Biographies – ACF/HHS Participants

Dawson, Diann [top]

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. She is also a recent recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UNC Chapel Hill School of Social Work.
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. That understanding, combined with her commitment and experience, has been instrumental in helping ACF work to strengthen and rebuild families. As part of her present role, Dawson effectively guides regional support for family strengthening goals across ACF programs. Through culturally competent strategies and collaborations with partners spanning various sectors, she champions efforts to improve child well-being, for example, through healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood programs. Dawson provided the leadership to create the African American Healthy Marriage Initiative (AAHMI) along with her executive staff in 2003, which continues to evolve in laying the foundation of a national family strengthening movement for African Americans through evidence-based practices.
Ms. Dawson received her J.D. degree from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and Maryland. She holds a M.S.W. degree with a concentration in community organization and social planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.A. from Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina.

Ms. Dawson is married and the mother of one adult son.

McCowan, Leon [top]

Leon R. McCowan serves as the Regional Administrator for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Region VI, Dallas, Texas . He provides executive leadership, direction, and coordination for achieving ACF’s key national goals, priorities, and special initiatives; advocates for and advances the priorities of the HHS Secretary and ACF Assistant Secretary, and facilitates Administration initiatives to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families, special populations, and distressed communities. He manages and coordinates special sensitive and cross-cutting projects and initiatives such as Healthy Marriage, Fatherhood, and Faith-based Programs in the region, consisting of the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. As Regional Administrator he helps achieve ACF’s key national goals and priorities by communicating ACF’s regional interests and concerns within HHS, with other Federal agencies, State human service departments and agencies, territorial and tribal governments, and with public and private local organizations that assist children and families.
With more than 35 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, West-Central Hub; Deputy Program Manager for the Office of Family Assistance; and as the Deputy Regional Representative for Child Support Enforcement.
In 2006, Mr. McCowan was named “Outstanding Agency Administrator” by the Dallas/Fort Worth 2005 Combined Federal Campaign and presented a Certificate of Appreciation from the HHS Assistant Secretary for his role in the 2005 hurricane relief efforts. He received the HHS Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service in 2005 for his work as a member of the African American Healthy Marriage Initiative Team and the HHS Assistant Secretary’s Partnering for Excellence Award as a member of the Positive Youth Development Team. In 2001, he was recognized with the prestigious “Presidential Rank Award” for Meritorious Executives. Mr. McCowan has been recognized throughout his career with numerous certificates and distinguished service awards for his Federal leadership and his service to the local community and other communities within the Region VI area.
Mr. McCowan received his B.A. in Sociology from Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, and his M.A. 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.

Thomas, Joyce [top]

Joyce A. Thomas is the Regional Administrator for the Administration for Children and Families in Region II. The Region comprises New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In this 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. Under Emergency Preparedness and Response, ACF Region II partners with FEMA, state government and grantees and Tribes to ensure coordination of essential Human Service programs during disasters. Ms. Thomas also serves as National Lead Regional Administrator for the Office of Community Services and the Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnership Initiatives within ACF. She is one of the founders and co-chairs of ACF’s African American Healthy Marriage Initiative. Previously, Ms. Thomas served as the Regional Administrator for ACF’s Region V, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and thirty-five Tribal Nations. While Region V Administrator, Ms. Thomas also led the federal regional Interagency Council on Homelessness.
Prior to her employment with the Administration for Children and Families Ms. Thomas 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.
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.

Williams, Carlis [top]

Carlis V. Williams serves as Southeast Regional Administrator for the Department of Health and Human Services based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Southeast Region includes 8 states: Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Mississippi and Florida. Carlis provides executive leadership, coordination and direction 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. She also serves as the lead Regional Administrator for Healthy Marriage programs and is co-lead for the African American Healthy Marriage Initiative and the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program.

Before assuming her present position, Ms. Williams served as 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. Under her leadership, Indiana registered over 120,000 children during the first year of their Children’s Health Insurance Program, Hoosier Healthwise. She has 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, and lead responsibility for the design and implementation of welfare reform in the state.
Among her many attributes, Ms. Williams is the recipient of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service and the Hurricane Disaster Response Team; Georgia State University’s National Center on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren prestigious award for untiring efforts in support of grandparent-headed families; Spelman College Innovation Award for the professional development of Head Start and Child Care Teachers in Region IV; Jackson State University College of Public Service School of Social Work Public Service Award; National Partnership for Community Leadership Judge David Gray Ross Award for Strengthening Families and Father Involvement in the Public Sector; Clark Atlanta University Dean’s Public Sector Award in recognition of her extraordinary achievements for the well-being of children and families in the southeast community.
Ms. 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!"

Biographies – Presenters

Adler-Baeder, Dr. Francesca [top]

Dr. Francesca Adler-Baeder is Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Auburn University. Her research interests focus on families under stress and relational dynamics in couple relationships and stepfamilies. She also serves as State Extension Specialist and the Director of the Center for Children, Youth, and Families, with a primary responsibility of bridging research and practice through applied research projects and curriculum and resource development. She has been involved in building services in Marriage Education in Alabama for the past 6 years and coordinates the Alabama Community Healthy Marriage Initiative (ACHMI) in collaboration with the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and funded by ACF/OFA. Activities include a broad public awareness campaign, creation of the Teen Advisory Board, on-line resources, trainings in relationship and marriage education curricula for community agency staff, and focused implementation of prevention programs for couples, nonmarried parents, and youth. She serves as Principal Investigator of the Family Connections in Alabama project, a 3-year study of marriage education for low-income African-American and Latino parents funded by ACF/OCSE. She is Co-Principal Investigator for the Healthy Couples, Healthy Children: Targeting Youth, a 5-year study of the program impact of youth-focused relationship education funded by ACF/OPRE.
Dr. Adler-Baeder regularly provides family life and parenting information to national media representatives that have included Parents magazine, People magazine, The New York Times, and has appeared on the Today Show. Dr. Adler-Baeder is a frequent speaker on the state and national levels for both academic and lay audiences on topics related to prevention programming, couples and marriage education, stepfamily dynamics, youth-focused relationship education, grant-writing, and the applied research process.

