UNCF Board of Directors
Directors-at-Large
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Milton H. Jones, Jr.
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Kieth Cockrell
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Celia A. Colbert
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Gregory G. Cunningham
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Vladimir Galiothe
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Alfred G. Goldstein
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Aloysius “Ish” McLaughlin
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Marcos Purty
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Laurie Readhead
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Danette Anthony Reed
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David Sable
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LaSonja Scott
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William F. Stasior
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Terry Woodard
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Safroadu (Saf) Yeboah-Amankwah
Milton H. Jones, Jr.
Peachtree Providence Partners
Chair of the Board
Milton H. Jones, Jr., is Chair of UNCF’s Board of Directors and founding member of Peachtree Providence Partners Holding Company, LLC., in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to his election as UNCF Board Chair on March 11, 2021, Jones served as vice chair of the board and chair of the Finance Committee. He has been a member of UNCF’s Board of Directors since 2005. UNCF is one of the nation’s largest and most effective supporters of higher education and serves as a leading advocate for college-bound students. Since its founding in 1944, UNCF has raised more than $6 billion to support more than 600,000 students’ access to higher education, provide scholarships and strengthen historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) including UNCF’s 37 member institutions.
Under Mr. Jones’s leadership, board members have achieved 100% participation in gifting funds to support UNCF’s mission, and he has significantly grown corporate representation on the board.
In addition to his role as UNCF Board Chair, Mr. Jones is a founding member of Peachtree Providence Partners Holding Company, LLC. In this role, he advises and collaborates with client board chairs, CEO’s and executives in key sectors that include financial services, healthcare, technology, government and higher education. For more than 32 years while at Bank of America, he held a series of senior executive positions with global responsibilities including roles reporting directly to the chairman and CEO.
Mr. Jones is vice chairman of the Meharry Medical College Board of Trustees; board chairman of 100 Black Men of America, Inc.; and co-chair of the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He also serves on the advisory boards of the Metro Atlanta YMCA, Boy Scouts and the Commerce Club. He is a member of the Downtown Atlanta Rotary Club and is a member and past chairman of The Atlanta Business League and of 100 Black Men of Atlanta.
Mr. Jones is an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame (BBA-Accounting ’74) Leadership Atlanta (’90) and Leadership Georgia (’92). He has received degrees of Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa from Shaw University in 2007 and Allen University in 2023. Mr. Jones is a licensed Life and Health Insurance professional and a Six Sigma Black Belt.
Mr. Jones is married with an adult son and daughter and five grandchildren.
Kieth Cockrell
Kieth Cockrell, as President of Bank of America Charlotte and Head of Sports Sponsorships, is responsible for connecting banking and investment resources offered through the bank’s eight lines of business to people and companies across the region, deploying Bank of America’s resources to address social and economic concerns, and helping the local community thrive.
Cockrell previously served as the Global Technology & Operations chief operating officer with responsibility for programs, business controls, oversight and operations as well as external relationships, for nearly 95,000 teammates in more than 35 countries.
Prior to that, Cockrell served as head of Specialty Client Services for Consumer & Small Business and president of Bank of America Michigan. During his 39-year career in financial services, Cockrell has held several key executive roles including COO for Consumer and Small business, national community markets executive responsible for 1,800 financial centers, customer service and support responsible for all call center operations and led the debit card and ATM businesses. He also oversaw the Specialty Clients Services, Life Services, Employee Financial Services and Client Escalations teams.
Cockrell is a passionate ally and advocate for a diverse and inclusive workplace. He has served as vice chair of the Global Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Council. In this role, he was instrumental in establishing several employee networks, including the Black Professional Group; the Hispanic/Latino Organization for Leadership and Advancement; the Military Support and Assistance Group; and the Black Executive Advisory Council.
In 2019, he received the Root Award and the Vanguard Award, two D&I awards recognizing his leadership role in promoting equality, unity and multiculturalism. He is an active member and advisor in several employee networks. Active in the community, he co-chaired the 2020 Charlotte City Bond Campaign. He plays a vital role on various boards with local organizations, including immediate past chair of the Levine Museum of the New South, the incoming chair for the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, Foundation for the Carolinas Community Real Property Holdings, Inc., My Brother’s Keeper Charlotte-Mecklenburg, and is the vice chair of the board of trustees for HBCU Johnson C. Smith University.
