the Governor’s chief policy advisor in these areas and had responsibility for four major agencies: Family and Social Services Administration, the Governor’s Council on Disabilities, the Governor’s Council on Protection and Advocacy and the Governor’s Council on Sports and Fitness. She was instrumental in launching Indiana’s nationally recognized Children’s Health Insurance Program, Hoosier Healthwise, which enrolled over 120,000 children in it’s first year. She was also the catalyst for major changes in the areas of early childhood development, adoption, fatherhood and support for low income working families in the state of Indiana.
- Previously, Williams served as Deputy Director for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Division of Family and Children, and was responsible for programs related to family resources: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Food Stamps, Medicaid, JOBS, Housing and Community Services. She also had lead responsibility for the design and implementation of welfare reform in the state. Williams has worked in the community for many years as a volunteer in the areas of education and mental
health. She has been on numerous boards and committees that focus on issues surrounding race relations, parenting, education, economic development, community involvement and many others. She has experience in the private sector as a consultant in marketing and telecommunications. She has also been in private practice as a counselor/therapist in areas related to personal growth and positive
functioning.
- Williams is a graduate of Ball State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology and Master of Art Degrees in Social Psychology and Counseling and Guidance. She is a mother and grandmother and loves reading, music and the theater. If asked her philosophy of life, she will say, “Giving is better than receiving…If we all give, everyone wins!”
- George E. Young, Sr.—Reverend George E. Young, Sr. received his undergraduate degree from Lambuth University in Jackson, TN. After accepting the call to the Ministry, he earned a Master of Arts in Ministry from Oklahoma Christian University, and a Master of Divinity from Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa. He has completed course work for his Doctorate of Ministry from Phillips Theological Seminary and is also working on an MBA from Oklahoma Christian University. Young completed a Merrill Fellowship with Harvard Divinity School and a two-year internship and residency at the Center for Psychotherapy and Religion in counseling. He is a Board-Certified Chaplain with the Association of Professional Chaplains, and completed an internship and residency in Clinical Pastoral Education at Presbyterian Hospital in Oklahoma City. He is an alumnus of the Institute for Church Administration and Management at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Ga., earning a Certificate of Completion in that program.
- Pastor Young is a trustee for Phillips Theological Seminary where he also serves as an Adjunct Professor. He is a Board member for The United Way of Greater Oklahoma City, The American Red Cross of Central Oklahoma, Leadership Oklahoma, and Area-wide Aging Agency. He is, past President of The African American Faith Community for the Prevention of Aids. Pastor Young also hosts the local Trinity Broadcast Network show “Joy in Our Town.” He is President-Elect of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches and Past President of Progressive Oklahoma Baptist State Convention. He is a graduate of the Oklahoma Aging Leadership Advocacy Academy class of 1999, and an alumnus of Leadership Oklahoma City (Class XX) and Leadership Oklahoma Class of XVIII, where he was voted by his class to receive the “Golden Bull” award. He has also received the “Good Neighbor” award for community development from the Oklahoma Conference of Churches and was selected “Distinguished Alumnus” by Phillips Theological Seminary (2005). He was selected Board Member of the Year (2005-06) for the Red Cross. Pastor Young worked as a Senior Consultant with the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative in promoting the institution of marriage. He led Holy Temple in the construction of Temple Gardens, a Senior Citizen Independent Living Facility.
- In 2005 Young was appointed by the Governor to be a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging, and in December the Governor appointed him to a nine-year term as a Commissioner for The Department of Human Services. He is currently Senior Pastor at Holy Temple Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. He is married to the Reverend Dr. Thelma Chambers-Young, has two children and three wonderful grandsons.
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