Andrews, Barbara [top]

Barbara Andrews is the Lead Program Liaison Specialist for the New York Regional Office of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Barbara, who has been with ACF since its inception, has served Region II in many capacities. Her current responsibilities include providing technical assistance and support in the areas of family strengthening, healthy marriage, responsible fatherhood, homelessness, intergovernmental relations and community outreach. Barbara began her federal career with the Social Security Administration. She received her undergraduate degree and a Master of Public Health from Hunter College, C.U.N.Y., a Master of Public Administration from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and a Master of Arts from NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Austin, II, Bishop George Franklin [top]

Diocesan
Twenty-Seven Episcopal Diocese Louisiana
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World
Pastor
Faith Ministries
2522 Elsmeade Drive
Montgomery, AL 36116-3020
334-288-726 - 334-590-0373
bishopgfaustin@aaol.com

Current Job – Bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World

EDUCATION: Bishop George F. Austin
1986 Doctoral Degree in Theology and Divinity
International Seminary, Orlando, Florida
1884 Aenon Bible College
Doctor of Divinity
1981 International Seminary
Master of Theology
1971 Alabama State University
Bachelor of Science
Accounting & Mathematics
1969 Mobile State Junior College
Associate Degree
Business Administration

TRAINING - 2008
Together We Can
Smart Steps for Adults with Children Curriculum
A Research-Based Family Life Education Program
The Black Family Basic Training for Couples and Singles
Smart Steps for African American Adults Curriculum
A Research-Based Family Life Education Program

Austin, Ph.D., Sheila [top]

Associate Professor
School of Education
Counselor, Leadership & Special Education
Auburn University Montgomery
P.O. Box 244023
Montgomery, AL 36124-4023
334-244-3245
Fax: 3334-244-3102
saustin1@aum.edu
Current Job – Associate Professor Auburn University
EDUCATION: Dr. Sheila Austin CONTINUING EDUCATION
1995 The University of Toledo 2003 Effective Systematic Change in Urban Public Ed.
Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) Bowling Green State University
College of Education
Curriculum and Instruction 1997 Urban Administration and Supervision
1994 The University of Toledo Bowling Green State University
Doctoral Program
Doctoral Candidate
1993 The University of Toledo
Masters of Education
Early Childhood Education
1974 The University of Toledo
Bachelors of Education
Elementary Education
CERTIFICATION
1999 Superintendent Certification
1998 Elementary Principal
Supervision
TRAINING
2008 Auburn University Montgomery
Diversity Training
Curriculum – Alabama State Department of Education
Together We Can
Smart Steps for Adults with Children Curriculum
A Research-Based Family Life Education Program
2007 Smart Steps for Adults and Children in Stepfamilies Curriculum
A Research-Based Family Life Education Program
Mentor Training SREB
2006 Self-Care Training for Crisis Counselors
Disaster Anniversary Training
Heat Safety Training
1996 Pathwise Classroom Performance assessment Criteria
Observer Proficiency Test
1995 National Multicultural Institute
“Making Diversity Work for AmeriCorp”

Barrington, Dr. Debbie [top]

Dr. Debbie Barrington is Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She earned her AB in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Princeton University, her MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Boston University and her PhD in Epidemiological Science from the University of Michigan. From 2005 to 2007, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at Columbia University. Her primary research interests include the social epidemiology of racial/ethnic disparities in perinatal outcomes and the effects of nativity status and intergenerational factors on the health of African-Americans.

Bates, Christopher [top]

Director, Office of HIV/AIDS Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC
A senior health program and policy analyst with more than 20 years of experience in public health and HIV/AIDS issues, Christopher Bates has served in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of HIV/AIDS Policy (OHAP) for a decade. He was appointed as the Acting Director of OHAP in 2002. In this capacity, he advises the Assistant Secretary for Health on department-wide matters pertaining to HIV/AIDS education, prevention, testing, care and treatment, and research. His office administers the Congressionally-appropriated funds for the Minority AIDS Initiative as well as the Leadership Campaign on AIDS, the National HIV Testing Mobilization Campaign, and a variety of new media activities designed to better educate the public about HIV/AIDS. He has been a member of the U.S. Delegation to the last three International AIDS Conferences and the delegation lead for two conferences.
Before joining OHAP, Christopher worked as a consultant with the John Snow, Inc., conducting a feasibility study on the integration of STD, HIV, and drug abuse services for a proposed national demonstration project. He brings to his work a solid grounding in community-based work, having served as the interim Director of the city of Philadelphia HIV Commission in 1997-98. Prior to that Christopher was the Executive Director of the D.C. Comprehensive AIDS Resources and CARE Consortium, an alliance of local organizations and institutions that provide HIV/AIDS services and education in the District of Columbia. Christopher has also served in a variety of management positions in the District of Columbia. His experiences also include an appointment with the Carter White House and service as a congressional staffer for the US House of Representative.
Over the past 20 years, Christopher has served on numerous national and local boards and commissions. Christopher is a founding member of the DC Primary Care Association. He also served as a member of the Board of the Washington Consortium of Agencies, a six-year member of the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Washington Ryan White Title Planning Council, a member of the Mayor’s Health Policy Advisory Committee and a past Chair of the Mayor’s AIDS Advisory Committee. Christopher is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and received a MPA from Southeastern University.
Christopher Bates
Director
Office of HIV/AIDS Policy
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW, Suite 736E
Washington DC 20201
(202) 690-5560
christopher.bates@hhs.gov

Beatty, Lula A. [top]

Lula A. Beatty is Director of the Special Populations Office, Office of the Director, at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Her responsibilities include developing racial/ethnic minority research and health disparities programs, developing initiatives to encourage the increased participation of underrepresented scholars in drug abuse and addiction research, and monitoring NIDA's support of racial/ethnic minority and health disparities research. Programs in her office include the Diversity Supplement Program, the Research Development Seminar Series, a Historically Black Colleges and Universities Initiative, an African American Initiative on HIV and Criminal Justice, and a Southern Africa Initiative. Before joining NIDA, she was Director of Research at the Institute for Urban Affairs and Research at Howard University. She was involved in programs on child abuse prevention, strengths in Black families, and father involvement in Head Start.
She received her A.B. degree from Lincoln University (PA), and her masters and doctoral degrees in psychology from Howard University.

Bent-Goodley, Ph. D., Tricia B. [top]

Specialties: social policy, domestic violence, juvenile justice, and African American social welfare history
Classes Taught: Social Welfare Policy and Services I and II, Direct Services Practice, Contemporary Issues in Domestic Violence, Social Work supervision, Criminal Justice I and II, and Family and Child Welfare I and II.
Tricia B. Bent-Goodley is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Macro Sequence at Howard University School of Social Work. Her publications and research have largely focused on how domestic violence intersects with cultural competence, child welfare, prisoner reentry, adolescent violence, health and mental health, and faith- and community-based intervention development. She is the author/co-author of three books in the area of social policy and people of color. Dr. Goodley is a Consulting Editor for several prominent journals. She has served distinctly in a number of local, state, and national elected and appointed leadership positions and is regularly called upon to consult on a wide range of issues, such as strengthening the mental health system in New Orleans – Post Hurricane Katrina, addressing adolescent girl’s gang violence, building solutions to improve the safety of women and children, and creating culturally competent interventions that serve children and families. Dr. Goodley is an HIV Intervention Science Training Fellow, Chair of the Intersection Task Force/Family Violence Coordinating Council of the DC Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, a member of the Prince Georges County Domestic Violence Fatality Council and the Safe Schools Initiative, and a Scientific Reviewer for the National Registry of Effective and Evidence-Based Programs. She is a former Hartman Child & Family Scholar, former Chair and Chief Instructor of the NABSW National Academy for African-centered Social Work and the National Public Policy Institute. Prior to coming to Howard University, she served as an administrator and practitioner in Harlem and Queens County, New York. Dr. Goodley received her Ph.D. in Social Policy, Planning and Analysis from Columbia University and her Masters in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Goodley finds greatest joy in being a wife and mother of two boys.