Also, Cockrell has previously served on the boards of United Way, Goodwill Industries, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina and the American Diabetes Association, which previously named him Father of the Year. Cockrell is a Michigan Chronicle Men of Excellence honoree and received the Excellence in Economic Development award from the 100 Black Men of Detroit.
Celia A. Colbert
Senior Vice President, Secretary and Assistant General Counsel
Merck & Company (Retired)
UNCF Board of Directors
Gregory G. Cunningham
Vice President, Enterprise Diversity and Inclusion
U.S. Bancorp
UNCF Board of Directors
Vladimir Galiothe
CitiBank
UNCF Board of Directors
Alfred G. Goldstein
President and CEO
A.G. & Associates
UNCF Board of Directors
Aloysius “Ish” McLaughlin
Franklin Templeton
UNCF Board of Directors
Marcos Purty
Vice President, Global Quality, Supplier Quality & Operational Excellence
General Motors Company
UNCF Board of Directors
Marcos Purty was appointed Vice President, Global Quality, Supplier Quality & Operational Excellence for General Motors in May 2024. He is responsible for leading General Motors global quality efforts as well as leadership of the Operational Excellence group.
Prior to this position, Marcos was Vice President of Global Workplace Safety at GM, after returning from Amazon where he was Vice President, North America Fulfillment, Amazon Robotics Sortable Operations. Marcos and his team supported GM leadership in its mission to keep employees, contractors, and visitors safe at 363 sites worldwide.
Marcos joined GM in 1994 at the former Pontiac Assembly plant in Michigan and led his first international assignment in Canada at Oshawa Assembly in 2002. After returning to the U.S. in leadership roles at Pontiac Assembly and Fort Wayne Assembly in Indiana, Marcos went on to additional international assignments in Australia, Indonesia, and Thailand. In 2016, Marcos returned to the U.S. as Plant Executive Director at Lansing Delta Township Assembly in Michigan before his last assignment at GM as executive director, Global Manufacturing Strategy and Planning.
Marcos earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Florida A&M University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.
Marcos was recognized by the Career Communications Group with the 2020 Black Engineer of the Year Career Achievement Award and was a 2019 Michigan Chronicle Men of Excellence Honoree. In 2023, he was recognized as a DRIVEN nominee and featured in the 2023 DRIVEN publication, a Real Times Media program.
Marcos serves on the executive board of the Pontiac Kappa Foundation, which is a key pillar of his active support of community STEM initiatives. He is also on the board of Focus Hope, a non-profit community support organization in Detroit.
Laurie Readhead
Executive Vice President
CIO, Global Technology and Operations
Bank of America (Retired)
UNCF Board of Directors
Danette Anthony Reed
Danette Anthony Reed is the International President and CEO of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®. She is the 31st woman to lead the nation’s first African American sorority for college-educated women.
Anthony Reed ascended to the Alpha Kappa Alpha’s highest office in July 2022. Her 46 years of continuous sorority service at local, regional, and international levels have well-prepared her for this role.
As International President and CEO, she sets policies and programs. In addition, she leads the sorority’s 18-member Board of Directors representing other international officers and ten regional directors who oversee the management of the sorority’s more than 1,061 chapters and 320,000 initiated members throughout the United States and 11 other countries.
A Dallas, TX resident and retired PepsiCo executive, Anthony Reed brings decades of corporate leadership, community engagement, service, and progressive sorority governance.
During her tenure at PepsiCo, Anthony Reed rose through the operations ranks at Frito-Lay, becoming the first African American woman plant director to lead the start-up of an $80 million bakery facility in Dallas. She later moved to Frito-Lay’s corporate office and led a cross-functional team in the commercialization of $300 million in innovative products. She retired in 2017 after 34 years of service.
Anthony Reed holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA), specializing in Finance, from Southern Methodist University and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University.
In addition to her Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority service, Anthony Reed is a charter member of the Greater Denton County (TX) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated®; Top Ladies of Distinction; the Carrousels of Dallas, TX; and the National Association of Parliamentarians. Currently, she serves as treasurer of the Krugerville, TX, Community Development Corporation.
