Board of Directors' Biographies
Children's Futures Board of Directors represents a mix of local and national experts on a wide range of fields. Here are brief bios about members of the Children's Futures' Board of Directors:
| Officers: | ||
Christine M. Grant, J.D. - Chair |
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Other Board Members : |
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William Foster, Ph.D. |
Linda Randolph, M.D., M.P.H. |
Officers:
Christine M. Grant, J.D. was formerly the Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs at Aventis Pasteur, the worlds' largest vaccine and biological company. She served as New Jersey's Commissioner of Health and Senior Services in the cabinet of Governor Christie Whitman, from 1999-2001. Prior to that she had moved along the public, private, and philanthropic sectors holding a number of senior positions at Merck, Aventis, and the New Jersey Department of Health as Deputy Commissioner during the late 1980's, was associate at the law firm of McCarter & English, and Senior Program Officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She chaired the State's Health Care Facilities Financing Authority, and was a trustee of the University of Medicine and Dentistry, and remains on the Board of the National Partnership for Prevention among other civic activities. Ms. Grant has written and lectured widely on a variety of topics including the importance of improving the nation's public health communicable disease reporting systems, and sustain diversity workforce initiatives. She holds degrees from Swarthmore, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers Law School where she is a member and business manager of the Law Review.
Ana I. Berdecia, M.Ed. is the Senior Fellow/Director of the Center for the Positive Development of Urban Children at the John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy of Thomas Edison State College. Ana helps bridge the voices of teachers, practitioners, and parent/guardians to policy initiatives in New Jersey that impact the health, well-being, and educational outcomes of children and families. Prior to joining the college, Ana served as the executive director of the Puerto Rican Community Day Care Center, Inc. in Trenton, New Jersey. Ana has extensive experience working with diverse families and children as an administrator, program developer, trainer, and consultant. She is an adjunct faculty at Mercer County Community College where she teaches Intro to Early Childhood Education. She serves on numerous boards/committees in the field of early childhood and human services. Ana has a BA in sociology with a minor in women studies and a master in education with a specialization in early childhood both from The College of New Jersey and holds a New Jersey Standard Teaching Certificate in Preschool through 3rd grade. Currently, she is pursuing a post-graduate certificate from Seton Hall University in Infant Mental Health.
Allen C. Lamboy is vice president of the JP Morgan Chase Community Development Real Estate Group in Hamilton, New Jersey. Mr. Lamboy has extensive experience in the fields of financing and economic and community development. Prior to joining JP Morgan Chase, he served as associate director for financial services at the Non Profit Finance Fund in Philadelphia. Mr. Lamboy has also been a program officer with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation where he served as the childcare and economic development specialist under the New Jersey Multi-City Program. His long history of dedication to children and families includes volunteer service on the New Jersey Health Care Advisory Council, the New Jersey Childcare Industry Economic Impact Council and the Starting Points for Children Board of Directors. Mr. Lamboy received his bachelor's degree in economics from Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey and a master's degree in community economic development from Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Suzanne Williamson has been a child advocate for many years. She is the Executive Director of Monday Morning, Inc., a professional child care management service, based in central New Jersey. She is also the President of the National Association for Family Child Care and an active member of other state and national initiatives and advisory Boards. Considered a national expert on family child care, she is frequently called on for keynote and conference presentations about the early childhood field. Ms. Williamson is also the Immediate Past-Chair of the New Jersey Child Care Advisory Council and was the recipient of the 2007 Aletha Wright Award for Excellence in Early Care and Education. Sue was the creator and National Co-chair of Provider Appreciation Day, a national day of recognition for everyone in the early childhood workforce. Ms. Williamson holds a M.A. in Human Development with specializations in Leadership in Education and Human Development: Administration/Supervision and Parent/Community Work from Pacific Oaks College and is adjunct faculty in their Distance Learning program. She resides in North Plainfield, New Jersey with her husband.