Blackman, Lorraine C. [top]

Lorraine C. Blackman is native of Nashville, Tennessee. She is a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, The University of Tennessee, and Florida State University. Her clinical and administrative practice in the field of mental health spans more than 30 years. The scope of her practice has included individual, marital, family, and group therapy, employee assistance, and administration.

A member of the faculty of the Indiana University School of Social Work since 1992, she holds the rank of Associate Professor. One of her major accomplishments there was to provide leadership to develop campus-wide undergraduate and graduate certificate programs in Family Life Education. Currently, she chairs the Faculty Council Committee on Metropolitan Affairs, charged with monitoring “IUPUI's community service activities, identifying needs and stimulating interest in additional interaction” ( http://www.iupui.edu/~fcouncil/committees/metropolitanaffairs.htm ).
She is boards of the National Association of Social Workers, Indiana Chapter and Christel House Academy. She is also the past president of the Indiana Council on Family Relations, an affiliate of the National Council on Family Relations.
She is the author of two family life education curricula: The African American Marriage Enrichment Program: How to Make Your Good Thing Better© and The African American Parent Training Program: Pulling Together to Rear Our Children – They Grow Up Only Once©. Both began as her doctoral research at Florida State University (1992), then culminated through her teaching, research, and service project at Indiana University. Project Dates: 1997 – 2000.
The Indiana University phase was a collaborative partnership among the IU School of Social Work, the Father Resource Program at Wishard Health Services, the M.L. King Center, and Robinson Community AME Church. The Lily Endowment, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (TANF), the Moriah Fund, and the Indianapolis Foundation funded it. The grant-funded project provided five fellowships for African American students who have earned both the MSW and the graduate certificate in Family Life Education.
The primary goal was to develop empirically based practice models in marriage enrichment and parenting education for African American family leaders. Secondarily, the project aimed to build professional capacity in Indiana to provide ethnic and gender sensitive family life education.
As a result, the marriage enrichment instructor’s manual was unveiled in July 2002 at a 2-day institute to train trainers in the model during the national Smart Marriages conference in Washington, DC. The parenting instructor’s manual was completed in 2003.
She is a public policy consultant at the federal, state, and local levels to increase the number of two-parent headed families and the number of married-parent headed families.
African American Family Life Education Program© Resources: See curriculum vitae online at www.aafle.org

Bouchet, Stacey [top]

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 an eleven year old daughter.

Brown, Marvelyn S. [top]

Emmy Award Winning, HIV Consultant and Youth Spokesperson

Speaking Topics:
   • HIV Positive and Living a Marvelous Life
   • HIV/AIDS Prevention and Understanding for Young People
   • The Power and Importance of Youth Activism

Travels from New York

Marvelyn S. Brown, a 23-year-old native Tennessean, was diagnosed with HIV at age 19. Since then she has moved both live and television audiences around the United States with her compelling personal story. Brown has spoken at dozens of colleges and universities nationwide. She is currently the CEO and an Independent HIV Consultant for her New York City based firm, Marvelous Connections. Her humanitarian work earned her a 2007 Emmy Award for Outstanding National Public Service Announcement. Brown’s autobiography, The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful and (HIV) Positive, will be published by Amistad/HarperCollins in 2008.
Brown took part in MTV’s 48 Fest at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto where she directed and produced a short film about HIV, called “Different Strokes.” In 2005 she spoke on the White House lawn at the Student AIDS March and in the summer of 2006 for the Washington Mystics, Youth AIDS Day, both in Washington, D.C. She sat down with the writers, producers, and directors of Viacom, FOX, CBS, and the Caribbean Broadcast to discuss fun and innovative ways of integrating HIV awareness and sex education into the media.
The BET and the Rap-It-Up campaign named her one of the 25 Heroes in the Fight, by speaking out about her experience and showing her face as a young woman living positively with HIV. In addition to these accomplishments, the National Association of People With AIDS presented Marvelyn with the Tarsha Durhant Positive Youth Leadership Award and just recently she received the Courage Under Fire Award from Choice USA, and was featured in the ambitious woman section of savvymiss.com. Brown has had extensive radio and television experience – some highlights include The Oprah Winfrey Show discussing HIV/AIDS in America and the rising infection rate among women, America’s Next Top Model, MTV, BET, The Tavis Smiley Show, and The Tyra Banks Show. In addition, she has been featured in Newsweek, Fortune 500, Ebony, Real Health, and she appeared on the covers of POZ and AVE. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Burgess, Ph.D., Gloria [top]

In her life and work, Dr. Burgess celebrates our shared humanity, creative genius, and the indomitable power of the human spirit. Her life’s work focuses on legacy living and legacy leadership—engaging our hearts and souls to create positive, generative futures for ourselves, our families and other loved ones, as well as our communities, organizations, and environment. In her work and by her presence, Gloria embodies the universal wisdom that the world was not given to us by our parents, it was lent to us by our children. Her greatest joy and legacy is parenting her daughter, who now lives in the Boston area.


Founder and Executive Director of The Lift Every Voice Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to developing youth leaders through the arts, Gloria is also Founder and Principal of Jazz, Inc., her leadership and organizational renewal firm. During the past 30 years, she has gained invaluable insights as an entrepreneur, executive, and senior leader in corporate, non-profit, and educational settings. Jazz’s clients include AT&T, Boeing, Microsoft, Girls Scouts of America, Qwest, and Providence Medical Center.