She has received numerous honors, awards, and accolades, including Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals, Women’s Inclusion Network Lifetime Achievement Award, PepsiCo’s Global Harvey Russell Diversity and Inclusion Award, National Council of Negro Women Outstanding Service Award, Greater Denton County Chapter of The Links, Incorporated Leadership Award, Women’s Inclusion Network Leadership Development Award, and Women of Color Making an Impact Award.
David Sable
Vice Chairman, Stagwell
UNCF Board of Directors
LaSonja Scott
LaSonja Scott is an accomplished executive who brings deep financial, strategic planning and international expertise to her role as chief of staff to the chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. Scott is responsible for the operations of the Office of the CEO, as well as leading the implementation of some of the company’s top business strategies.
Scott has nearly 30 years of experience in finance, strategic planning and accounting and has worked in the Coca-Cola system for the past 22 years in various finance positions at the company’s global headquarters as well as in its North America and Europe operations.
As a Coca-Cola system veteran, she has led teams of increasing accountability across finance, global IT, North America Foodservice, investor relations and the Controller’s Group. She also was a finance manager for the Europe Group, based in London.
Among her most notable roles, Scott helped communicate the company’s growth story to investors and build global finance capabilities. Specifically, as director of investor relations, she engaged with the global investment community to provide insights on operating results and strategy while providing business and analytical support to the senior management team.
In addition, as global finance director, she created and transformed the global finance capability strategy and delivered new and more digitized ways to grow capabilities across the organization. She developed networked communities working across departments to upskill teams in the digital, finance and enterprise governance areas.
Scott holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from South Carolina State University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Mercer University. She is also a certified public accountant (CPA) and a certified internal auditor (CIA).
William F. Stasior
Senior Chairman (Retired)
Booz Allen Hamilton
Chair Emeritus, UNCF Board of Directors
Terry Woodard
Terry Woodard is a managing director and vice chairman in J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s Financial Sponsors Group. Woodard, along with his team of financial and service specialists, are responsible for handling the day-to-day banking, investment, tax and financial planning needs of individuals and non-profit organizations.
Woodard has been with the firm for over 35 years. He started his career with the Chase Manhattan Bank and attended the Credit Training Program. He has held positions in General Auditing, Risk Management, Credit Underwriting, and Client Management.
Currently, Woodard is the global co-chair of BOLD (Black Organization for Leadership and Development), co-chair and co-founder of the Asset Management Black Leadership Forum and a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC). He is the captain of the Morehouse College Recruiting Team and is actively involved in undergraduate recruiting at Howard University.
He is the chairman of the board of Jazz House Kids, chairman of the board of the Sphinx Organization, a member of the Friends of MoMA and a former board member of the Girls Scouts in Essex, Hudson, and Union Counties of New Jersey.
Woodard joined JPMorgan Chase after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Finance from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. He is the recipient of the Harlem YMCA Black Achievers in Industry Award, The Dreamer Award from the Morehouse Manhattan Alumni Chapter, Alumnus of the Year Award from the Morehouse College National Alumni Association and a Crain’s New York 2022 Notable Diverse Leader in Banking and Finance.
Safroadu (Saf) Yeboah-Amankwah
UNCF Board of Directors
Institutional Directors
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Dr. Mark Brown
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Dr. Anthony J. Davis
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Dr. Christopher Davis
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Dr. Paulette Dillard
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Dr. Dwight Fennell
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Dr. George T. French, Jr.
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Dr. Monique Guillory
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Dr. Ronnie Hopkins
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Dr. Valerie Kinloch
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Dr. Glenell M. Lee-Pruitt
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Dr. Vann R. Newkirk, Sr.
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Dr. Yolanda Page
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Dr. Said Sewell
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Dr. Agenia Walker Clark
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Dr. Melva K. Wallace
Dr. Mark Brown
Dr. Brown, who received his bachelor’s from Tuskegee in accounting, earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Troy University, a Master’s of Strategic Studies from the Air Command and Staff College, a Master’s in National Security Strategy from the National War College, and his doctorate in Education from Baylor University. His experience in education is varied and distinguished.