Floyd K. Morris, Jr. is President of Children's Futures (CF). Mr. Morris leads the initiative's efforts to strengthen parenting, increase access to primary quality health care and child care systems and increase social supports for families, so that every child in Trenton enters preschool healthy and ready to learn. Prior to becoming CF's president in May 2006, Mr. Morris was a senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), where he had responsibility for some of the foundation's largest community-based initiatives, including Fighting Back, the Urban Health Initiative, the After School Project, Join Together, and several other programs. He has also served on the Foundation's Vulnerable Populations and Childhood Obesity program management teams. He joined the RWJF in 1989 as a financial officer, having worked previously as an assistant administrator for United Medical Center in Newark. In 1996 he became a program officer at RWJF and was promoted to the senior program officer position in 2000. Mr. Morris earned a master of health administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.S. from Salem College in West Virginia.
Other Board Members:
William Foster, Ph.D. is Dean of the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine. He is the former Senior Vice President/Chief Operating Officer the National Center on Addictions and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA). He is responsible for strategic planning, intellectual oversight, human resource management, budget analysis, communication, marketing and day to day leadership for the Center. Prior to this appointment, he was the Executive Director for the Congressional Commission on the Social Security from 1994-1995, the Deputy Commissioner of the New Jersey of Labor from 1993-1994, and Chief of staff of the New Jersey Department of Labor from 1989-1992. Foster received his bachelor's degree in Biology from the Principia College, Elsah, Illinois, a master's degree in counseling psychology and a Ph.D. in counselor psychology; both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mindy Thompson Fullilove, M.D. is a Professor of Psychiatry and Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University. Dr. Thompson Fullilove has provide lectureships nationally and internationally on topics such as urbanism, building healthy communities, HIV/AIDS, a child's environment, women issues, strengthening families and preventive health behaviors. Dr. Thompson Fullilove is also very well published through books and journals. Her most recent book is entitled Root Shocks: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts American and What We Can Do About, Ballantine Books, New York 2004 and The Black Family: Mental Health Perspectives edited volume of conference paper by The Black Task Force, 1984.
John J. Korsah is executive director, financial products of the Enterprise Media Group at Dow Jones & Company in Princeton, New Jersey. Mr. Korsah has extensive background in the areas of strategic and financial planning and analysis, mergers and acquisitions and business plan development. Prior to joining Dow Jones & Company in 2003, he held progressively responsible positions at Gemstar-TV Guide International in New York including vice-president, business development. He has also been associate director of financial planning and analysis for the Children's Television Workshop, manager of financial planning and analysis for Home Box Office and senior business assurance analyst for Coopers and Lybrand, all in New York City. In addition to serving on the Children's Futures' Board, Mr. Korsah is a member of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals (Dow Jones chair), Princeton Alumni Schools Committee, Princeton Varsity Club and a lifetime member of the Princeton Department of Athletics. He received his A.B in architecture from Princeton University and both of his masters' degrees (M.S. in accounting and M.B.A. with a concentration in finance and marketing) at New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
Rodney Lofton is Superintendent of the Trenton, New Jersey Public School District in Trenton, New Jersey. Immediately prior to his appointment, he was experience included service as a Deputy Superintendent in the Mount Vernon, New York School District. Mr. Lofton's career in education began as a Teacher of Special Education in the areas of emotionally disturbed and learning disabilities in New York City. He subsequently served as an Assistant Principal and Principal in the New York City Public Schools. He has worked in districts ranging from 2,000 students to 32,000 students. Mr. Lofton holds a master's degree in education from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree in marketing research from Bernard Baruch College.
Sherea McKenzie, Esq. is the Executive Director of the Joint City/County Commission on Children in Houston, Texas. Ms. McKenzie has extensive experience as an attorney in the fields of children's advocacy, education, social services, family law and public policy. In addition to serving on the Children's Futures' Board, she is also a member of the boards of the Center for Hearing and Speech, the Education Foundation of Harris County, the Center for Public Policy Priorities, the Texas Network of Youth Services, Houston's Downtown Management District, and the American Bar Association's Presidential Advisory Council for Diversity in the Profession. Ms. McKenzie received her Juris Doctorate from Texas Southern University's Thurgood Marshall School of Law, and she received a BA in Public Administration from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Douglas H. Palmer is the Mayor of Trenton, New Jersey and is currently serving as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He is Trenton's first African American Mayor, initially elected in 1990 and re-elected four times since. He is past President of the New Jersey Urban Mayors Association and the New Jersey Conference of Mayors. Mayor Palmer's focus ranges across the spectrum of urban policy issues, from homeownership opportunities and quality of life services to a strategy for reclaiming neighborhoods and producing business and economic growth. He is a graduate of Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management in 1973.