Gloria is on the faculty at the University of Washington and the Saybrook Graduate and Research Center’s Leadership Institute. She teaches and consults on legacy living, intercultural leadership, and creative mastery for diverse organizations and communities throughout the North America, Africa, Australia, and Europe. A Distinguished Scholar in Performance and Direction, Gloria earned her PhD in theater and her MBA in organizational development and information systems from the University of Southern California; she earned her undergraduate and a graduate degree from the University of Michigan. Web site: www.gloriaburgess.com

Burns, The Honorable Willie E. [top]

Mayor
Washington, Georgia
As the son of Rev. & Mrs. Roy L. Burns, Sr., of Washington-Wilkes County, Georgia, Willie E. Burns grew up in an environment where serving others was a way of life. Following graduation from Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School in 1972, Burns Joined the U.S. Army. He graduated from the Military Police Company at Fort Myers in January 1973. After serving his country for two years, Mayor Burns earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Philips Junior College. He then attended the University of Louisville where he completed the administrative officer course which led him to the Georgia Police Academy in Athens, Georgia, and then on to Georgia State Trooper School at the Police Academy in Atlanta. From there, he worked with the Elberton Police Department in Elberton, Georgia for one year before transferring to the Georgia State Patrol office as a radio operator. In 1980, Burns was promoted to trooper and graduated from the 51st State Trooper School. Willie E. Burns was promoted to sergeant while working with Post No. 33 State Trooper in Milledgeville, Georgia, and was designated as the acting post commander of Post No. 25 in Thomson, Georgia, after transferring there. He later moved on to Post No. 17 in Washington, Georgia and worked as the assistant post commander until 1999, at which time he was promoted to post commander. In August 2000, Willie E. Burns retired as post commander. During his impressive law enforcement career, Willie E. Burns had the opportunity to work several special events including the 1984 Democrat Convention in San Francisco, California, the 1988 Democrat Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, the National Governors’ Conference in Washington, DC, the 1994 Super Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia, the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, and the 2000 Super Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia as well. Additionally, he served as a member of the executive security force for two Governors, Governor Joe Frank Harris in 1981, and Governor Zell Miller in 1991, and was assigned to the Governor’s Task Force on Drugs and Violent Crimes. Willie E. Burns is a lifetime member of the American Legion.
In August of 2004, Mayor Willie E. Burns executed his vision of economic development to his community and region by founding and launching the Wilkes County Community Development Corporation, a domestic non-profit corporation, tax exempt under 501(c) 3 IRS Code.
On January 23, 2006, Mayor Willie E. Burns was elected as the President of the Georgia Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. . Mayor Willie E. Burns sits on the Board of the National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. Prior to his recent victory, Willie E. Burns served as 1st Vice President of Region 7 GMA, Inc. (Georgia Municncipal Association.
In November 2007, Mayor Willie E. Burns was successfully re-elected to a 2nd term.

Calloway, M.S.W., Ph.D., Narviar Barker [top]

Dr. Narviar C. Calloway is Doctoral Chair and Professor of Social Work at the Whitney M. Young, Jr.,School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta. She is the author of two books, over 75 articles, and produced a PBS Documentary, No Secrets, No Shame (1986). She has served as a consultant, trainer, and or program evaluator to agencies such as the Georgia Council on Child Abuse,Atlanta Summit Against Poverty, State of Georgia Department of Family and Children Services, GeorgiaDepartment of Human Resources, Dekalb Juvenile Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.She has received numerous awards and citations as one of the top 100 women in America who make a difference in the lives of children and youth. Calloway is the author of Child Abuse and Neglect: An Interdisciplinary Method of Treatment(Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 1989 and 1998), and of more recent publications about absent fathers, African American families, and the mental health of Black men. She has successfully authored and/orco-authored in excess of $3,000,000 in federally funded grants.

Carroll, Elizabeth B. [top]

Elizabeth B. Carroll, JD, CFLE (Bettie Ann) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Child Development and Family Relations at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Mississippi, Masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from East Carolina University and Doctor of Jurisprudence from Mississippi College School of Law. Her background in law and marriage and family therapy, tempered with the experiences of raising three children, allow her to bring unique perspective to the Family and Community Services program at ECU. She primarily teaches classes in Family Life Education and Family Law and Public Policy.
Bettie Ann is the Principal Investigator of the Healthy Marriage Life Skills: A Family Readiness Program, which is an ACF Healthy Marriage Initiative grant that targets Reserve Component and National Guard service members and their families. She has co-authored the Essential Life Skills for Military Families curriculum utilized in the Healthy Marriage Life Skills program. Prior to that, she served on the Community Team for the National Demonstration Program for Citizen-Soldier Support. Her areas of research include family life education for military families, financial literacy and family history. She has presented both nationally and internationally on financial literacy. Prior to her academic career, she was Bond Director for the Treasury Department of the State of Mississippi and an attorney in the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office. Bettie Ann and her husband, Rob have been married twenty-five years, and live in Greenville. She is active in her community where she supports numerous non-profit agencies. A former president of Family Support Network of Eastern North Carolina, she continues to serve on the board.

Carthen, Jamesena [top]

Jamesena Carthen serves as a senior field consultant with R.M.C. and has been with the company since its inception. She brings a wealth of knowledge to the firm in the area of non-profit consulting and project management.
In the public sector, she has over 15 years of experience working with diverse challenges and systems as a clinical therapist and systems liaison. Mrs. Carthen holds her Master’s in Social Service Administration from the prestigious Case Western Reserve University and is a licensed clinical therapist with advanced certification in Multi-Systemic Therapy. She completed her undergraduate studies at The Ohio University with a degree in psychology and social work. A staunch advocate for those who face specific challenges, Jamesena has served as program director for a multiyear government funded initiative to positively impact marriages in the United States. Mrs. Carthen has been nominated by her peers and those in the her sphere of influence for a national award given to those who demonstrate a “Whatever it Takes” attitude to get the job completed. In vigorous pursuit of excellence and with a dedication to life-long learning, she is currently preparing to sit for the Independent Licensure examination which represents the passing of another career milestone.

Carthen, Ph.D., Jason D. [top]

Dr. Carthen serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Redeemed Management & Consulting LLC. Prior to forming RMC, Dr. Carthen was involved with many successful entrepreneurial endeavors and charity focused initiatives. He has served for over fifteen years in both the public and private sectors of Leadership and Business Management, specifically with the National Football League’s Player’s Association, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Northeast, Ohio. As a visionary, scholar, and author, Dr. Carthen is a distinguished Fellow in the Beta Phi academic literary society and has researched and published in the areas of Emotional behavior, Positive Psychology, Performance in the workplace, Business Management and Leadership within the ecology of sports. Dr. Carthen also serves on the faculty of Bethel University and previously with Malone University in the areas of Management and Leadership studies. He received his Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership from Regent University, his Master’s degree from Malone University, and received his Business Management certification from the Harvard Business School. As a former professional football player with the New England Patriots, he is a highly sought-after international speaker in areas of leadership, faith and business. Dr. Carthen’s research suggests that traditional organizational frameworks often resemble sports ecology, and for this reason, linkages should exist between sport and society. Dr. Carthen continues to remain instrumental in identifying these linkages and maximizing the related synergies to achieve heightened productivity in business frameworks and executive leadership circles.