While a Major General in the Air Force, Dr. Brown served as Deputy Commander of Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. AETC recruits, trains, and educates Air Force personnel. His command included the Air Force Recruiting Service, two numbered Air Forces, and two fully accredited graduate and doctoral degree-granting universities: Air University and the Air Force Institute of Technology. AETC operates more than 1,400 trainer, fighter, and mobility aircraft, 23 wings, 10 bases, and five geographically separated groups. The command trains more than 293,000 Airmen annually, with approximately 60,000 active-duty, Reserve, Guard, civilian, and contractor personnel.
Dr. Brown was commissioned through the Tuskegee University Air Force ROTC program in 1986. He served in comptroller, command, and staff positions at all U.S. Department of Defense levels, including two assignments as congressional liaison to the United States House of Representatives. After retiring from the Air Force with 32 years of service, Dr. Brown expanded his educational service as the chief operating officer of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Federal Student Aid, which had a lending portfolio of $1.7 trillion equivalent to that of the nation’s five largest consumer lending banks. As COO, he was responsible for all of the nation’s Title IV funding.
Most recently, he has served as president and chief executive officer of the Student Freedom Initiative based in Washington, D.C. The Student Freedom Initiative is the vision of billionaire philanthropist Robert F. Smith after his historic gift to eliminate the student loan debt of the Morehouse College class of 2019.
As the first President and Chief Executive Officer, he and his staff provide four components to 63 HBCUs, which also includes two Tribal Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions. The capabilities include agreements to fund any educational attendance requirements beyond what is paid for through Federal programs, such as Pell Grants, Work-Study, and Federal Student Loans. SFI is also focused on elevating the communities around its school by providing critical resources such as access to highspeed broadband, cybersecurity upgrades, affordable living spaces and solar energy.
Dr. Brown is married to Gwendolyn Jackson Brown, his wife of 33 years. They have two adult children, Mark II and Michael.
Dr. Anthony J. Davis
Dr. Christopher Davis
Dr. Dwight Fennell
Dwight J. Fennell is the 23rd president of Texas College (Tyler, TX). He is a native of Miami, FL. Following graduation from high school, he immediately enrolled in Saint Augustine’s College (now Saint Augustine’s University) in Raleigh, NC, where he completed the baccalaureate degree in history and government. He pursued and completed the master of arts degree in history at Atlanta University, and a second master of science degree in education at Florida International University in Miami, FL.
He received the education specialist and doctor of philosophy degrees from Florida State University in Tallahassee. He has completed post-doctoral work in educational leadership with the American Council on Education as an ACE Fellow at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. Fennell began his professional career in higher education at Florida International University, where he worked in various capacities including community service initiatives, adult and continuing education and as assistant director of the honors program. He also worked at Florida Atlantic University as director of the Student Retention Program.
After leaving the State University System of Florida, Fennell taught at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, and later at Saint Augustine’s College (his alma mater). While at Saint Augustine’s College, he became a tenured associate professor of history and later vice president for academic affairs, a position he held for seven of the 11 years he spent at the institution. Fennell relocated to Dallas in 1998 to become provost of Paul Quinn College with the responsibilities of both academic affairs and student affairs. He was appointed interim president of the college in 2001, and in 2002, he received the unanimous vote of the Board of Trustees to become the 32nd president of Paul Quinn College.
During his tenure as president, the college experienced an increase in enrollment, increased student retention, enhanced community collaborations, increased funding of student scholarships, renovations to the campus buildings and increase in the college’s endowment. Fennell served as Executive Director of Project Development in 2005 at The Potter’s House Incorporated with the ministry of Bishop T.D. Jakes for two years. He held the overall responsibilities for design, development and construction of Capella Park, a residential subdivision featuring more than 1,000 single-family homes. He also had responsibility for the administrative oversight of Clay Academy, a private, Christian college preparatory school. Fennell led the preparatory school to accreditation, scholarship funding, enrollment and grade level growth.
As president of Texas College, Fennell leads with a focus on “student centeredness.” This means that his primary direction is with creating an educational environment and processes that lead to student learning in an atmosphere that is conducive for such. Fennell’s approach to leadership is that of “shared governance,” and he holds his team to accountability, integrity and productivity. Fennell’s “student centeredness” focus has been embraced by faculty, staff and students. The results of this focus have led to facility improvements, academic program refinement, accreditation enhancements, enrollment growth, and growth in the college’s endowment along with enhanced relationships with the local communities.