Linda Randolph, M.D., M.P.H. has demonstrated her leadership and commitment to improving maternal and child health care outcomes as a clinician (pediatrician), administrator, and public health expert for the past 30 years. She is president of the DC Developing Families Center, a one-stop service center for childrearing and childbearing families in Washington D.C. She is a graduate of the Howard University College of Medicine and the University of California School of Public Health at Berkeley. Dr. Randolph is a senior health advisor at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health and Research Professor at the Georgetown University Graduate Public Policy Institute. A recipient of the American Public Health Association's prestigious Martha May Eliot Award for exceptional health services to mothers and children. Dr. Randolph has also served as the national director for health services for Project Head Start and Director of Public Health for the State of New York.
Barbara Reisman has been the Executive Director of The Schumann Fund of New Jersey, a private foundation that was established in 1988 by The Florence and John Schumann Foundation. Ms. Reisman has provided leadership to the foundation since 1997 and has focused the Fund's early childhood grant making on strategic policy and program initiatives that will lead to high quality, well-planned, early care and education in New Jersey. The Schumann Fund also makes program and policy grants in New Jersey to support environmental protection, and school innovation. A Montclair, NJ resident, Ms. Reisman holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, an M.A. in History from Rutgers Newark, and a B.A. from Brown University. She is a Certified Public Accountant.
Gregory Seaton, Ph.D. has been an Assistant Professor at College of New Jersey since 2004 in the Department of Education, Administration, and Secondary Education. Dr. Seaton has extensive experience in research in male relationships particularly in the African-American communities. He is well published in journals such a the Journal Human Behavioral in the Social Environment, Research in Human Development, Handbook of Positive Child Development, Adolescence and Education and Educational Forum. The topics of his articles range from understanding males to the relationship between African-American fathers with their preschool children. Dr. Seaton holds Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Human Development from the University of Pennsylvania, and two masters from Brown University and Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Seaton resides in Cherry Hill with his wife and two children (an infant & a toddler).
Kendall Sprott, M.D., J.D. is the Director of Community Pediatrics at Children's Hospital of New Jersey and also the Acting Chairman of Pediatrics at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He teaches pediatric in various medical university hospitals and serves on many state and national boards throughout the country. Dr. Sprott has a Bachelor of Science from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia and medical degree from University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and a law degree from Rutgers University School of Law in New Jersey.
Tyrome E. Smith is an organizational effectiveness and development expert who has served in senior positions at Home Box Office, SENSA Solutions, Keane Federal Systems, Eagle Alliance, Training Resource Group, Inc., Johnson, Bassin and Shaw, Inc. and The Tenkan Group. He received his bachelor's degree in speech communications from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in human communication at Howard University. Mr. Smith and his family reside in East Windsor .
William A. Watson is the owner/ principal consultant of the Trent Town Group Inc. where he provides consultancy to numerous agencies and organizations. Prior to launching his own firm, He was the Executive Director of the John S. Watson Institute for public Policy at Thomas Edison State College where he directed and managed the Institute research projects on public policy with a focus on urban issues. In 1987, Mr. Watson became Deputy Director of the State of New Jersey, Department of Public Advocate, Division of Citizen Complaints and Dispute Resolution. At this post he distinguished himself as a leader in the development of policy and legislative initiatives. In 1990, Mr. Watson successfully managed the campaign of Trenton, New Jersey Mayor Douglas H. Palmer and continued his service to the public as Deputy Mayor/Chief of Staff for the City of Trenton, New Jersey until 1995. He serves and provides leadership on the boards of numerous organizations. Mr. Watson attended Ramapo State College and Rutgers University.