Chaney, Dr. Cassandra [top]

Dr. Cassandra Chaney is an Assistant Professor in the School of Human Ecology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. Her primary research examines narratives of African-American couples and families. Her current study, “Strong Marriages in the African American Culture,” explores the dynamics of strong marriages, from the perspectives of African Americans who have been married for 20 years, or longer. She has published several sole and first authored manuscripts related to her primary and secondary research interests, and she is a featured speaker for the Marathon Diversity Awareness in Engineering Educational Seminar Series.
Dr. Chaney earned her B.S. degree from Southern University and A&M College (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) in Psychology, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Human and Community Development (HCD) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).

Clayton, Dr. Obie [top]

Morehouse College
830 Westview Drive, SW
Atlanta, GA 30314
(404) 215-2624 (O)
(404) 215-3475 (F)
oclayton@morehouse.edu
Dr. Obie Clayton is Professor of Sociology and Director of Sponsored Programs at Morehouse College. He is also 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, Mississippi and the Master’s and Doctoral degrees from Emory University. Dr. Clayton has held teaching positions at the following institutions: Millsaps College, Atlanta University, the University of Massachusetts at Boston and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. 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 and African American Healthy Marriage. He has received funding in the past from the Office of Population Affairs/DHHS to train young men in safe sex behavior and responsible health practices. Clayton is the principal investigator of a project to increase marriage and marriage prospects in the African American Community. This project is funded by the Administration for Children and Families/DHHS.Dr. Clayton is also the Principal Investigator for the National Minority Male Health Project funded by the Office of Minority Health/DHHS. Other research activities include studies of urban inequality and he was part of a research team that studied this problem in four American cities: Atlanta, Boston, Detroit and Los Angeles. This study was funded by the Ford and Russell Sage Foundations. Other research projects which Dr. Clayton is involved include: (1) a study of the impact of immigration on the Atlanta workforce (funded by the Bureau of the Census) (2) Jobs and Job Training for African Americans (funded by the Department of Labor) and (3) the impact of Mass Transit in Atlanta (funded by the Department of Transportation). Dr. Clayton also 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.

Coffin, Bill [top]

Bill Coffin, the Special Assistant for Marriage Education, joined the Administration for Children and Families in Jan 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 a healthy marriage. In recognition of his work he was awarded the 2006 Smart Marriages Impact Award. Bill spent most of the previous 3 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. Bill 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.
Bill is a graduate of Fairfield University in CT and has two master’s degrees, one in Human Relations, and one in Counseling. Bill and Pat have been married for almost 40 years. Pat is a reading specialist in an elementary school. They have four children and six grandchildren.

Collier, Ronald L. [top]

2314 Cloyd Boulevard
Florence, Alabama 35630
Office 256-766-4330
Cell 256-320-3467
Home 256-760-4363
rcollierrnl@aol.com
Ronald Collier is the Facilitator and Coordinator of Fatherhood programs across 3 counties in Northwest Alabama. He brings a multitude of experience to the family relationship arena. He has been credited with taking the fatherhood program at Community Action Agency of Northwest Alabama and creating a model that has been mimicked throughout Alabama. He works diligently to keep his edge as an innovative presenter and motivational speaker in his efforts to impart knowledge, wisdom, and understanding to those who work with him.
In 2003 Ron began working with Head Start Programs as a consultant throughout the State of Alabama and has presented at Head Start conferences on the regional, local, and state level. In 2004 he represented Florence City School’s Head Start program in Dallas Texas at the national conference. He has also presented statewide fatherhood conferences in Alabama and has collaborated with Alpha Phi Alpha and 100 Black Men to encourage and support them in their efforts to create a niche in the fatherhood arena. In 2004 Ron help implement Father’s Friday a weekly group held at Lauderdale County Head Start, In 2007 Father’s Friday under the direction of his mentoree Pete Key was cited as the best Head Start Father Involvement Program in Alabama. The Fatherhood program headed up by Ron at Community Action Agency known as Father’s, Family, & Friends was program of the year for the State of Alabama in 2007. In 2008 Ron implemented Incarcerated Dads Program in the Franklin County Detention Center.
Ron has a wide range of interest and is deeply involved in public service in his community and serves in leadership roles for several organizations. He is an ordained minister and applies his broad range of talent for the uplifting of his community locally and nationally.
Ron attended Fisk University and is a graduate of North Carolina State University with a B.A. in Sociology and has many continuing education programs to his credit. He is a certified trainer in the Family and Healthy Relationship areas via trainings thorough the Auburn University and Alabama Extension Service’s Alabama Community Healthy Marriage Initiative.

Crewe, Ph.D., ACSW, Sandra Edmonds [top]

Sandra Edmonds Crewe is associate dean for academic and student advancement for the Howard University School of Social Work. Dr. Crewe was appointed to the faculty of the School of Social Work in 1997 after earning her PhD in Social Work from Howard University. She earned her BSW/MSW degrees from the National Catholic School of Social Service. She also serves on the faculty of the graduate school. Her service to the School follows a distinguished career in the field of public and assisted housing (1975-1997) where she served in various leadership positions including Department Head of Rental Assistance Division for the Prince George’s County Department of Housing and Community Development; Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the City of Rockville, and Assistant Director of Management for the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission. Dr. Crewe has also served on the Board of Governors for the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Organizations (NAHRO) as well as Vice President of the United Communities Against Poverty in Prince George’s County, Maryland. She has a gubernatorial appointment as a Trustee for the Maryland Affordable Housing Trust. Dr. Crewe has research and publications in the areas of community and family resilience, contemporary and historical dimensions of women in leadership, and ethnogerontology with a specialization in caregiving. She teaches research, gerontology, communities and organizations, and social welfare history. She is co-editor of a book entitled “Tradition and Policy Perspectives in Kinship Care.”

