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LEADERSHIP
GINGER MANCE, Founder and CEO
Advisory Council
CONGRESSMAN DANNY K. DAVIS
Advisory Council - Corporate
Danny K. Davis was elected by the people of the 7th Congressional District of Illinois as their Representative in Congress on November 5, 1996 and has been re-elected by large majorities to succeeding Congresses. Representative Davis is a member of several Congressional Caucuses including: the Congressional Black Caucus, the Progressive Caucus, the Urban Caucus, the Community Health Center's Caucus, the Congressional Sugar Caucus, the Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys and Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Re-entry. He served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, elected in 1990 and reelected in 1994. Previously, he served for eleven years as a member of the Chicago City Council as Alderman of the 29th Ward. Congressman Davis earned his B. A. degree from Arkansas A.M. & N. College and both Masters and Doctorate degrees respectively from Chicago State University and the Union Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was awarded six honorary Doctorate Degrees.
ZELDA B. HARRIS
Advisory Council – Corporate
Zelda B. Harris is interim dean of Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She previously served as associate dean of academic affairs. Zelda led, supervised, and managed the law school curriculum for JD and other graduate programs. Zelda is the architect of the School of Law’s Professional Identity Formation (PIF) course… an anti-racism, intersectionality, and implicit bias course required for all first-year law students. Zelda joined Loyola’s faculty in 2012 as director of the Dan K. Webb Center for Advocacy. Under her leadership, the School of Law’s trial advocacy program became nationally ranked. Harris is a Mary Ann G. McMorrow Professor of Law. She teaches courses in trial advocacy, evidence, and domestic violence law. Prior to joining Loyola in 2012, Harris served for 14 years at the Child and Family Law Clinic at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law. She earned her JD from Washington University School of Law, 1991.
PATRICIA BROWN HOLMES
Advisory Council - Corporate
Patricia Brown Holmes is a Managing Partner at Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP. As a former state court judge, experienced prosecutor, and defense lawyer, RSHC Managing Partner Patricia Brown Holmes is renowned for her comprehensive trial experience and wisdom as a trusted advisor for clients. She focuses on high-stakes commercial disputes and litigation; class actions; investigations and white-collar criminal defense; and risk, reputation, and crisis management counseling. Patricia is the first African-American woman to manage and have her name on the door of a major law firm that is not women- or minority-owned. She has received countless accolades for her professional achievements, most recently selected a Managing Partner of the Year honoree by Corporate Counsel Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards 2021, and for her dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal industry.
MARK JELKE
Advisory Council – Corporate
Mark Jelke earned his BA - Fine Arts from the University of Illinois. He is a visual artist and has owned and operated The Great Frame in Chicago’s Hyde Park since 2000. Mark has a longstanding policy of honoring diversity by supporting artists and hiring staff from a variety of backgrounds, ethnic groups and ages. He supports local artists and writers and regularly hosts visual artists and photographers in his noted Artist of the Month program held at The Great Frame Up. Mark resides in Niles, Illinois with his wife and has one daughter in college.
GORDON ROSS
Advisory Council - Corporate
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Gordon Ross is an international human resource and talent development executive. Gordon has served as a senior VP level human resources professional with 30 years of domestic and international progressive human talent experiences in the Hotel and Restaurant Industry. He is a HR generalist with broad knowledge of compensation, benefits, training & development, recruitment, employee relations, union and non-union workforces, union contract negotiations, succession planning, employment & labor law. Gordon is a Certified Trainer for Dr. Steven Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and has trained private sector executives and countless others. He served as a HR Consultant and served on advisory boards for various organizations, businesses, schools and colleges. Gordon is President of Smyrna Youth Basketball Association, which has a strong focus on academics and he leads Smyrna Basketball's "Life Skills Academy'' which focuses on teaching life skills to the organization's student-athletes.
RANDOLPH N. STONE
Advisory Council - Corporate
Randolph N. Stone is a retired University of Chicago Clinical Professor of Law. He previously served as: the Public Defender of Cook County; deputy director Public Defender Service, District of Columbia; partner Stone & Clark; attorney Criminal Defense Consortium of Cook County; and Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellow for the Neighborhood Legal Service Program in Washington, D.C. He is a past chair of the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section and serves on several boards. Prof. Stone received his JD from the University of Wisconsin and is a Vietnam veteran. He is married to Cheryl Bradley Stone and they have four children.
MARSHALL CHILDS
Advisoy Council – Arts and Culture
Marshall Childs is a Maryland artist with a portfolio that includes paintings, graphic design, and photography. He has illustrated two children’s books including a book he wrote. He graduated from Salisbury University as a cum laude Bachelor of Fine Arts major with a graphic design track. Currently, he works full-time as a computer graphics specialist in Baltimore, MD. Marshall has always been a visual learner, and strives to express his vision in a fun and interesting way so that his audience can thoroughly enjoy the story being told.
DAVID J. SMITH
Advisory Council - Corporate
David J. Smith is a Washington, DC based career coach and educator. He is adjunct faculty at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University and the president of the Forage Center for Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Education. He is a graduate of American University (BA), George Mason University (MS), and the University of Baltimore (JD).