Fennell is married to Angelia, and they have one son, Dwight, Jr.
Dr. George T. French, Jr.
Dr. George T. French, Jr., is the the fifth president of Clark Atlanta University (CAU).
Dr. French served as president of Miles College, 2006-2019 before taking the lead at CAU. During his tenure, Miles College exceeded capital campaign goals—besting previous fundraising records, achieved an unprecedented financial composite score to position the school for growth, increased student access to educational funding, and more than doubled the size of the existing campus with key land acquisitions.
Prior to serving as the president of Miles College, Dr. French served in the roles of acting and interim president for the institution between October and December 2005. Before serving as interim president, Dr. French served as a member of the president’s cabinet in the capacity of director of institutional planning and development, and as such directed the offices of alumni affairs, federal contracts and grants, Title III, institutional research and effectiveness, congressional relations and public relations.
A native of Louisville, KY, Dr. French earned a bachelor of arts in political science with an emphasis in policy analysis from the University of Louisville. He was competitively accepted into the University of Richmond Law School and completed two years of studies before being recruited by Miles College to serve as the director of development. He completed his final year of law school at Miles Law School, earning a juris doctorate. Dr. French received his Ph.D. in higher education from Jackson State University.
Dr. French also has great influence off campus grounds. He served two terms, respectively, on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges’ Board of Trustees, and the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. He is a member of the Birmingham Business Alliance’s Executive Committee and Birmingham Museum of Art’s Board of Directors. In 2015, Dr. French co-founded Higher Education Leadership Foundation to help prepare highly-skilled talent for positions of leadership at historically Black colleges and universities.
“I am thankful and blessed to have the opportunity to lead another great institution and serve as the fifth president of Clark Atlanta University,” Dr. French said. “CAU has strong faculty, students and academics. I’m optimistic about the university’s next stage of growth and eager to build on the strong foundation CAU has established.”
Dr. Monique Guillory
Dr. Monique Guillory, a native New Orleanian with over 30 years of executive-level experience in higher education.
Much of Dr. Guillory’s career has been at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). Her expertise includes academic program development, accreditation processes, STEM pipelines, and student success. Additionally, she has served on the cabinets of six university presidents.
Prior to coming to Dillard, Dr. Guillory was chief of staff and senior vice president for the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), where she led the development of the institutional strategic plan and provided leadership for UDC’s K-12 partnership with the Anacostia Feeder Pattern. She has also been among the executive leadership team at Jackson State University, Xavier University of Louisiana, the Southern University System, and the University of the Virgin Islands.
Dr. Guillory is a former member of the substantive change committee for the Middle States Commission for Higher Education (MSCHE), an experienced Middle States evaluator for regional accreditation, and previously served as member-elect for the Middle States Regional Council for the College Board.
She earned her Ph.D. in comparative literature and performance studies from New York University, where she was awarded the Arthur J. Schomburg Award for Excellence in the Humanities. She is the co-editor of “Soul: Black Power, Politics and Pleasure,” and is a former Mellon Fellow. Dr. Guillory is a fiercely proud New Orleanian who graduated from St. Mary’s Academy and Tulane University
Dr. Ronnie Hopkins
The Voorhees University Board of Trustees named Dr. Ronnie Hopkins to serve as the 10th president of the institution, effective July 9, 2021.
“Dr. Hopkins brings a wealth of higher-education experience, expansive leadership, fundraising acumen and vast institutional knowledge. His appointment perfectly positions the college to advance and accelerate the current momentum and focus on enrollment, innovation and fiscal stability. His remarkable demeanor, skills, prudent judgement and interpersonal skills will be a great asset. We welcome him and look forward to his leadership as we ‘begin, believe and become’ in this next chapter,” said Dr. Traci Young-Cooper, vice chairperson of the board.
Prior to being named the president of Voorhees, Hopkins served as interim president and before that he was the institution’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. He is the accreditation liaison and a tenured professor of English.
Hopkins has been in public and higher education for nearly 30 years, serving in senior leadership roles and instructional positions that involve supervision of faculty, staff, students, budgeting, and strategic planning. He has authored more than 10 research articles and received $30 million in grant funding to advance higher education priorities.