Day, Steven H. [top]

Steven H. Day is a Research Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with an emphasis on program evaluation and intervention research. Since 1999 he has served as Research Coordinator for the Making Choices Program, an experimental school-based social development curriculum (making-choices.org) funded by the Institute for Education Science at the US Department of Education and the Youth Violence Consortium of the National Institutes of Health.
Since 2008 Steven has evaluated the implementation and outcomes of two Healthy Marriage interventions funded by the Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services. Both interventions reinforce relational skills to promote healthier bonds between committed partners: Strong Couples-Strong Children (strongcouples.org) and Essential Life Skills for Military Families (militaryfamilylifeskills.org). He has also served as Project Director for a statewide evaluation of juvenile risk assessment for the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. He has consulted with foundations, advocacy groups, government agencies, and service providers about measuring the effectiveness of programs to improve the lives of children.
Steven is co-author of the book Intervention Research: Developing Social Programs (2009) and of articles appearing in the journals Criminal Justice and Behavior, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Research on Social Work Practice, Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, and Journal of Primary Prevention. He is also author of the 1997 monograph Using Logic Models in Arts Programs for At-Risk Youth published by Americans for the Arts. Mr. Day holds a Masters Degree in Urban Studies and City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dickinson, Nancy [top]

Nancy S. Dickinson, M.S.S.W., Ph.D., 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. Prior to assuming this role in August 1998, Dickinson was executive director of the California Social Work Education Center, part of the University of California at Berkeley School of Social Welfare and the largest university-agency partnership in the nation, focusing on reprofessionalizing public child welfare. Dr. Dickinson has had extensive experience in social services practice, administration, research, education and training in North Carolina Tennessee, California, and Washington State.
She received her MSSW at the University of Tennessee and her PhD at the University of Washington. Dickinson is currently Principal Investigator of a 5-year, Children's Bureau funded project on public child welfare staff recruitment, selection and retention.

Dillard-Suite, M.S., Darcel [top]

Darcel Dillard-Suite is co-founder of Full Circle Health a unique mental health resource, which she runs with her husband, Derek H. Suite, M.D. She is also an executive coach, motivational speaker and former professional journalist. Darcel also serves as executive director of the not for profit, Full Circle Life Enrichment Center.
Before establishing Full Circle Darcel spent over 15 years in national news production and public relations. She has been recognized by national professional journalism organizations for her work as a producer and her sensitivity to the profession. Darcel has spent a lifetime educating millions of Americans on many news issues such
as healthcare, national disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and human interest stories. In addition to serving as senior national news producer for several national media, Darcel has also worked as a senior producer and media consultant for the Discovery Channel, the Montel Williams Show, Cablevision, MacNeil Lehrer Newshour, Channel Thirteen’s PBS and NBC News.
Darcel earned her Bachelor's degree from Barnard College, Columbia University and her Masters degree in journalism from Columbia University. She has also received certificates in Life coaching and completed course work from Dartmouth’s, Tuck School of Business for Managers. She is an Elder at her place of worship, Circle of Christ Church and is married to her lifelong friend and business partner, Dr. Derek H. Suite.

Ervin, Dr. Archie [top]

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.

Ferrell, Akilah [top]

Akilah Ferrell, MPH
Project Director
Georgia Building Strong Families Program
404-413-0280 Office
404-413-0318 Fax
M.P.H., Emory University
B.A., Clark Atlanta University
Akilah Ferrell 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.
Akilah initially began work with the Building Strong Families program by assisting in the planning stages. The purpose of this work was assuring that the chosen curriculums were adaptable to the communities that Building Strong Families planned to serve. Akilah also assisted with the development of the Building Strong Families supplemental curriculum. Currently, Akilah is the Project Director for the Georgia Building Strong Families program which is operated out of Georgia State University’s Health Policy Center.
Prior to joining Building Strong Families, Akilah worked for ten years within Emory University’s School of Medicine and School of Public Health. For three of those years (2002 – 2005) she was the Senior Project Coordinator for the Centering Pregnancy Program and spent the remainder of her time at Emory working on various projects researching HIV/AIDS.
Email Akilah Ferrell at akilahferrell@yahoo.com
alhant@langate.gsu.edu

Fisher, Carlton [top]

Carlton L. Fisher, MA, is a Program Analyst at the Administration for Children and Families in the Director of Regional Operations Office. Prior to his present position he was assigned to the Deputy Secretary’s Office for the Administration for Children and Families. His present duties include acting as the liaison to the following Programs/Special Initiatives: Child Care/Infant Toddler, Child Support, Community Services Outreach, Fatherhood, Healthy Marriage, and Diversity/Minority Initiatives.
He has extensive experience working both domestically and internationally in social services, military, executive management, and corporate management.
Carlton received both is Bachelor’s degree in sociology and Master of Arts in urban administration from Howard University.
He enjoys international travel, church activities and creating various mediums of crafts and jewelry in his spare time.

Goodwin, Elma [top]

Elma Goodwin is on staff in the Immediate Office of the Regional Administrator and serves as the lead for the Fatherhood and Positive Youth Development (PYD) Initiatives for Region VI which covers Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Texas. The region provides guidance and technical assistance for cross-cutting programs such as Healthy Marriage, Fatherhood, PYD, Homelessness, Disaster Recovery and Emergency Preparedness. Prior to her current assignment, she served in several leadership positions in the private sector.
She has a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management from Dallas Baptist University. She is married and the mother of a son and daughter.

Green, Vander [top]

Vander Green is currently the Fatherhood/Healthy Marriage Specialist for Region V-ACF, which includes the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. In this position, Mr. Green provides training, support and technical assistance to Fatherhood and Healthy Marriage programs and works with regional colleagues to develop strategies needed to support programs. Prior to joining ACF, Mr. Green spent several years in the field of early childhood education, holding positions ranging from classroom teacher to Head Start Director. Mr. Green also spent three years as the regional technical assistance specialist for the Family and Community Partnerships and Program Governance content areas (Head Start).
Mr. Green has facilitated and conducted workshops in the area fatherhood and male involvement on local, regional and national levels. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Work from Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina and a Master’s Degree in Human Services Administration from Spertus College in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Green is currently enrolled at Chicago Baptist Institute, pursuing a degree in Theology. Vander and his wife Adrienne are the proud parents of two children: Kamaya and Vander.

Hailey-Smith, Elizabeth [top]

Elizabeth Hailey-Smith is the Office of Community Services (OCS) Liaison in Region V. She works closely with Joyce A. Thomas, the lead Regional Administrator for the OCS and Faith based and Community Initiatives (FBCI). In conjunction with the nine (9) other OCS Regional Liaisons, she provides a regional presence for the OCS network working in partnership with states, communities, and other agencies to provide a range of human and economic development services and activities to increase the capacity of individuals and families to become self-sufficient

Ms. Hailey-Smith has been with the federal government for thirty years working with stakeholders and partners at the federal, state and local levels. She previously worked as a Head Start Program Specialist overseeing grantees in Michigan and Ohio. Ms. Hailey-Smith is also a former Head Start parent.