KAHIL EL’ZABAR
Advisory Council – Arts and Culture
Kahil El'Zabar, multi-percussionist, earned his PHD in Interdisciplinary Arts - Lake Forest College. He has been performing since the late 1960’s and has performed with the legendary Gene Ammons, and luminaries such as: Dizzy Gillespie, Pharoah Sanders, Stevie Wonder, Lester Bowie, Nina Simone, Archie Shepp, Eddie Harris, David Murray, Donny Hathaway, Malachi Favors, Kurt Elling, Neneh Cherry, and others. El’Zabar has been a member of the AACM since 1970 and is the founder of Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and Ritual Trio. He has recorded more than 60 projects worldwide. Dr. El’Zabar has won numerous awards including, Chicagoan of the year in 2006 by the Chicago Tribune and has been an artist in residence since 2008 in the City of Bordeaux, France. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the National Taskforce on Arts. Kahil has scored music for such hit films as: Mo Money, Love Jones and How U Like Me Now, the theatrical version of The Lion King among many others. He is currently signed to Spiritmuse Records and is co-producing Spirit Gathering, an internationally curated festival of the arts. El’zabar is the founder of OOHnow, an online culture/network of the who’s who in the arts. For his full biograph, visit: Kahilelzabaris.com.
ATIBA Y. JALI
Advisory Council - Arts and Culture
Atiba Y. Jali is a master drummer and music producer. The Founder of Sound Creations and B Sharp Recording Studio, Atiba started in music at the age of ten, and is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist. His first instrument was the trumpet that he learned to play at Friendship Baptist Church on West Washington Boulevard where he also learned to read music. Atiba became visionally impaired in the mid-nineties, however that did not affect his zeal for music or his music career. He began teaching adults in the 1971 on guitar, bass, piano and drums. He began teaching children’s classes on the Jembe Drum in 1985 and has taught hundreds of children in schools and private classes. His latest album is Nguzo Saba – Seven Principals of Kwanzaa, 2020 Sound Creations, Production (available soon). Karibu, 2004 Sound Creations, Production, was his first album.
DAWN M. JOSEPH
Advisory Council – Art and Culture
Dawn M. Joseph is a Graphic Designer and Photographer who likes searching for new ideas and giving them shape. She has experience in print and digital design. Dawn’s photography work explores texture, detail, and framing. Culture, black and brown identity are focal points in her visual narratives. She has had designs and photography featured by Elixir Press, Sheep Meadow Press, Contratiempo, Souls Journal, Nightboat Books and Harriet, the blog of the Poetry Foundation.
Dawn Joseph’s professional degrees include: MFA, Graphic Design, Yale University; BFA Graphic Design, University of Illinois at Chicago and BFA, Photography, University of Illinois at Chicago.
DAYO LAOYE
Advisory Council – Arts and Culture
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Dayo Laoye is a Nigerian-born artist-painter, educated in African and American academic institutions including contemporary African America art. Laoye has been exhibiting his works for more than 25 years. He is a graduate of the School of Fine Art, Yaba College of Technology and worked for the Nigerian Television Authority, various advertising agencies as a graphic artist and two national newspapers as a political cartoonist. Laoye’s professional career, “has inspired art communities and broader communities to partake in discussions on Yoruba culture and religion, and to use these discussions as a doorway to their global communities.”
NICOLE MALCOLM
Advisor Council – Arts and Culture
Nicole Malcolm, also known as the Madd Painter, grew up in an environment where she was forced to seek self therapy. When Nicole discovered painting, she knew then she had found her calling, so she pursued it. Nicole graduated from Chicago State University in 2006 with a BA in Fine Art and continued her education at Adler University, graduating with a Master’s in art therapy and counseling. Through counseling and various art exhibitions, she realized art had more wonders to it than just adding aesthetic beauty to a space and being therapeutic to her alone. Nicole is currently combining the use of the arts and therapy to uplift, heal, and refocus the minds of the community, along with bringing awareness to the importance of mental health. Artist’s Statement: “Like crayons in a box, we are all in this together to create something beautiful.”
DANA TODD POPE
Advisory Council - Arts and Culture
Dana Todd Pope is a Chicago based entrepreneur, visual artist, and author. She's the founder of Fearlessly Hue which provides wall art prints, pillows and clothing highlighting Black children & the author of "Know Money, Grow, Money," a children's picture book. Since 2019, her work has been featured in corporate exhibitions for Hyatt International, Northern Trust, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Twitter. Permanent Exhibitions include the University of Illinois Chicago Mile Square Health Center Pediatric Clinic, Metropolitan Family Services Centers, and a twenty-one-piece installation at the McKenzie Boys and Girls Club in Sun Prairie, WI. Prominent Exhibitions include Essence Magazine, the DuSable Museum- a Smithsonian Affiliate, and the Museum of Contemporary Art via Common Ground Foundation.
DAVID GLAUB
Advisory Council – Editorial and Marketing
David has over twenty-two years of progressive experience teaching English composition and introductory literature courses face-to-face, hybrid and totally online; he was one of the first on campus to develop a totally online literature course. He has educated English language arts teachers in the U.S. and in the Philippines and has supervised student teachers in public secondary school settings. In addition to teaching, David has initiated community projects, such as writing internships in local not-for-profit settings like the Boys and Girls Club of Kenosha, where, through grants from local businesses, college students helped children produce a book of poems together as a result.
COREY HALL
Advisory Council – Editorial and Marketing
Hall is an educator, journalist, and editor. His writings have appeared in the JazzGram, Newcity, the Chicago Defender, and many other publications. Since 2005, he has been the publisher and editor of Expressions From Englewood, a journal that features original writing from people who live, work, and/or go to school in the community. The journal's newest edition, Volume Nine, was published in August 2021. Hall is also Associate Professor of English at Kennedy-King College with a MA English from the University of Illinois – Chicago