Hopkins has conducted international scholarly research and made presentations in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa; Buea, Cameroon, Central West Africa; the University of Technology at Quibdo, Choco, South America; Guilan, Beijing, and Shanghai, Republic of China; University of Ghana-Legon, Accra, Ghana, West Africa; Merida, Mexico; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; and, Cape Town, South Africa.
He actively serves as an Off-site and On-site Reaffirmation Committee Evaluator for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Possible Worlds Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization that provides full-service career strategic directions and opportunities in education and employment for disenfranchised citizens impacted by homelessness, incarceration, and HIV/AIDS.
Before coming to Voorhees, he served at Benedict College as founding dean of the Freshman Institute and the School of Honors. Other positions in which he served at Benedict included professor of English, chair of the Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Mass Communication, and dean of the School of Continuing Education, Graduate Studies and Lifelong Learning.
Hopkins earned doctoral and master’s degrees in English from Michigan State University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a secondary teaching certification from North Carolina Central University. He also completed postdoctoral studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received a Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa from Saint Monica University in Buea, Cameroon, Central West Africa.
Hopkins is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Bible Way Church of Atlas Road, and the Class of 2020 Executive Leadership Academy sponsored by the American Academic Leadership Institute for preparation of experienced college executive officers to become successful presidents and chancellors.
For more information, contact the Office of Communications at 803.780.1191 or at communications@voorhees.edu.
Dr. Glenell M. Lee-Pruitt
Jarvis Christian University Board of Trustees has selected Dr. Glenell M. Lee-Pruitt as the university’s 13th president, effective July 1, 2023. She succeeds Dr. Lester C. Newman, who served as the JCU President for 11 years.
Dr. Lee-Pruitt brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the university, including higher education administration and academic affairs, having served as second in command and as a member of the executive cabinet since August 2012 as the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Jarvis. She has been instrumental in increasing student enrollment, increasing articulation agreements, and establishing the Renaissance Program for Adult Learners on the JCU campus and the JCU Dallas Teaching Site. She has also provided leadership in enhancing academic program offerings, which include online degree completion programs and two online graduate programs.
Previously, she served at Mississippi Valley State University as dean of University College and First Year Experience, director of Community/Service Learning, director of the Renaissance Learning Adult Education Program, and tenured professor in the Department of Social Work.
An ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Lee-Pruitt is a highly sought-after speaker and presenter. She also is active in campus, community, and ministry activities. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Jackson State University, a Master of Social Work degree from Temple University, a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Social Work from Jackson State University, and a Master of Divinity from Payne Theological Seminary.
Moreover, she has completed the Council of Independent Colleges’ Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission Program and the Millennium Leadership Institute. She has received several honors, awards, and recognitions including Faculty of the Year and the UNCF Trailblazer Award.
Lee-Pruitt is the current pastor of St. Matthew A.M.E Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Jarvis Christian University is dedicated to empowering students to achieve their career goals through an affordable academic experience that prepares them for today’s global economy.
Whether a student is a recent high school graduate or a working adult seeking career advancement, Jarvis Christian University develops students of all ages intellectually, socially, spiritually, and emotionally.
Dr. Vann R. Newkirk, Sr.
Dr. Vann R. Newkirk, Sr., is the 23rd president of Wilberforce University (Wilberforce, Ohio), the nation’s first, private historically Black college university (HBCU).
Immediately prior to accepting the presidency, Dr. Newkirk served as interim associate vice president at Alabama A & M University in Huntsville, and he is a former president at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to his presidential appointment at Fisk, Dr. Newkirk was that university’s provost and vice president of academic affairs.
He is a native of Elizabethtown, North Carolina who initially attended North Carolina A&T, but received his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Barber-Scotia College. He holds a Master of Arts degree in history from Winthrop University, a Master of Science degree from North Carolina Central University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in history from Howard University.
Currently, Dr. Newkirk is writing a history of African Americans in Alabama. In another written work, “New Life for Historically Black Colleges and Universities” (HBCUs), to improve the long-term viability of HBCUs, he moves to identify their challenges, explore their management systems, and identify models of success. A noted historian, he has written extensively on crime and punishment in North Carolina. He has also authored the 2008 seminal work, “Lynching in North Carolina”, which won the 2009 Willie Parker History Award for the best non-fiction study of North Carolina.