Hairston, Ph.D., Creasie Finney [top]

Creasie Finney Hairston, Ph.D. is Professor and Dean of the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Previously she served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research at the Indiana University School of Social Work and held faculty appointments at the University of Tennessee, West Virginia University, and the State University of New York at Albany.
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 publications on social policies and services affecting poor children and families appear in leading academic and professional journals and texts and in the popular press. She is the current editor of the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation and past president of the Illinois Academy of Criminology. She is a member of the John Howard Association Board of Directors, the Chicago Board of Health, the Administration in Social Work Journal Editorial Board, the Criminal Justice and Mental Health Institute National Advisory Board and several national and local task groups. In recognition of outstanding research and leadership she received the International Community Corrections Association’s E.B. Henderson III Presidential Award in 2004, the National Network for Social Work Managers Distinguished Leader Award in 2006, and the National Council of Negro Women (Midwest Section) Women Making History Award in 2007.
Dr. Hairston received her B.S. degree with highest honors from Bluefield State College and her M.S.S.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Case Western Reserve University.

Hauer, Ed.D., Josephine [top]

Dr. Josephine Hauer is currently the Marriage and Family Program Specialist for the Administration for Children and Families in New England, Region I. She provides technical assistance to state, community and faith-based organizations involved with the ACF Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative. She brings extensive background as a teacher educator and researcher of adolescent moral development to this position. Josie earned a bachelors degree in philosophy from Boston University in 1985, a masters degree in religion and secondary education from Harvard Divinity School in 1989 and completed doctoral studies in educational leadership from the University of Bridgeport in 2001. She has taught numerous online and traditional courses in the fields of education, moral development, and family psychology to both undergraduate and graduate students. Josie is also certified as a PREP educator as well as a high school Social Studies teacher.

Henigson, Steve [top]

Steve Henigson is Regional Administrator for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Region X, in Seattle, Washington. He provides leadership, direction and coordination of ACF programs with states, tribes and communities in support of the economic and social well being of children and their families in the four-state region which includes Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. ACF 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 programs.
Henigson is the lead Regional Administrator for ACF Native American/Tribal programs. In that capacity, he provides national leadership for the Tribal TANF and Tribal Child Support programs, among others. Almost half of the Federally Recognized Tribes and Native Villages are located within the Seattle region.
Henigson has been in his current position since 1991. Prior to joining ACF, Henigson held leadership positions with the Health Care Financing Administration and the Social Security Administration.
Henigson has a B.A. and J.D. from Willamette University, Salem, Oregon and is a member of the Oregon State Bar. He is married and has three daughters.

Higgins, Mary Ann [top]

Mary Ann Higgins is the Regional Administrator for Region II for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) , a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Region II includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Higgins provides leadership, direction, and coordination to States, local governments, and other non-profit agencies that administer ACF programs. ACF programs include the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, Child Care, Child Support Enforcement, Head Start, Early Head Start, Foster Care, Child Welfare, Adoption Assistance, Developmental Disabilities, and the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program.
Previously, Higgins was the Director of the JOBS Program for ACF from its inception until 1994. The JOBS program was the predecessor to the current TANF program. As JOBS Director, she led the team that wrote regulations, provided technical assistance, and provided general oversight to the program. Her responsibilities also included implementation of three new child care programs-JOBS child care, transitional child care and at-risk child care-that were subsequently incorporated into the Child Care Development Fund. For this work she received both the Secretary's Award for Exceptional Achievement and the Assistant Secretary's Leadership Award.
Before joining HHS, she was a VISTA volunteer providing legal services to the Hispanic community in the Boston area.
Higgins is a graduate of Boston College Law School and has a BA from the University of Massachusetts in Sociology.

Holman, Ellen [top]

Ellen Holman, MSc., is the Communications and Outreach Manager for the TwoOfUs.org national media campaign. Ms. Holman also co-manages the strategic communications and outreach component of the NHMRC. She has coordinated state and national media relations, the development and distribution of academic publications, and national conferences and media events. She is an accomplished writer and analytical thinker, and has worked with local, state, and federal government agencies to manage public relations for federally funded research grants and service delivery programs, as well as Web site marketing and content development. Ms. Holman has a Masters of Science in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics.

Inman, Alan [top]

Alan Inman is a dedicated, hands-on organizational leader in the community, committed to restoring the family and representing the highest values of integrity and fiscal responsibility in public life. As a trained accountant from an international firm and operational consultant for a number of non-profit organizations, Mr. Inman developed a reputation for exceeding expectations in managing multiple grants with a number of federal, state and local grants i.e., Federal Dept. of Labor, Health and Human Services, and New York City Human Resource Administration.

Mr. Inman served as National Director for the Institute for Responsible Fatherhood where he led the development of an additional eight locations throughout the country overseeing a $5 million dollar annual budget. Formerly, he served as Executive Director of Minority Alliance International, a New York based civil rights organization; as a consultant to the City of New York; and as chairman of a New York City Community Planning Board. He has been a candidate for the New York State Assembly, a Presidential appointee to the White House Domestic Advisory Council, and as well, he is currently the host of a radio talk show - Insight with Al Inman..
Mr. Inman is also the Regional Director of the American Family Coalition for New York State - a national organization dedicated to ensuring that the family remains the cornerstone of the American society. Currently, he heads his own consulting firm – Alan J. Inman Enterprises, where he works with non-profit and governmental groups to support the fulfillment of grants that include both public & private sources. Inman developed a coalition of community based organizations, public officials, media, clergy groups and the DC government to launch highly successful volunteer service projects during the MLK 40 Days of Peace for ’08.
Mr. Inman is married to the former Cynthia Rene Whitting and is the father of Todd, Alena and Josie.

Jackson, Charles [top]

Charles Jackson is a Public Relations Coordinator for the Alabama Community Healthy Marriage Initiative (ACHMI) at Auburn University in which he is responsible for coordinating national and statewide events, managing social marketing campaigns, coalition building, and community awareness. Mr. Jackson is also involved in the design of billboards, public service announcements, and various web and print media. As a spokesperson, he has appeared on various television segments and has conducted numerous awareness presentations to state agencies and community partners.
Prior to joining the ACHMI team, Charles served as a program coordinator for the Greater Montgomery Chapter of 100 Black Men of America, Inc. which is an international organization of professional men that are dedicated to empowering their communities through mentoring, education, economic development, and health and wellness. With this organization, he currently and proudly serves on their Board of Directors as the Chapter Secretary. Charles has also served six years with the United State Air Force Reserves.

Jahwar, Omar [top]

Omar Jahwar is the founder and CEO of Vision Regeneration, Inc., Dallas, TX. He is responsible for creating Dallas’ first Violence Free Zone (VFZ), a concept developed by Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE) originator, Robert Woodson. He is the first person to hold a recognized position within the State of Texas as Gang Interventionist, a congressional speaker on grassroots solutions to youth crime, and grant recipient from the City of Dallas for youth crime initiatives, he spearheaded the first gang truce in Dallas between the “Crips” and “Bloods” and he is a recognized speaker both nationally and internationally
In addition to his community activism, Mr. Jahwar has released three CD’s, NuKoncept, Songs for Christmas and A Musical Conversation- an original music project on his label, Butterfly Records. He is presently working on a book project entitled “The Rules of the Game”.