His first priority for Wilberforce he says is to engage community supporters who can assist in the university’s fund-raising efforts. He also wants to solidify student retention and graduation rates which, he says along with premium academic programs, will add value to the university’s distinction among nationally ranked liberal arts colleges.
Dr. Said Sewell
Dr. Said Sewell previously served as the director of the Office of Academics, Research, and Student Success for the Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUCC). At the AUCC, Sewell provided leadership coordination for academic affairs, student affairs, and sponsored research divisions of Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Spelman College. Prior to joining the AUCC, Sewell held numerous leadership positions at institutions of higher learning, including roles as the vice president for student affairs at Morehouse College, as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Lincoln University in Missouri, as assistant provost form academic affairs and dean of undergraduate studies at Kent State University in Ohio, and as the acting assistant vice president for academic affairs and executive director of the Academic Success Center at Fort Valley State University.
Dr. Sewell is the founder, executive director, and chairman of the board of directors for the Center for African-American Males: Research, Success, and Leadership Inc., a research and modeling center for the advancement of AfricanAmerican males. Dr. Sewell has received numerous awards based on his scholarship and civic service, including the University of System of Georgia’s African American Male Initiative Best Practices Leadership Award, the Visionary Award from the Follow Me Foundation, Inc., and the National Conference of Black Political Scientists’ Teacher of the Year Award.
A native of Houston, Texas, Sewell entered Morehouse College in 1988 and graduated in 1992 with a bachelor’s in political science. He also holds a Master of Public Administration in public policy from Texas Southern University and a doctorate from Clark Atlanta University in political science. He earned fellowships with associations and colleges including the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the University System of Georgia, Harvard University, the University of Nebraska, and the James (Jimmy) Earl Carter Presidential Library.
Dr. Sewell has co-authored three books, Georgia State Politics, Conflicting Democracy: A Critical Analysis of America’s Political Process and We the People: Reflections on American Politics. He is currently completing work on two books: Empowering Black Male Students to Greatness and Let Us Make Man: A Conversation with Black Men on Saving Black Boys.
Dr. Agenia Walker Clark
Dr. Agenia Walker Clark is the University’s third female head and the 18th president of the 158-year-old-university, one of the nation’s highest-ranking Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Dr. Clark most recently served as CEO for the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee – where, during her 19-year tenure, she increased the agency’s operational efficiencies, increased its reserves, built new facilities, and transformed the agency into one of the highest performing of the 111 councils in the Girl Scout network.
Prior to the Girl Scouts, Dr. Clark was the Vice President of Human Resources for the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation, Senior Director of Human Resources at Vanderbilt University and directed human resources for Canadian telecommunications provider Nortel Networks, where she also served as a manager of government relations.
Dr. Clark was named “Nashvillian of the Year” in 2021 and as one of “Nashville’s 100 Most Powerful People,” 2015–2020, by the Nashville Business Journal. An inductee into the Academy for Women of Achievement, she is also a Nashville Post Person-In-Charge (2014–2021). She is also a member of the International Women’s Forum (IWF), a member of the 2016 Class of Leadership Tennessee, and 1996 Class of Leadership Nashville.
She currently serves on the corporate board of directors for FirstBank Financial Corporation (NYSE: FBK) as well as the boards of trustees for Belmont and Simmons Universities – and is a trustee emerita on the board of the Haslam School of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Dr. Clark earned a B.S. and MBA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and her Doctorate in Leadership from Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Melva K. Wallace
For over twenty years Dr. Melva K. Wallace has worked in higher education as a leader and as a fierce national advocate. Today, she proudly serves as the seventh President and CEO of one of the top private liberal arts colleges in the country, Huston-Tillotson University, an HBCU in Austin, TX.
In 2023, Dr. Wallace was honored by the United Negro College Fund as a president in leadership. Because of her national prominence in higher education as a national spokesperson for HBCUs, she has been featured in a number of magazines and media publications expressing her views on these beloved institutions. In 2023, she was named by Austin Business Journal as one of the Texas 100 Top Influential Professionals to Watch. Wallace is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated.
Wallace received a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Grambling State University. She also earned her Ph.D. in Urban Higher Education from Jackson State University.
She is married to her phenomenal husband, Dr. DL Wallace, of Flower Mound, Texas. You can follow her on Instagram at MKW7th to learn more about her views on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.