Kerpelman, Dr. Jennifer [top]

Dr. Jennifer Kerpelman is a Professor and State Extension Specialist in the Human Development and Family Studies department at Auburn University. During the past 15 years she has conducted numerous research studies examining adolescent identity formation and future orientation, and adolescents’ relationships with parents and peers. She also has created multiple resources designed to promote positive youth development in areas of self development, civic engagement, parent-adolescent relationships, and adolescent peer and dating relationships.
Most recently, she has been directing the Healthy Couples, Healthy Children: Targeting Youth (HCHCTY) project, a 5-year evaluation study of a relationships education curriculum for high school students. The outcome of this project is expected to result in Alabama providing a model for how to best educate youth about healthy romantic relationships that will be useful during their teenage years, and as they transition into adulthood. The HCHCTY project is funded by a grant from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. She also has grant support for this project from the Alabama Department of Abuse and Neglect Prevention (Alabama Children’s Trust Fund).
Her recent publications are in academic journals such as the Journal of Adolescence, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, Family Relations, Young, Youth and Society, Journal of Black Psychology, and Sex Roles. Some of the topics of her published research include: African American adolescents’ future education orientation, identity processing style, associations between adolescent identity formation and intervention impact; the impact of relationships education on youth from diverse backgrounds; self-concept during the transition to adulthood; interpersonal identity and social capital among African American youth; and predictors of young women’s career identity salience.

King-Dunbar, Janice [top]

Janice is a Management and Program Analyst at the Administration for Children and Families in the Immediate Office of the Regional Administrator, Region 10 – Seattle. Her present duties include: implementing all administrative operations for the office including human resources, performance management, employee development, acquisition management, budget formulation and execution, travel management, space and property management, emergency planning and development of operating procedures for the office.

Prior to her current assignment, she worked on Healthy Marriage and implemented the African American Healthy Marriage Initiative in Region 10. In addition, she has served as a Head Start and Child Care Program Specialist.

She has a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Washington and is a certified Professional in Human Resources.

Lambert, Dr. Ruth [top]

Dr. Ruth L. Lambert affectionately known as “Dr. Ruth,” nationally recognized, administrator, program specialist, adoption expert, child advocate, community organizer, social worker and family preservationist, founded Institute for Family Life and Preservation, Inc. in 1994. IFLAP’s primary goal is to serve as a mechanism for providing suitable, stable and permanent families for children which maximally meet the child’s developmental needs. She is the organizer/founder of the Indiana Healthy Marriage and Family Coalition (IHMFC) that contains community and African American Healthy Marriage and Family components.
The Coalition has been recognized by the Presidents Faith and Community Based Initiative as one of the top thirteen Healthy Marriage Coalitions in the nation and was awarded the first regional “Stepping Out Award” recognizing the IHMFC for outstanding efforts in building the statewide capacity for the healthy marriage initiative.
Dr. Lambert, a native of Pine Bluff, Arkansas received her B.S. from U.A.P.B.(formally Arkansas AM&N College), MS from University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, with emphasis on Child Development and Advanced Family Relations and Doctorate of Philosophy from Michigan State University. She is also a certified facilitator and has instituted several national/local programs including: Taking the Lead, Teaching Families to Read Program; Indiana Healthy Marriage Initiative.

Lasky, Marilyn [top]

Marilyn Lasky is Special Assistant to the Regional Administrator for the Administration for Children and Families (US Dept. of Health and Human Resources), Boston Regional Office. The Regional Office serves the six New England states providing federal funding, oversight, and strategic partnership for over 60 HHS programs. Ms. Lasky has been with HHS for over 25 years and has served as the regional program manager for TANF, Child Care, Community and Faith-Based programs and the Responsible Fatherhood initiative.

LeFlore, Ph.D., Larry [top]

Professor and Chair, Texas Women’s University
Department of Family Sciences

Publication/Research
•  Parenting and incarcerated mothers
•  Parenting behaviors
•  Disparities of minority youth and the juvenile justice system
•  Family environment and juvenile delinquency
•  Impact of the just desserts philosophy in juvenile justice
•  Perceptions of school administrators, teachers, and parents about neighborhood schools
•  Changing university/college campus culture and in loco parentis

Research Interests
•  Healthy marriages/relationships
•  Fathering and fatherhood
•  Building family strengths
•  Family issues and corrections

 

Lett, David [top]

As the Regional Administrator, Mr. Lett is the principal representative of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in Region III which includes responsibility for 23 major federal programs in six states: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia and West Virginia.
The largest of the 23 programs includes the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, as well as Child Support Enforcement, Head Start, Developmental Disabilities, Child Care, Child Welfare, and services to Runaway and Homeless Youth.
Mr. Lett has been responsible for the management of a variety of federal programs serving children and families since 1979. Just prior to his current assignment, Mr. Lett was the Assistant Regional Administrator for the Office of Family Supportive Services in the Administration for Children and Families. Before joining the federal government, David was the Director of the Office of Program Development for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
Mr. Lett has a Masters Degree in Social Work from St. Louis University and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Temple University. He has also completed Doctoral work in Public Administration and Political Science at Temple University.
Mr. Lett is an advocate for children and a proponent of early intervention programs.

Lewis, Charles [top]

Charles E. Lewis, Jr. was appointed to a tenure-track position of assistant professor at Howard University’s School of Social Work in August 2002. He teaches courses in social welfare policy and research. Dr. Lewis received his Ph.D. in social policy analysis from Columbia University in February 2002. His dissertation, entitled “The Negative Effects of Incarceration on Fathers in Fragile Families,” explored the harmful effects of prison and jail on the earnings, employment and family formation opportunities of a cohort of new fathers in Oakland, CA and Austin, TX.
Dr. Lewis earned his Master of Social Work degree in clinical counseling at Clark Atlanta University and worked briefly as a licensed therapist at Families First, a social service agency in Atlanta. Prior to that, he had returned to school in the fall of 1992, at the age of 42, to complete his B.A. in psychology at the College of New Rochelle.
Recently, Dr. Lewis has focused his research on the mental health needs of middle adolescents. He is currently using restricted Add Health data to examine the help-seeking behaviors of adolescents and pathways to their getting help for mental health issues. This grew from a concern that adolescents—particularly minorities—may not be diagnosed or treated for mental health problems until they are involved in the criminal justice system.